The city administration of Seoul asked online retailers Temu and Aliexpress on Friday to take several children’s products out of the range. The reason for this is serious violations of South Korean security standards. The city warned in an official message: “A longer exposure to these substances can affect growth and health of children.” At the same time, she appealed to parents to carefully check product information when buying online.
Although the platforms are not legally obliged to comply with the request, the city administration pushes to remove the contested articles. During an examination of 35 products, including rain coats, raincoats and rubber boots, the authorities determined significant exceeding of the legally permissible limit values for toxic substances in eleven articles.
Six umbrellas with extremely high phthalate values-chemical plasticizers, which make plastics more flexible, were particularly striking, but are also considered to be hormonal. According to the city administration, the measured values were up to 443 times above the statutory limit in individual cases. In addition, two products contained lead in concentrations that exceeded the local standard by up to 27.7 times. An increased lead burden can impair fertility and increase the risk of cancer, warned the authorities.
At the request of the AFP news agency, TEMU announced that they immediately initiated an internal review and removed the affected products. The company also announced that it would improve its quality assurance. Aliexpress initially did not comment on the allegations.
Chinese platforms such as Temu, Aliexpress and Shein have been growing strongly worldwide for several years, especially because of their low prices. At the same time, however, they are always criticized for inadequate product safety and toxic substances. The European Union relied on a list of platforms last year that falls under stricter security rules to protect consumers: inside, especially minors.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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