“AliExpress and Tmall, Chinese overseas direct purchase sites, have been found to contain sterilizing agent ingredients in the slime (commonly known as ‘liquid monster’) sold by them. Seoul city announced that 5 out of 9 children’s toys and school supplies, including slime, pencil cases, and mechanical pencils, tested from AliExpress, Tmall, and other platforms contained harmful substances.
After establishing a measure to ensure consumer safety on overseas online platforms last month, Seoul city has been releasing safety inspection results for children’s products every week. One out of two slime toys, which have a squishy texture and are popular among kids, was found to contain chloromethylisothiazolinone (CMIT) and methylisothiazolinone (MIT), which are sterilizing agents prohibited in products for children.
Furthermore, another slime product had boron levels exceeding the standard by up to 10 times, and phthalate plasticizers (DEHP, DBP, DIBP) exceeded the standard by 213 times in the decorative parts. This product was deemed unsuitable even in physical and mechanical tests, as small parts of the product were found to pose a risk of swallowing and choking for children under 36 months old.
In children’s pencil cases, diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) was found to exceed the standard by up to 146 times. In the children’s mechanical pencils, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) exceeded the standard by 11 times, and lead content in the metal tips exceeded the standard by 1.6 times. Even figurine products commonly used by both children and adults contained diisononyl phthalate (DINP) exceeding the standard by three times.
Phthalate plasticizers are endocrine disruptors that can affect reproductive functions such as sperm count reduction and infertility. Diethylhexyl phthalate is a substance designated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a possible human carcinogen (Group 2B), and excessive exposure to lead can harm reproductive functions and increase the risk of cancer.
For consumer complaints and damages caused by overseas direct purchase platforms, you can contact the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center Hotline at ☎ 2133-4896 or call 120 Dasan Call for consultation. Inquiries can also be made through the Electronic Commerce Center website (http://ecc.seoul.go.kr).”