Clothing and accessories sold by fast fashion giant Shein contain high levels of toxic chemicals, researchers warn.
Random testing of clothing, bags, belts and other items showed high levels of forever chemicals linked to cancer and autism.
Some products contain more than 400 times the safe level of compounds, which can penetrate the skin and enter the blood systems.
Testing has been conducted by South Korean officials to ensure that Shein and other foreign e-commerce sites adhere to safe operating standards.
The claims were made by South Korean officials who tested 93 products, many of which advertised to children, and found that almost half contained toxic substances.
Shein, a Chinese company headquartered in Singapore, has become a popular e-commerce site in the US. The app ranked second in the country last year with more than 36 million downloads.
Data from ShipMatrix, a logistics consultancy, shows that Shein ships about a million packages a day to the US, which has become the Chinese company’s largest market in recent years.
But the company’s success has drawn scrutiny from world leaders, as South Korean officials have begun weekly analyzes of its products.
And the latest discovered excess levels of phthalates, a type of perennial chemical used to soften plastics, which are known to cause hormone disruptions.
‘Forever chemicals’ are a class of common industrial compounds that do not break down when released into the environment.
They are used to make items grease, water, stick and stain resistant and can seep out of products and enter our bodies through ingestion, inhalation or through the skin.
Officials found that one pair of shoes contained 428 times the limit, while three bags contained 153 times the limit of Forever chemicals.
Although South Korea has not revealed how it tested the products, a drop of water applied to PFAS-treated fabric will bead, roll around and leave no residue.
Seoul city official Park Sang-jin told AFP that they have asked for these products to be withdrawn from sale, saying that since the city began inspections in April, most platforms have complied with such requests.
Authorities found that one pair of shoes had 428 times the limit, while three bags had 153 times the limit. The analysis found excessive levels of phthalates, which are used to soften plastics and are known to cause hormone disruption (stock)
Shein told officials it takes product safety “very seriously.”
“Our suppliers are required to comply with the controls and standards we have in place, and we work closely with international third-party testing agencies… to conduct regular testing to ensure suppliers meet our product safety standards,” said one spokesperson for Shein. told AFP.
The spokesperson added that the company had conducted more than 400,000 chemical safety tests with these agencies in the past year.
“If we become aware of a claim against our products, we will immediately remove the product(s) from our site as a precaution while we conduct our investigation,” the spokesperson said.
DailyMail.com has contacted Shein for comment.
The recent investigation isn’t the first time toxic chemicals have been found in Shein’s products, as Greenpeace conducted a similar test in 2022.
The campaign group purchased 42 items, including clothing and shoes for men, women, children and babies, from Shein websites in Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, and five items from a pop-up store in Munich, Germany.
The products were sent to an independent laboratory BUI for chemical analysis. The findings – including very high levels of phthalates in shoes and formaldehyde in a baby girl’s dress
