A government inspection of electric lanterns being sold in Taiwan has found that one in five contains an excessive amount of plasticizer. The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) made the announcement on Monday, ahead of the lantern festival, which lands this year on March 5th.
The plasticizer is used in the soft plastic covering the wire.
BSMI’s Deputy Director-General Chuang Su-chin said the levels of plasticizer exceeded the standard limit by as much as 11.28% in some cases. That’s considerably lower than excesses of up to 50% reported in 2010.
BSMI said plasticizers are a type of environmental hormone. Long-term exposure to plasticizers can interfere with the balance and functions of the endocrine system. In other words, it could increase the chance of precocious puberty in girls, and feminization in boys.