The Seoul government found high levels of toxic chemicals in Shein products

Baby products sold by China-founded online shopping giant Shein contained toxic substances at levels hundreds of times higher than permissible levels, the government of the South Korean capital, Seoul, said on Tuesday.

Headquartered in Singapore, Shein has gained huge popularity around the world in recent years, offering a wide selection of fashionable clothes and accessories at stunningly low prices.

The rapid expansion has also led to increased scrutiny of the company’s business practices and safety standards, including in the European Union and South Korea, where Seoul authorities conduct weekly inspections of products sold on platforms such as Shein, Temu and AliExpress.

In the latest round, they selected eight products sold by Shein, including children’s shoes, leather bags and a belt, and found that several of them contained high levels of phthalates – chemicals used to soften plastics.

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The city government said one pair of shoes contained 428 times the legal limit of phthalates – the highest ever recorded in an inspection in Seoul – and three bags had phthalate levels above 153 times the legal limit.

Phthalates are widely used to soften plastics and can be found in thousands of products, including containers, cosmetic products and toys. However, they have been known for decades to cause hormonal disruption and have been linked to obesity, heart disease, some cancers and fertility problems.

Seoul city official Park Sang-jin told AFP that he had requested the products be withdrawn from sale, adding that since the city began inspections in April, most platforms have complied with such requests.

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A spokesman for Shein told AFP the company “takes product safety very seriously.”

The company requires its suppliers to comply with its controls and standards and works with international third-party testing agencies to ensure compliance with product safety standards.

“When we become aware of any claims against our products, we immediately remove them from our site as an precautionary measure while we conduct our investigation,” it said, adding that it takes appropriate follow-up action “if non-compliance is confirmed.”

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So far, Seoul authorities said they had inspected 93 products and found that almost half of them contained toxic substances. These items include children’s watches and coloring pencils.

Last month, the European Union added Shein to its list of digital companies that are large enough to be subject to stricter safety regulations, including measures to protect customers from unsafe products, especially those that may be harmful to minors.

Shein and Temu followed in the footsteps of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in challenging Amazon, especially by entering the U.S. market.

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