British online fashion retailer Asos has withdrawn a batch of brass-studded belts from sale after they were found to be radioactive.
The leather belts could cause injury if worn for over 500 hours, according to an internal report by the retailer, cited in The Guardian newspaper.
The belts are now being held in a radioactive storage facility after testing positive for Cobalt-60, the daily said.
The radioactivity was discovered when US border control tested one of the belts, according to the internal report, called Project Purple Flower.
Asos ordered a worldwide recall of the items earlier this year and all customers who bought them have been contacted, the retailer says. A total of 49 of the belts have been sold in 14 different countries.
“A product supplied to Asos did not meet UK health and safety standards. Asos worked with all relevant authorities and undertook a precautionary product recall, in line with our high standards of quality and customer care. No other Asos product lines are affected,” the firm said Monday.
The Guardian cited the internal report as saying: “None of these belts are suitable for public use or possession.”
It added: “Unfortunately, this incident is quite a common occurrence. India and the far east are large consumers of scrap metal for their home and foreign markets.
“During the refining process of these metals, orphaned radioactive sources are sometimes accidentally melted at the same time. This in turn (contaminates the process) and traps the radioactivity in the metal as an alloy or in suspension.”
Asos says it sells 60,000 branded and own label products via its website and has six million active customers.
Online retailer Asos withdraws 'radioactive' belts
