• Login
• My Profile
• Help

Search

Products Police Products Accident Reconstruction AEDs AFIS Ammunition Antennas Apparel Badges Bags and Cases Ballistic Shields Batons Bicycles Biometrics Body Armor Books and Training Materials CAD Cameras Cargo Storage Collectibles Communications Communications Interoperability Computer Forensics Concealable Armor Consoles Correctional Armor Corrections Products Crime Scene Investigation Crisis Communications Data/Information Sharing Software Dispatch Equipment DNA Forensics Duty Boots Duty Gear Emergency Lighting Emergency Preparedness Emergency Response Emergency Response Software EOD Evidence Management Eyewear False Alarm Management Financial Services Firearm Accessories Firearms Firearms Storage Fitness Flashlights Footwear For Cops, By Cops Forensic Supplies Gas Masks GIS/Mapping Software Gloves Gun Cleaning Gun Racks Handguns Headsets Helmets Holsters In Car Video Investigation Investigation Software Jail Management K9 Police Training K9 Products Knives Laser Traffic Enforcement Less Lethal License Plate Readers Light Bars Medical Supplies Mics Mobile Computers Mobile Data Motorcycle Accessories and Gear Motorcycles Mounts Night Vision Outerwear P25 Radios Partitions and Barriers Patrol Cars Personal Protective Equipment Personal Shields Personal Transportation Vehicles Police Robots Power Distribution Precision Rifle Prisoner Transport Projectiles and Launchers Public Safety Software Public Venue Protection Push Bumper Radar Radio/Wireless Networks Radios Report Writing Software Restraints Riot Gear RMS Satellite Communications Scheduling Search and Rescue Secure Communications Shooting Range Equipment Shotguns Sights and Scopes Simulation Software Sirens Software Specialty Vehicles Sprays and Aerosols Storage Surveillance Tactical Apparel Tactical Armor Tactical Entry Tactical Eyewear Tactical Footwear Tactical Headsets Tactical Medical / TEMS Tactical Products Tactical Video TASER Technology Thermal Imaging Traffic Enforcement Training Training Gear Training Products Training Services Training Simulators Undercover Undergear Uniforms Vehicle Equipment Vehicle Graphics Vehicles Video Analysis Video Surveillance Weapon Lights Wire Tap Systems Wireless Communications Wireless Handsets Wireless Networking WMD Equipment

• PoliceOne Email

Communications Resources

Association of Public Safety Communications Officials Federal Communications Commission Grant Resources Provided By LDV, Inc. Need to Understand a Technical Term? Consult the Planar Glossary of Display Technology Terms. Technology, Software & Communications Forum (Secure) More Links Submit A Listing

Featured Product Categories

Software Investigation Communications Vehicle Graphics Mobile Computers View All Categories

Communications Products

Related Product Categories:

Antennas

Featured Product:

ProQA Dispatch Software from Priority Dispatch

Communications Article

June 14, 2007

EmailPrintTalk BackRegisterRSSWhat's This

N.C. prisons check inventory for tainted toothpaste

By Dan Kane
The News and Observer

NORTH CAROLINA — Given the cost of dental care, it's no surprise the N.C. Department of Correction would hand out free toothpaste to inmates who can't afford it.

But now they are telling inmates to stop using it. Turns out the toothpaste was made in China, where other brands have been found to contain a poisonous chemical called diethylene glycol that has caused deaths in other countries.

Correction spokesman Keith Acree said the toothpaste used in the state's prisons doesn't list diethylene glycol among its ingredients but prison officials decided to stop issuing it anyway out of an abundance of caution. They've begun notifying inmates who may have the toothpaste to stop using it.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has taken samples to test for the chemical, and the results should be known in a few days.

"If the results come back clean, then we'll put this toothpaste back in circulation and use it," Acree said. "If not, we'll get rid of it."

The Pacific brand toothpaste comes from Pacific Care Products of San Francisco, which imported it from China. The state pays about 23 cents for each travel-sized tube.

Tubes had been issued to all new inmates and to those who cannot afford to buy the Colgate toothpaste sold at prison canteens. The department will issue Colgate to those inmates in the interim.

The department has roughly 22,000 tubes -- or $5,000 worth -- of Pacific toothpaste sitting in its warehouse.

Suzanne Berke, general manager for Pacific Care Products, said Wednesday that the toothpaste is safe. She declined further comment. The brand is not on an FDA list of toothpastes that have been found with the chemical.

Copyright 2007 The News and Observer

Back to previous page