Children’s clothing from Temu and AliExpress was found to contain toxic substances. South Korean authorities announced that Temu’s jacket contained 622 times the legal limit for such substances. The substances include phthalate plasticizers, lead, and cadmium, which are classified as hazardous materials in Japan.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that some children’s clothing from Chinese fast-fashion retailer Temu contained up to 622 times more harmful substances than the legal limit.
The government tested 26 items of children’s winter clothing from Temu, AliExpress and Shein and found seven contained harmful substances such as phthalate plasticizers, lead and cadmium, according to a Friday news release. .
Temu’s children’s jackets contained 622 times the legal limit of phthalate plasticizers, compounds that make plastics more flexible.
According to a government press release, the jackets were found to contain about 3.6 times the legal limit for lead and 3.4 times the legal limit for cadmium.
“Phthalate plasticizers can affect reproductive functions such as reduced sperm count, and may even cause infertility and premature birth,” an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Environmental Health Team told AFP after an initial investigation in August. told.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, both lead and cadmium are harmful carcinogens.
The report said Tem’s jumpsuit contained 294 times the legal amount of phthalate plasticizers. The report also said Ali Express’ children’s shoes contained about five times more lead than is legally allowed in South Korea.
Temu, owned by Chinese company PDD Holdings, sells low-priced products ranging from household goods to motorcycle accessories. In February, it spent millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads in an effort to capture the U.S. market.
In response to a request for comment from Business Insider, a Temu spokesperson said, “Of the seven products mentioned in Seoul’s recent report, two were sold at Temu.”
“These products had already been removed from our platform through proactive monitoring before the report was published,” the spokesperson added.
An AliExpress spokesperson told BI that the platform “cooperated with the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s request to immediately remove the affected products from sale.”
Representatives for Seoul authorities did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
This is not the first time South Korea has found toxic chemicals in products from Chinese fast fashion brands.
In August, Seoul authorities detected phthalates in some shoes, with one pair containing 229 times the legal limit.
The same investigation revealed that the insoles of the sandals sold by Temu contained more than 11 times more lead than legally allowed.
In a previous investigation in May, authorities in Seoul announced that they tested Shane’s shoes and found they contained 428 times the permitted level of phthalates, according to AFP.
The company plans to go public in the UK, aiming for a valuation of $65 billion, Bloomberg reported in October. The IPO date has not yet been disclosed.
In relation to the November 22 report, a Shein spokesperson directed BI to a report from Seoul authorities showing that the Shein products tested were compliant with regulations.
