Product quality watchdogs are trying new methods to destroy confiscated counterfeit products in an attempt to reduce the pollution that results from their disposal.

　　According to the Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, the dangerous waste of some fake medicines are treated in designated places but other confiscated goods are required to be buried in landfills or burned in incineration plants.

　　"Burning in an open area is the method we used to take and that still prevails in other provinces. But it pollutes the air and affects people living in such areas," said the bureau's Feng Chunrong.

　　Shanghai Tobacco Monopoly Administration recently destroyed a batch of counterfeit cigarettes worth 1 million yuan (US$120,481) in a professional incineration plant. It was the first time they had employed the environmentally friendly method which reduced the toxic substances in the discharged fumes.

　　"As a government department, we are accountable for the public's health," said an administration official, adding that they will keep this treatment method for the destruction of confiscated goods once or twice annually.

　　Shanghai Environment Protection Bureau officials say the existing laws only define the principle that burning pollution-prone things in open area is prohibited, but specific regulations applied to each item are yet to be worked out.