A women’s underwear sold on the Chinese overseas online platform Shein was found to contain carcinogens that surpassed nearly three times the domestic standards.
From June 11th to July 11th, Seoul City inspected 330 pieces, including underwear, cosmetics, food containers, and sanitary products sold on Shein, Temu, and AliExpress via the Seoul City Health and Environment Research Institute and external professional institutions.
Arylamine, a carcinogen, was detected at 87.9mg/kg, exceeding the domestic standard (30mg/kg) 2.9 times in a piece of women’s underwear sold on Shein, according to the results.
Arylamine is a type of chemical dye known to increase the risk of bladder cancer.
In addition, 14 cosmetics included bacteria that go over domestic standards.
Pathogenic bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, was detected in two lipsticks sold by AliExpress and Shein. Staphylococcus aureus and total aerobic bacteria were found in two blushes sold on AliExpress.
When infected, Staphylococcus aureus can cause rashes or atopic dermatitis. If the number of aerobic bacteria is high, the risk of cosmetic spoilage increases.
In four nail products sold on AliExpress and Shein, nickel, which causes allergic contact dermatitis, was detected at 974.2µg/g, overreaching the domestic standard (10µg/g) by up to 97.4 times. Dioxane was detected, surpassing the domestic standard (100µg/g) by 1.6 times at 167.8µg/g.
Dioxane is one of the potential carcinogens and is known to induce liver and kidney toxicity.
In five enamel dishes sold on AliExpress and Temu, cadmium exceeded the domestic standard (0.07mg/L) by up to 97.4 times, and lead exceeded the domestic standard (0.8mg/L) by up to 7 times.
Kim Tae Hee, the director of the Seoul City Citizen Health Bureau, advised, “As carcinogens or problematic ingredients in terms of safety have been detected in underwear, cosmetics, and food containers that directly touch the skin, special caution is needed when purchasing products.”
