Many products containing toxic substances are sold on e-commerce platforms.

On June 14, the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) announced that it had discovered that some cosmetic products and children's toys sold on three foreign e-commerce platforms, including AliExpress (owned by Alibaba Group - China), Temu (owned by PDD Holdings - China) and Qoo10 (owned by Singapore), contained toxic substances that exceeded safety standards by hundreds of times.

Products identified as containing toxic substances. Photo: YONHAP

The KCA said it inspected 88 cosmetic products and children's water toys sold on the platforms, and found that 27 products, or 31 percent, failed to meet South Korea's safety standards.

Of the 40 cosmetic products tested, seven contained carcinogenic toxic substances such as tar, lead, and chromium. Eleven of the 28 children's water toys contained toxic substances such as phthalate plasticizers, heavy metals, and preservatives. In particular, phthalate plasticizers 295 times higher than the permitted level and cadmium 3.2 times higher than the standard level were found in rubber rings sold by Temu; lead 65 times higher than the permitted level was found in a 40-color eyeshadow palette sold on AliExpress. Phthalate-based plasticizers can irritate the eyes and skin and pose a risk of infertility. Meanwhile, nine out of 10 bicycle helmets sold by AliExpress and Qoo10 do not meet national impact resistance standards.

The world's fourth-largest e-commerce market has stepped up regulatory scrutiny of foreign shopping platforms. Photo: THE STRAITSTIMES

According to Yonhap, AliExpress and Temu have stopped selling products containing harmful substances under a voluntary agreement with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). Qoo10 has also stopped selling dangerous products following the recommendation of the KCA.

According to South Korean government data, the number of AliExpress users in South Korea more than doubled to 8.87 million as of April from a year ago, while the number of Temu users also increased to 8.29 million.

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Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nhieu-san-pham-co-chat-doc-hai-ban-tren-san-thuong-mai-dien-tu-post744600.html