TOXIC SUBSTANCES FOUND IN SHEIN AND TEMU ITEMS

Toxic substances, sometimes hundreds of times above acceptable levels, have been found in products sold by Shein, Temu and AliExpress.

With the explosive rise of Chinese online retailers all over the world, a whole lot of investigating has been happening by the likes of the European Union and South Korea.

Officials in Seoul recently did an inspection on 144 different products sold by the three online retailers. The government’s environmental health team said they found that various products from all three companies failed to meet the legal standards.

Very high levels of phthalates were found in several pairs of shoes sold by Shein. Phthalates are chemicals used to make plastic more flexible. One of the pairs tested contained phthalates 229 times above the legal limit.

An official from Seoul’s environmental health team told the international news agency AFP that “phthalate-based plasticisers affect reproductive functions such as sperm count reduction, and can cause infertility and even premature birth.”

Dioxane was found in two bottles of nail polish from Shein. The levels were more than 3.6 times the allowed limit. Dioxane is a possible human carcinogen that can cause poisoning of the liver. The same bottles of nail polish also contained methanol concentrations 1.4 times above the acceptable level.

The same tests found that sandals from Temu contained lead at levels more than 11 times the legal limit.

Image credit: BRICS competition