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Powerbanks that give you a shock, Christmas lights that melt, smoke detectors that don’t work, jewelry with heavy metals or tooth bleach with far too much hydrogen peroxide. Or toys that can break off pieces so that your child can choke on them.
Products from China often do not meet the European safety requirements. As a result, a product may melt during use.
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Anyone shopping at web stores from outside the European Union runs a high risk of products that do not meet the safety requirements. That is not the case, for example, with the Action: many products on the shelves of that budget store also come from China, but have been approved.
This is evident from a test that the Dutch Consumers’ Association conducted with five European sister organizations. Of the 250 products that were purchased and tested, no fewer than 165, almost two thirds, did not comply with European safety rules. The products were purchased from companies such as AliExpress, Wish, Amazon, Light in the Box and eBay.
In some cases it was about small things like missing information on the packaging, but some products can be called downright dangerous, says Gerard Spierenburg, spokesperson for the Consumer Association.
Overheated
Almost three-quarters of the electrical devices such as power banks, USB chargers and travel adapters from web stores outside the EU did not pass the safety test. They can give a shock, overheat, melt and even catch fire.
USB input before and after use.
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No less than 90 percent of the Christmas lights were wrong. There is a risk of fire and electrocution. A number of smoke detectors did not go off and not one of the carbon monoxide meters warned of a too high CO content.
7 of the 11 tooth whitening products ordered contained a too high concentration of hydrogen peroxide. Part of the toy contained a concentration of plasticizers (phthalates) that was 200 times too high. They can be endocrine disruptive and affect fertility. And heavy jewelry such as lead, cadmium and nickel were found in jewelry.
The Consumers’ Association advises not to buy clothes, jewelry, cosmetics, toys or devices that operate on electricity via a platform outside the EU. Director Sandra Molenaar is shocked. “Consumers run enormous risks.”
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority tests products from outside the EU on a random basis, but it is impossible to check all 70,000 packages that come daily from China or Hong Kong, according to the Consumers’ Association.
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