Researchers Discover Christmas Ornament Contamination
Salt Lake City (12/9, Yeates) reported, researchers with Hill Air Force Base and Utah State University “literally stumbled upon” plastic Christmas ornaments which emit “a vapor containing what is called 1,2-dichloroethane (DCA).” The chemical compound “is a quick and easy way to harden plastics” but it is “prohibited in the United States for the direct manufacturing of consumer goods,” having been labeled a possible carcinogen. The “gingerbread men and other Christmas ornaments” were manufactured in China.
