I stumbled upon an article, which was quite flabbergasting. The article reveals that many children jewelery have been dosed with high levels of cadmium-a white metal known to cause cancer. The world’s biggest public corporation, Walmart, has begun to pull any suspicious jewelry. A spokesperson has called this whole ordeal “troubling”. To many this news is shocking, who in their right mind would harm the lives of young children? How is this ethical or socially responsible?

Money, as you may have predicted, is of course the answer. Money tends to surpass the importance of ethics or social responsibility. The Chinese producers have turned away from the use of lead, and down the equally dangerous path of cadmium. The advancement of batteries have led to the decrease in cadmium, but the Chinese manufacturers have in turn, over dosed their products with cadmium. Subsequently, children around the world are being exposed to the 7th most hazardous substance to the environment. That is, seventh on a list of 257 high priority substances. I would not want cadmium to be lucky number seven.

Many countries look to China for cheap production, and cheap products. However, it is evident that along with reduced costs, their ethics and social responsibly have washed away as well. With that being said, what is being done to stop this unethical behaviour? Are we all guilty of having played a part in fueling this fire? Is it too late to put out the flame?