Seoul city authorities find toxic substances in children's products sold by Shein

On Tuesday, Seoul city authorities stated that children's products sold in South Korea by Chinese e-commerce giant Shein have been found to contain toxic substances, at levels hundreds of times higher than acceptable thresholds.

Shein is based in Singapore and in recent years has become extremely popular selling a wide selection of cheap fashion clothing and accessories.

Shein's explosive growth has prompted increased monitoring of its business practices and safety standards, especially in the European Union (EU) and South Korea, where Seoul city authorities are conducting weekly inspections of items sold by sites. such as Shein, Temu and AliExpress.

In the most recent inspection, city authorities selected eight products sold by Shein, including children's shoes, leather bags and a belt, and found that several of them contained large amounts of phthalates, chemicals used to soften plastics.

Authorities said one pair of shoes contained 428 times the permitted levels of phthalates, and three of the bags contained amounts up to 153 times the limit.

Phthalates have been known to cause hormonal imbalances for decades. The presence of phthalates has been linked to obesity, heart disease, certain types of cancer, and fertility problems.

Seoul city official Park Sang-jin told AFP he had requested that the products be removed from sale. He also said that since the city began its inspections in April, most of the e-tailers involved have complied with those requests.

Shein “takes product safety very seriously,” a spokesperson for the e-tailer told AFP, adding that Shein requires its suppliers to respect its standards and is working with international agencies to ensure compliance with safety standards. .

“As soon as we become aware of a complaint,” Shein added, “we will immediately remove the product from our site” to investigate and take appropriate action in the event of non-compliance.

Seoul city authorities said they have tested 93 products so far and nearly half of them contained toxic substances.

In April, the EU added Shein to its list of e-tailers large enough to be subject to stricter safety rules, including measures to protect consumers against dangerous products, especially those that could be harmful to minors.