EU tests find hazards in kids’ rainwear, jewellery

European Union product-safety tests found restricted chemicals in some children’s waterproof clothing and excessive heavy metals in some fashion jewellery, the European Commission DG GROW said.

The Commission said national market surveillance authorities tested 128 cheap, mass-produced products from online and physical stores in Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Spain and Sweden.

Across five product categories, 25 products, or 20%, failed laboratory tests. One in three waterproof children’s garments contained restricted synthetic chemicals, and one in three pieces of fashion jewellery contained heavy metals such as lead and cadmium above permitted levels, the Commission said.

Authorities banned sales of 10 products and ordered 10 to be withdrawn from the market. The Commission said other products were destroyed or recalled from consumer markets.

The tested categories included children’s plastic products, cheap jewellery, children’s clothes and footwear, cheap plastic consumer articles such as phone cases, toys and shower curtains, and children’s products with textile parts.

The Commission said all 21 children’s plastic products tested passed. Four of 12 cheap jewellery products failed, including four with excessive cadmium, one with high nickel and one with excessive lead. Seventeen of 53 children’s clothes and footwear products failed because of restricted chemicals such as PFOS, mostly in rain jackets.

Three of 33 cheap plastic consumer articles failed, with two containing PFOS and one containing cadmium above permitted levels. One of nine children’s products with textile parts failed because of PFOS.

The Commission said young children are especially vulnerable to PFAS chemicals and heavy metals. It said PFAS can persist in nature and the human body and can harm health, while heavy metals can damage the nervous system and kidneys and may be carcinogenic.