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About 1,000 companies producing leather goods, shoes and bags in the Guangdong provincial capital have had their business suspended after being suspected of using harmful glues. Authorities have also sealed up another 31 enterprises and shut down 15 others during an inspection campaign launched at the beginning of this month. Guangzhou production safety bureau has set up a special task force to investigate enterprises suspected of breaking labor laws relating to health and safety. "Most of the factories involved were found to have no operation licenses or had violated laws," a bureau official surnamed Wang said on Thursday. Guangzhou police have also detained six people who are suspected of illegally producing and selling poisonous glues. The campaign, which has investigated 2,873 companies, was launched after 37 migrant workers who worked in leather, shoe and bag companies in the city's Baiyun and Liwan districts suffered from glue poisoning in November. Four of the workers died. Liu Yimin, vice-president of Guangzhou No 12 People's Hospital, said his hospital had admitted 33 more people suffering glue poisoning since then, of whom 28 were still being treated. Most were in serious condition when they arrived at the hospital, with some put in intensive care units, Liu said. Their symptoms included headaches, feeling weak overall and incontinence, he added. | 
