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Ussurisk Prosecutor’s Office of Primorye launched a criminal case against a Chinese resident who sold at a town marketplace eating utensils that contained a toxic substance, a press statement from Primorye’s Prosecutor’s Office reported Monday.

The raid by the office inspectors aiming to check the safety of kitchenware items sold at local markets revealed that the seller was selling melamine-made kitchenware that contained excessive amounts of formaldehyde, a hazardous chemical component.

The inspectors seized several butter dishes and cutting boards, 40 spoons and over a hundred children’s plates which had no certificate of compliance. The apprehended items did not meet state sanitary and epidemiological norms as they contained formaldehyde amounts exceeding maximum permissible norms.

The Chinese merchant was residing and working in the town of Ussurisk on a frequent commercial visa stay, the statement said.

The preliminary investigation into the case is being performed by the town’s prosecutor’s office.

On July 11, four criminal cases were also launched in Vladivostok regarding the use of toxic eating utensils in the city’s catering establishments, a press statement from Primorye’s Department of Inner Affairs reported.

The cases resulted from several inspections of public catering places in the city’s Sovetsky district and in Lazurnaya Bay, which is one of the city residents’ favorite recreation areas. The raids revealed that a few snack bars and cafes used tableware with an amount of formaldehyde a dozen times that allowed.

Melamine-made kitchen utensils, such as dishes, bowls, cups and spoons, are known to develop formaldehyde when in contact with hot water and food. Formaldehyde is a substance that can cause allergic skin reactions, irritation affecting the eyes, nasal passages, respiratory tract and skin, and can produce harmful effects on the gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular organs.

Kitchenware and tableware made of melamine was banned from sale in Russia by Federal Sanitary and Epidemiological Inspectorate ten years ago – however, various Chinese and Turkish made melamine tableware items are still sold in different regions of the country including Primorye.