China has started an investigation into the delivery of 300 hazardous quilts padded with industrial "black heart cotton," a Chinese-style wording for hazardous cotton, to quake-stricken Sichuan Province.

The case started when a hospital in Jiangyou, Sichuan, found that 300 quilts donated by a company in Baoji, Shaanxi Province, were possibly dangerous and reported it to authorities.

An initial investigation showed the company bought the quilts on May 17 from a local shop. The shop owner sold the quilts normally used in cold storage at the same price as quilts for human use, Wang Kuangxing, the Baoji Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision director, told Xinhua yesterday.

The Liyang work safety products shop did not have enough quilts in stock when the company placed the order. Owner Li Yang then sought the quilts from four local workshops, Wang said.

"The padding is cotton used in industrial plants that pose great danger to human health. Definitely they are 'black heart cotton,'" the official said.

Li Ming, a local farmer who runs one of the workshops, said he sold 30 quilts to Li Yang at 16 yuan (US$2.30) each.

"I wouldn't have sold them if I had known that they were being sent to help people living in the disaster zones, no matter how much Li Yang offers," said Li Ming, adding the quilts were for use in cold storage only.

Baoji authorities started an investigation into the quilts as soon as they were sent back on May 18. The workshops were sealed off on the same night.

The Baoji quality watchdog has handed over the case to local police, which means Li Yang could face a penal punishment as well as fines.

Relief materials, both domestic and foreign, have been pouring into Sichuan following the devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12.

Zhi Shuping, the deputy director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said companies involved in the quality scandal would face fines, factory closures and criminal liabilities depending on the severity of the violation.

According to a regulation issued last year, companies having severe quality problems would be imposed fines that are 10 times their profits. The central government promised strict supervision of relief supplies.

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2008)