AHEAD of the Children's Day on June 1, the city's quality watchdog has issued warnings regarding the design of drawstring and cord of children's clothing which can cause suffocation and on plasticizer in children's toys.

A total of 59 batches of children's clothing out of 62 had problems in the design of drawstring and cord, the Shanghai Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau said yesterday, which has started to issue regular quality warnings for the first time.

Four children's toys among the 30 which were tested were found to contain excessive plasticizer.

Problematic drawstring design and the cord in children's garment can harm children when they are walking or playing games, said Shen Weimin, deputy director of the bureau.

There is currently no compulsory standard on the drawstring and cord, and the results were based on recommended standard. Officials said parents should take the cord and drawstring off the clothes.