"Bought Them Because They Were Cheap on AliExpress and Shein," But Toxic Substances Found in Children's Water Play Items

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced today (August 5) that safety tests on 20 children's products—such as inner tubes, swimsuits, and swim goggles—sold on Chinese online platforms revealed that 6 products failed to meet domestic safety standards notified by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The tested items included 4 children's water play equipment items, 4 children's swimsuits, 4 children's swim goggles, 3 children's swim caps, 1 pair of children's shoes, 1 children's water play toy, and 3 ultra-low-priced products being sold on AliExpress, Temu, and Shein.

The test results showed that 2 pairs of children's swim goggles, 1 pair of children's shoes, 2 children's inner tubes, and 1 children's swimsuit violated safety standards.

In particular, the zipper bag packaging for children's swim goggles sold on AliExpress contained phthalate plasticizers—endocrine disruptors—at up to 325.1 times the standard limit, and cadmium, a carcinogen, at 3.8 times the standard limit.

The swim goggles themselves and their earplugs also contained phthalate plasticizers at up to 3.4 times the standard limit.

Children's swim goggles sold on Shein failed to meet the requirement that "the strap misalignment must not exceed 10 mm," as the left strap was misaligned by 18 mm.

Additionally, during testing, the buckle detached, creating a small part that is prohibited in products intended for children under 36 months of age.

In the decorative parts of children's shoes sold on AliExpress, phthalate plasticizers were detected at 57.4 times the standard limit, cadmium at 2.7 times the standard limit, and lead—which can affect reproductive function and fetal brain development during pregnancy—at 17.3 times the standard limit.

Furthermore, 2 children's inner tube products had a thickness of 0.22 mm or less, failing to meet the domestic standard of 0.25 mm or more.

The children's swimsuit was found to have pants drawstring cords that were not secured to the garment, posing a risk of the cords pulling out.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has requested the respective overseas online platforms to suspend the sales of the 6 products deemed non-compliant.

The results of this safety test can be found on the websites of the Seoul Metropolitan Government or the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center.

(Photo: Yonhap News / Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.