When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Geopolitics

Toxic Shipping Containers May Be Contaminating Your Food And Clothes

A container ship leaving Hamburg
A container ship leaving Hamburg
Sophie Landrin

ROTTERDAM - Governments are well aware of the danger, but consumers have no idea. One out of five freight containers arriving in European ports has been fumigated with extremely dangerous, carcinogenic or neurotoxic gases.

It is a vast phenomenon: one million containers filled with imported goods arrive in Europe by ship every week. These toxic substances are odorless, colorless and can affect everyone from port workers, customs officials, logisticians, drivers, warehousemen, store employees and even consumers.

In 2010 in the Netherlands, two workers unpacking a container from China filled with glass packed in timber pallets were severely contaminated. One of them spent five days in a coma while the other experienced serious health problems: major weight loss, loss of smell and taste.

These toxic gases are left over from the fumigation process, a necessary – sometimes mandatory – operation to kill micro-organisms and pests before transport, in order to prevent the introduction of parasites, bacteria and diseases into the importing country.

The fumigation process is usually subject to many precautions. Shipping containers must be sprayed with gas and then ventilated before goods can be loaded. They must display specific labels on the door specifying the date of fumigation and the fumigation gas used.

In March 2010, the EU banned the use of methyl bromide, a dangerous pesticide -- but many countries, including the U.S., still use it. What’s worse, very few countries actually indicate the presence of toxic gas on their containers, to avoid having to de-gas them.

Another more insidious source of toxicity, which puts port workers and consumers at risk, is the vapors emanating from the merchandise itself during transport. Furniture, shoes, clothes made in Asia – mostly Vietnam and China -- frequently contain toluene and benzene solvents, which are carcinogen. When this is the case, there are no labels on the shipping container warning port workers to equip themselves against toxic fumes. The only solution is to test the air inside the containers, an operation that is seldom carried out.

From medicine to mattresses

Can fumigation gases contaminate goods inside the containers? A 2005 study from the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and Environment revealed that imported medicine, food and mattresses contained methyl bromide.

Three years later, during the 18th Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society, researchers from the Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine at Hamburg University revealed the huge risks associated with fumigated containers. Out of 200 containers arriving in Hamburg, Germany, and 300 arriving in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Xavier Baur and Lygia Budnik concluded that 97% of freight containers contained residues of pesticide fumigants and toxic industrial chemicals, mostly 1.2-dichloroethane and methyl bromide, as well as benzene and toluene. About 19% of them had levels exceeding the permitted exposure level. The German researchers told the congress that the fumigants and toxic products “contaminated the transported goods, penetrating into them and settling there.”

Belgium and the Netherlands have already implemented drastic measures. Every time there is a doubt, the containers are tested for toxic gas. Dutch customs require a certificate confirming the absence of toxic fumes time-stamped less than two hours before its staff is called in. Jan De Jong, leader of the Dutch trade union FNV Bondgenoten, has called on governments to go even further by banning certain toxic chemicals worldwide.

Trade unions have asked for de-gassing stations to be installed in ports and for inspections to be increased. What about companies? A 2006 study by the Dutch Environment Ministry showed that 97% of companies had never analyzed the risks linked to fumigation. Since then, some companies like IKEA have started systematically measuring the toxicity of their containers and their furniture.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

LGBTQ Plus

My Wife, My Boyfriend — And Grandkids: A Careful Coming Out For China's Gay Seniors

A series of interviews in Wuhan with aging gay men — all currently or formerly married to women — reveals a hidden story of how Chinese LGBTQ culture is gradually emerging from the shadows.

Image of two senior men playing chinese Checkers.

A friendly game of Checkers in Dongcheng, Beijing, China.

Wang Er

WUHAN — " What do you think of that guy sitting there, across from us? He's good looking."

" Then you should go and talk to him."

“ Too bad that I am old..."

Grandpa Shen was born in 1933. He says that for the past 40 years, he's been "repackaged," a Chinese expression for having come out as gay. Before his wife died when he was 50, Grandpa Shen says he was was a "standard" straight Chinese man. After serving in the army, he began working in a factory, and dated many women and evenutually got married.

"Becoming gay is nothing special, I found it very natural." Grandpa Shen says he discovered his homosexuality at the Martyrs' Square in Wuhan, a well-known gay men's gathering place.

✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

Wuhan used to have different such ways for LGBTQ+ to meet: newspaper columns, riversides, public toilets, bridges and baths to name but a few. With urbanization, many of these locations have disappeared. The transformation of Martyrs' Square into a park has gradually become a place frequented by middle-aged and older gay people in Wuhan, where they play cards and chat and make friends. There are also "comrades" (Chinese slang for gay) from outside the city who come to visit.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

The latest