One of my personal pet peeves with made-in-China products is that the Chinese have not quite mastered "plastics" and other such materials.

Ever notice how much different their shrink-wrap feels?

Or how the plastic in most of their products smells different?

I'm probably more environmentally intolerant to certain products than most and I've had cases where I've felt ill after ripping the shrink-wrap of a blank VHS case. It has only happenned when they are made in China.

It would not surprise me if they also had problems with the adhesives that they use - as well as the plastics.

It's not something that most companies who source their products from China would necessarily either care about - or give much attention to - especially if they had no reason to believe that there might be differences. (Plastic is plastic - right? Not to my nose.)

Jeff Mackwood