Market-sold children's raincoats found to have excessive levels of plasticizers and lead
In early May of this year (2013), the Consumer Protection Division of the Executive Yuan (hereinafter referred to as the Consumer Protection Division) assigned consumer protection officers to sample a total of 21 children's raincoats sold on the market in the jurisdictions of Taipei City, Kaohsiung City and Taoyuan County, and sent them to the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (hereinafter referred to as the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection) for testing of the content of 8 types of plasticizers (DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIDP, DNOP, DMP, DEP) and 8 types of migratable elements (antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and selenium).
A total of 3 items (No. 4, 16 and 19) passed both the commodity labelling and quality tests in full. 15 items failed the labelling inspection. In the quality tests, the migratable element lead in 2 items exceeded the limit standard, and the plasticizer content in another 15 items exceeded the limit standard.
For the 21 samples submitted for testing this time, after the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection completed the tests, the Consumer Protection Division immediately convened a meeting on the commodity quality test and labelling inspection results, asking the Central Region Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection to confirm whether the commodity labelling content and test results complied with the regulations; the confirmed quality test and labelling inspection results are shown in the attached table. A brief explanation follows:
(1) Labelling section
For commodity labelling, 6 items were fully compliant (No. 1, 3, 4, 7, 16 and 19), while 15 items were non-compliant, among which 13 items (No. 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 21) had incomplete labelling of matters such as manufacturer information and manufacturing date, and another 2 items (No. 2 and 20) did not label the main ingredients or materials in Chinese.
(2) Test results section
1. Migratable elements
19 items passed, and the migratable element lead in 2 items (No. 5 and 8) exceeded the standard stipulated in CNS4797-2 "Toy Safety (Migration of Certain Elements)" (maximum acceptable migration value of 90mg/kg).
2. Plasticizer content
6 items passed, while the remaining 15 items (No. 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 21) exceeded the standard stipulated in CNS15503 "General Requirements for Safety of Children's Products" (the total content of 8 types of phthalate plasticizers and their mixtures shall not exceed 0.1% (mass ratio)).
The Consumer Protection Division has asked the Central Region Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs to notify the competent local authorities under their jurisdiction to carry out follow-up handling in accordance with Articles 15 and 16 of the Commodity Labelling Act. In addition, because excessive levels of plasticizers or migratable elements may endanger consumers' life, body and health, the Consumer Protection Division has also asked the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection, in its capacity as the competent authority, to carry out follow-up handling in accordance with Articles 36 and 38 of the Consumer Protection Act, so as to safeguard consumers' rights and interests.
In addition, the chairman of the 17th meeting of the Consumer Protection Committee of the Executive Yuan directed that, in addition to asking the Ministry of Economic Affairs to strengthen the inspection and promotion of commodity labelling for children's raincoats sold on the market and to expand testing of children's raincoats sold on the market, children's raincoats should be included as commodities subject to inspection, so as to strengthen the management mechanism.
The Consumer Protection Division reminds consumers that if a consumer dispute occurs, they may dial the 1950 consumer service hotline to file a complaint with the consumer service centre of each local government, or go to the website of the Consumer Protection Committee of the Executive Yuan (http://www.cpc.ey.gov.tw) to file an online complaint, so as to protect their own rights and interests.
