Scary amounts of toxic substances have been found in Shein’s children’s products

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 05. 30. 11:37

A recent investigation ordered by the South Korean government has revealed serious security concerns about products sold by Chinese online commerce giants. During the inspections, dangerous levels of toxic substances were found in several products intended for children – writes Portfolio based on a report by The Korea Times.

Seven of the eight leather children’s products sold by Shein contained hazardous substances. The situation with leather bags is particularly worrying, where in three products the amount of plasticizer called phthalate was hundreds of times the acceptable limit value, in one case even 153 times. Similar problems arose in the case of children’s shoes: one had a significant amount of formaldehyde, while the other had a phthalate level exceeding 428 times the limit value.

During the series of inspections since April, products not only from Shein, but also from other major Chinese e-commerce platforms such as AliExpress and Temu have been checked. Almost half of the 93 products examined so far, exactly 43%, contained toxic substances.

Phthalates, which function as plasticizers, can be particularly dangerous, as they can affect the reproductive functions of humans with their harmful effects on the endocrine system. This discovery raises new concerns about the quality and safety of products in China’s online market, especially for children’s products.