“69% of the products tested do not comply with European requirements”, denounces a study by UFC-Que Choisir

Cadmium, formaldehyde… More than half present “a risk” for customers, adds the consumer association.

On the Chinese platforms Temu and Shein, “69% of the products tested do not comply with European requirements” And “57% present a real risk for users”revealed Thursday October 30 a study by UFC-Que Choisir What France Interconsulted. The consumer association highlights risks in particular of“poisoning”of “burn” or even‘”choking”.

The UFC Que Choisir has “wanted to check whether the low-cost products sold on the Chinese platforms Shein and Temu really respected European standards”. With “European partners”, the association has “purchased and tested 162 items, USB chargers, children’s toys and jewelry, and the results are particularly worrying,” continues the association.

“One piece of jewelry contained up to 8,500 times the maximum permitted cadmium content.”

Among the 54 USB chargers tested elsewhere, only “two models met European Union standards in every respect”, indicates this investigation.

The tests carried out “highlighted the fact that these entry-level products were often poorly designed and manufactured with poor quality materials”alerts the UFC Que Choisir, for whom many of these chargers are “run real risks of burns, electric shock and fire to their users”.

Same observation for toys, “low prices, maximum risks”denounces this study. He “you should think twice before giving a child a toy purchased on Temu or Shein”assures UFC-Que Choisir. The tests made it possible to discover “dangerous substances exceeding authorized standards” as “formaldehyde levels of 143 and 164 mg/kg well beyond the authorized level of 30 mg/kg”specifies the association.

This investigation “highlights the serious security failures on these marketplaces, as well as the inadequacies of reaction of Shein and Temu, despite being subject to the obligations of the Digital Services Act”, at the European level.