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🇰🇷 South Korea /Technology

10 of 32 Children's Products from Overseas Online Platforms Fail Safety Tests in Seoul

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • Seoul City tested 32 summer children's products sold on overseas online platforms, finding 10 failed domestic safety standards.
  • Non-compliant items included umbrellas, raincoats, clothing, accessories, and toys, with issues like excessive lead, phthalates, and sharp edges.
  • Seoul has requested the platforms to stop selling these products and plans further safety checks on other children's items.

Seoul City has identified safety concerns with children's products purchased from overseas online platforms, with 10 out of 32 items failing to meet domestic safety standards. The products, including children's umbrellas, raincoats, sunglasses, clothing, and accessories, were tested after being sold on platforms like AliExpress, Temu, and Shein.

The non-compliant products included four children's umbrellas, two raincoats, two clothing/accessories, and two toys.

· Seoul City OfficialDescribing the types of products that failed safety inspections.

Specific issues found in the non-compliant items included excessive levels of lead in umbrella components, exceeding the domestic standard by up to 5.8 times. Some umbrella designs also failed to meet physical safety requirements, featuring sharp edges or insufficient dimensions that could lead to cuts or puncture injuries. One children's raincoat contained phthalates, a plasticizer linked to endocrine disruption, at 3.6 times the permissible limit.

Further violations were detected in clothing and accessories, with some items exhibiting pH levels above the acceptable range and containing nonylphenol, another endocrine-disrupting chemical. Two toy products also failed safety tests, with one keychain containing lead above the standard and another wooden toy presenting sharp edges after testing. Seoul has requested the immediate halt of sales for these non-compliant products on the respective platforms.

Two umbrella products detected lead at 1.1 times and 5.8 times the domestic standard (under 100 mg/kg) in the rib fixing part and button fixing pin, respectively.

· Seoul City OfficialDetailing the specific lead contamination found in children's umbrellas.

The city plans to conduct further safety inspections on children's toys, rain boots, and summer textile products sold online next month. The results of these inspections will be made available on the Seoul City website and the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center website, aiming to protect consumers, especially children, from hazardous products.

One children's raincoat product detected phthalates at 3.6 times the standard (under 0.1%) in the zipper reinforcement.

· Seoul City OfficialExplaining the phthalate contamination found in a children's raincoat.
About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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