Seoul city authorities have reported that harmful compounds hundreds of times greater than allowed criteria have been identified in children’s toys supplied in South Korea by Chinese e-tail giant SHEIN.
Based in Singapore, SHEIN has gained enormous popularity in recent years by offering a large assortment of affordable clothing and stylish accessories.
The European Union (EU) and South Korea, where the Seoul city authorities undertake weekly inspections of commodities offered by sites like SHEIN, Temu, and AliExpress, have strengthened oversight of SHEIN’s business practices and safety standards as a result of its spectacular expansion.
During the most recent inspection, the city authorities identified eight products that SHEIN offered, including a belt, leather bags, and children’s shoes, and discovered that many of them had high concentrations of phthalates, which are chemicals that are used to soften plastics.
According to the police, three of the bags had phthalate concentrations up to 153 times the allowable limit, while one pair of shoes had 428 times the threshold.
Park Sang-jin, a Seoul city official, stated he had asked for the goods to be taken off the market. Additionally, he stated that the majority of the affected e-tailers had complied with such requests since the city started conducting inspections in April.
A representative for the online retailer stated that SHEIN “takes product safety very seriously,” adding that SHEIN works with international bodies to ensure that safety standards are followed and that it expects its suppliers to follow its rules.
“As soon as we become aware of a complaint,” SHEIN added, “we will immediately remove the product(s) from our site,” in order to investigate and take appropriate action in the event of non-compliance.
Seoul city authorities said they have tested 93 products until now, and nearly half of them were found to contain toxic substances.
In April, the EU added SHEIN to its list of e-tailers large enough to be subjected to stricter safety rules, including measures to protect consumers against dangerous products, especially those that could be harmful to minors.
