Currently, it is the peak season for purchasing children’s summer sandals. A recent survey found that among the top ten selling children’s summer sandals purchased from five e-commerce platforms in China, 25 pairs exceeded the limit of benzene, with the highest exceeding 509 times the standard. On June 2nd, this topic trended as the number one hot search on Weibo, sparking public attention.
According to netizens, a pair of sandals named “Summer Style” has been selling hot during the summer, but some parents have reported abnormal growth and development issues in children after wearing them.
As reported by Lightning News, environmental organizations purchased 10 pairs of the top-selling children’s summer sandals from each of the five e-commerce platforms and sent them to qualified third-party testing agencies for evaluation. The results showed that out of the 50 PVC material children’s sandals tested, 25 pairs exceeded the limit of benzene, with an average exceeding 365 times, and the highest exceeding 509 times. One sample with a benzene excess of 496 times even had sales exceeding one million units.
Furthermore, the investigation also found that among the 25 pairs of samples that exceeded the limit, 20 pairs were unlabeled products, accounting for 80% of the total.
Benzene phthalate, also known as phthalates, is mainly used as a plasticizer. Some businesses add a large amount of benzene phthalate to achieve the desired soft and comfortable feel of the sandals, which is low in cost but has a pungent and toxic nature.
Benzene phthalate can enter the human body through the respiratory tract, digestive tract, and skin. Prolonged and excessive exposure may lead to abnormal child development, early puberty, impaired reproductive system development, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, increased risk of diseases such as asthma, allergies, chronic heavy metal poisoning, decreased sperm quality in adult males, and endocrine disorders in females.
On June 2nd, the topic “These summer sandals can cause early puberty and are toxic to children” surged to the number one hot search on Weibo, and by the 3rd, it had already reached 150 million views.
Many parents expressed concerns about children’s health and safety issues online. Some netizens questioned, “Why not ban it at the source?” “Why let it flow into the market?” “Isn’t it the fault of the regulatory authorities for neglecting their duties?”
Others commented, “Some produce, some sell, some remind, it’s a complete mess!” “In every trade, they all want to take advantage of me, all want to earn my money.” “Maybe it’s better to wear cloth shoes.”