Seoul city government has asked online retail giants Temo and Alixpress to stop the sale of certain children’s products in connection with security problems, saying Friday that some goods far exceeded local limits for dangerous substances.
Chinese e-commerce titans such as Sheen, Temo and AliExpress in recent years have been growing in global popularity, attracting consumers with a wide range of trendy, ultra-low fashion costs and supplements-making them the main rivals of US giant Amazon.
Their rapid growth has caused a growing overview of business practices and product safety, including in South Korea.
The Seoul city government said it recently inspected 35 children’s products sold on Temu and Alixpress – including umbrellas, coats and rain boots – and revealed that 11 had failed to meet South Korea’s security standards or contain dangerous materials.
In six of the umbrellas, plasticizers based on phthalate-chemicals used to make plastic more flexible-be found at levels far above security standards, the city said in a statement.
Some of those products exceeded the domestic safety limit of up to 443.5 times for chemicals, while two items were found to contain lead at levels of up to 27.7 times higher than locally acceptable levels.
Based on the results of the inspection, the Seoul government said it “demanded online platforms to suspend the sale of non -compliance products.”
He also noted that “prolonged exposure to harmful substances can affect children’s growth and health” and stressed the need to carefully review product information before being purchased.
Temu and Aliexpress did not respond immediately to AFP commentary requests.
The Seoul government told AFP that retailers have no legal obligations to respect their request.
Phthalate -based plasticizers can cause endocrine disorders, while lead exposure to security boundaries can disrupt reproductive functions and increase the risk of cancer, Seoul authorities said.
Last year, the city government said that women’s accessories sold by Sheen, Aliexpress and Temu contained toxic substances sometimes hundreds of times above the acceptable level.
The European Union added Shin last year to its list of digital companies that are large enough to be under stricter security rules – including measures to protect customers from unsafe products, especially those that could be harmful to minors.
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