The original link is in German, this is a paraphrased translation.
Germany’s consumer watchdog Stiftung Warentest warns against toxic and dangerous products offered on the Temu and Shein sales platforms. It examined 162 third-party products that use Temu and Shein as a sales platform – 110 did not meet EU security requirements, the foundation said on Thursday. The testers found pollutants in baby play towels, toxic heavy metals in jewelry and too hot chargers.
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The German testers found too high a dose of formaldehyde in colorful cloths for babies; the substance may cause contact allergies. Many products lacked warnings. Two necklaces contained dangerous amounts of cadmium, exceeding the permitted limit by 8,500 times. Cadmium is classified as carcinogenic - the products must be brought to a pollutant collection point
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If you have purchased one of the pieces of cadmium-contaminated jewelry, dispose of it. The German testers warn that Toxic harmful substances do not belong in the household waste, bring the jewelry to a harmful material collection point, such as a recycling yard. Keep the chains away from children. Young children could swallow the follower.
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Almost all tested USB chargers did not meet the EU security requirements. Numerous products have become too hot during loading, up to around 88 degrees Celsius. A maximum limit of 77 degrees is allowed in the EU. Heavy heat can deform the charger’s plastic housing, damage the electronic insulation inside and, in the worst case, lead to fire.
The platforms Temu and Shein, founded in China, specialise in the direct sale of goods from abroad in the EU. They lure with extremely cheap offers. In Brussels, both companies are under investigation for possible breaches of EU consumer protection laws and online platform rules. In the case of Temu, the EU Commission has already come to the preliminary conclusion that consumers there are very likely to encounter non-consumer protection-compliant products.
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Too hot is the least of the problems these cheap chargers are likely to have. Inadequate primary-secondary insulation tends to be far more lethal.
Many of the chargers had too little distance in voltage-carrying parts too. These things are a tragedy waiting to happen.
Surprised Pikachu.
The dropshipping boom has brought those products everywhere. They are on Amazon. Amazon doesn’t care. They are on Ebay. Ebay doesn’t care. They are on all of those other platforms. They do not care. And they are even starting to show up in physical retail locations.
Cadmium is also used in the drinking glasses and cups that have some colored images or logos, for example the ones you find in merchandise stores. The Cadmium comes of when you touch or wash them.
Tmall/Taobao>aliexpress>shein/temu
If a product is export-only, stay tf away.
i have stayed very far away from shein and temu, but I have gotten some bits and bobs from aliexpress. While i have heard of Taobao before I have never heard of Tmall and I have never ordered from either of them.
What, in your opinion, makes them better than aliexpress?
They are for the domestic chinese market, but you can arrange shipping to like vietnam or Japan, but its not as straight forward.
Tmall is Taobao, but the seller has to register an actual business. Accordingly, they have a greater incentive not to do things that could get their liscense revoked or criminal charges.
Items that would be illegal to sell in China are often labeled as export only or banned in China.
They are for the local market. It is not easy (but not impossible) to order from Taobao if you are outside of China.
