The authorities in South Korea have recently carried out inspections of products for women from the platforms Shein, Temu and also Aliexpress, reports the AFP news agency.
The result: Shoes that contain more than 200 times higher levels of hormone-disrupting phthalates than is permitted. Caps with double the levels of the cancer-causing substance formaldehyde than the permitted limit.
To AFP Shein representatives say they work closely with international testing companies to ensure products comply with the company’s safety regulations.
Temu writes in a response to SVT that they comply with laws and regulations and take consumer safety very seriously. The company says it values feedback from both consumers and regulators.
“Those who sell products on Temu’s platform have to provide a lot of documentation and we conduct regular random checks.”
EU lists of dangerous substances
If you buy goods from companies within the EU, you always have the right to know whether the goods contain any of the particularly dangerous substances from the so-called Candidate List, writes The Swedish Chemicals Agency.
But at one Nordic supervision project in e-commerce presented in 2020, only about one in five products (22 percent) bought outside the EU passed the European chemical regulations.
– During spot checks, we have found substances such as cadmium, lead in jewelry, plasticizers in soft plastic and electrical cables, but also flame retardants, especially in cables, says Daniel Ahlström.
In one report writes Kemikalieinspektionen that consumers should pay particular attention to cheap electronics such as chargers, headphones and lighting, jewelry with partially black surfaces in gothic or bohemian style and all types of goods in soft PVC plastic.
Long-term exposure
Daniel Ahlström emphasizes that it is above all exposure over time that risks becoming harmful.
– There is no acute danger with exposure on individual occasions, but it is a matter of collective exposure in the longer term. But these substances are limited for a reason, even if you don’t see the effects at once.
In cases where the Chemicals Inspectorate finds dangerous substances, they inform the platforms of their findings.
– And then they remove those products from their market so that they are not sold to customers, says Daniel Ahlström.