Toxic Christmas decorations from Chinese platforms detected

[Anchor]

Many of you may have decorated your homes with Christmas decorations.

However, if you purchased these decorations from a Chinese online shopping mall, you should check them.

Some decorations have been found to contain harmful substances exceeding the standard limits, with some exceeding by more than 200 times.

Reporter Jo Eun-ae has the details.

[Report]

This is a toy in the shape of Santa Claus climbing a ladder.

This decorative item, which is hung on a Christmas tree, was sold on the large Chinese online shopping mall AliExpress.

When tested, it was found to contain phthalate plasticizers at 215 times the domestic safety standard.

Contact with this harmful substance can cause irritation to the eyes and skin.

Lead content also exceeded the standard limit by 11 times.

[Lee Bitnari/KATRI Senior Researcher: "It can harm reproductive functions and increase cancer risk. Especially for children, exposure to lead can affect physical growth and brain function development..."]

The Seoul city government tested 15 types of children’s Christmas toys sold on platforms like AliExpress, Temu, and Shein. Six of them failed to meet safety standards.

Toy blocks were deemed non-compliant due to sharp edges.

As of last month, Ali had about 9.6 million domestic users, and Temu also recorded around 7.3 million users, continuing their growth trend.

Seoul has announced plans to conduct safety inspections on products sold on these overseas direct purchase platforms twice a month and to publish the results on its website.

This is KBS News, Jo Eun-ae.