Investigation reveals that harmful substances have been detected in AliExpress, Temu and Qoo10 products

Products sold on e-commerce platforms are showcased at the city hall in Seoul’s Jung District on May 28. Yonhap

On Friday, a state consumer organization said some cosmetics and children’s water toys sold on three overseas e-commerce platforms contain harmful substances that far exceed permitted safety levels.

In a study of 88 products sold on Chinese e-commerce platforms – PDD Holdings’ Temu and Alibaba Group’s AliExpress – and Singapore-based Qoo10, the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) found that 27 products, or 31 percent, did not met national requirements. safety standards, KCA said in a statement.

It turned out that seven of the 40 cosmetics contained harmful substances such as tar, lead and carcinogenic chromium. Eleven of the 28 children’s water toys were found to contain toxic substances such as phthalate plasticizers, heavy metals and preservatives.

In particular, the rubber rings sold by Temu contained a phthalate plasticizer content as much as 295 times higher than the limit, cadmium 3.2 times higher than the limit, and lead 65 times higher than the limit in the 40-color eyeshadow palette sold by AliExpress.

Phthalate-based plasticizers carry a risk of infertility and may irritate the eyes and skin.

The statement said nine of the 10 car bicycle helmets sold by AliExpress and Qoo10 did not meet national shock absorption standards.

AliExpress and Temu have stopped selling products containing toxic substances under voluntary agreements with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). KCA is an agency reporting to the antitrust authority.

Qoo10, on the recommendation of KCA, also stopped selling its dangerous products.

Last month, the FTC signed agreements with AliExpress and Temu to prevent them from selling harmful products and better protect customers.

Under the voluntary agreements, both e-commerce companies will conduct safety inspections of their products based on data and monitoring results from the Korean government and other entities, and will stop the distribution and sale of dangerous goods.

According to government data, the number of AliExpress users in Korea more than doubled to 8.87 million in April from 3.36 million in 2022, with the number of Temu users also rising to 8.29 million. (Yonhap)