Government officials in South Korea have discovered that many of the consumer products sold by Shein and Temu, two China-based retailers known for low-priced, cheap-quality junk, are loaded with toxic chemicals, many of which cause cancer.
Shein, which sells clothing and other accessories for women, was discovered to be shipping out products containing toxins at sometimes hundreds of times above acceptable levels. The same goes for Temu and AliExpress, both of which sell garbage laced with highly destructive chemical substances.
Taking full advantage of the broken American economy and all of the inflation that is pricing normal Americans out of their own country, Shein, Temu and AliExpress are notorious for undercutting the costs of consumer products by a substantial amount. Those discounts come at a major price for consumer health, though.
To manufacture and ship out cheap junk at warp speed, Shein, Temu and AliExpress are reportedly cutting corners and using the cheapest quality materials, oftentimes in violation of safety standards in the First World, including in Korea where officials are sounding the alarm to beware of all this cheap Chinese junk.
(Related: Speaking of toxic chemicals hiding in plain sight, did you know that yet another U.S. government report found that fluoridated water destroys children's brains?)
Chinese toxins being shipped around the world
A recent inspection of 144 products from Shein, AliExpress and Temu found that numerous products from all three companies fail to meet even the most basic legal standards of the countries where they are primarily being shipped.
A batch of shoes from Shein, for instance, were found to contain exceptionally high levels of phthalates, which are chemicals added to plastics to make them more flexible. One pair of shoes tested contained phthalates at 229 times the legal limit.
"Phthalate-based plasticizers affect reproductive functions such as sperm count reduction, and can cause infertility and even premature birth," noted an official from Seoul's environmental health team in a statement to Agence France-Presse.
One of the phthalate chemicals identified "is classified as a human carcinogen by the International Cancer Institute, so special care should be taken to avoid long-term contact with the human body," an official statement from that environmental body reads.
Caps sold by Shein were found to contain formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical often used in home building products, at levels twice the allowable limit.
Numerous bottles of nail polish from Shein also contained dioxane, a possible human carcinogen known to cause liver poisoning. The bottles contained dioxane at levels more than 3.6 times the legal limit, as well as methanol at concentrations 1.4 times the legal limit.
In a statement to AFP responding to the findings, Shein claimed that it "work[s] closely with international third-party testing agencies ... to regularly carry out risk-based sampling tests to ensure that products provided by suppliers meet Shein's product safety standards."
"Our suppliers are required to comply with the controls and standards we have put in place as well as the product safety laws and regulations in the countries we operate in."
A pair of samples from Temu that was tested turned up levels of led in the insoles at levels 11 times the permissible limit. Temu claims it "immediately launched an internal investigation" after learning about the test results.
"We have swiftly removed these product listings from our global marketplace and are enhancing our systems and guidance to merchants to ensure they comply with safety standards and local regulations."
Officials in Seoul have asked the offending companies to immediately remove all products that contain toxic substances. EU regulators are also taking action to push these Chinese companies to stop exposing their customers to deadly chemicals via low-quality consumer products.
The word China has almost become synonymous with toxic poisons. Learn more at CommunistChina.news.
Sources for this article include:
Please contact us for more information.