What Do Girls Hair Bands and Recycled Condoms Have in Common?

When I first heard about this in an email I received a while back, I must admit I really couldn't believe it. I thought it was a joke or something. But apparently the information has been verified by the people at SNOPES.com and it is true. But be prepared... this isn't pretty.... in fact it's down right disgusting. Nonetheless, the word must get out to protect our young girls from coming in contact with these nasty things: Hair bands containing recycled condoms.

The story came out in November of 2007, when a woman who owns a hair salon in China was suspicious of what was underneath the colorful, woven material of a girls hair band. As she unraveled the woven string, she found a rather shocking discovery; Parts and pieces of a condom. It is believed that the condoms were actually unused rejects that did not pass quality control measures and so they were resold to hair band manufacturing companies in the form of raw materials. However, according to sources, it is unclear whether of not the condoms were used before sent to the recycling plant. And if that is the case they could be harboring dangerous bacteria and viruses, threatening to spread sexually transmitted diseases. YUCK!

The reason there is doubt as to whether or not the condoms in this story were previously used or not is due to the fact that in 2002 the Shanghai Star reported that rubber bands had been found that did in fact contain pieces of used, abandoned or factory rejected condoms. According to the state regulations, these items should have been sent to a plastics factory in Beijing.

So far these colorful girls hair bands have only been found in local markets and beauty salons in southern China. But that's not to say they can and will not make their way to the states. So, BUYER BEWARE!

I guess the moral of this story is "seeing is believing" and "it's better to be safe than sorry" and to avoid all colorful hair bands that say MADE in CHINA and look like the ones in the pictures I have attached.