Seoul authorities have found toxic substances in fast fashion online retailers Shein and Temu products, and have set out on a crackdown of importations. Here are the details and our thoughts.
With many people moving to fast fashion as a cheaper and more convenient way to shop and show off the latest trends, this has caused big market players such as SHIEN and TEMU to throw out thousands of new designs for both men and women to buy. These latest fashion items are sold very cheaply, making them great for one-time wear.
This, however, has caused many environmental concerns from protesters and even the consumers. Recently, it came to light that some of the women's accessories sold contained toxic substances, some of which included hundreds of times above acceptable levels, authorities in Seoul announced.
To dive into more detail, shoes from Shein were found to contain significantly high levels of phthalates -- chemicals used to make plastics more flexible -- with one pair 229 times above the legal limit.
"Phthalate-based plasticizers affect reproductive functions such as sperm count reduction, and can cause infertility and even premature birth," an official from Seoul's environmental health team announced in an interview.
One such chemical "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", they added.
Formaldehyde, a chemical commonly used in home building products, was detected.
For me when I heard this news, I have to say that I was not surprised at all. Pushing out fast fashion, and with some of (if not all of the clothing lines) produced in terrible working conditions in third world countries where there are little to no 'health and safety' standards of course there will be an issue with leaked chemicals. Do I think this will put their consumers off of buying their products? No! I sadly do not think it will make a difference to them what so ever, which then leads to SHIEN and TEMU getting away with having no final standards or checks on their products.
My family members and I, have purchased items from SHEIN before, and have been really impressed with the quality of the item, since the price was so low and the item arrived in a matter of days, unlike some of SHEINS competitors.
For the Seoul authorities, I believe that destroying and removing these harmful items is the right thing to do, however, I really do not think it will be enough, and merely a dent in the ocean floor on this occasion.
What do you think about toxic chemicals found in these retailer's products? Let us know in the comments below.
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