The latest figures from Europe’s central rapid alert system show that chemicals are the most reported product risk.
Overall, chemicals accounted for 25 percent of reported risks, followed by injury concerns. Of the 572 reported alerts, 37 percent involved toys, followed by fashion jewelry (20 percent) and clothing and textiles (13 percent). The reported chemicals of concern were usually different kinds of phthalates and chromium VI.
The system is used to notify EU member states quickly when there might be a risky product on the market.
While chemical risks topped the list of concerns, ChemicalWatch notes that the European Commission says this doesn’t mean there are more products with risky chemicals in Europe — it shows that the system is working well at monitoring consumer products.
The majority of the products reported (two-thirds) were imported from China, while 10 percent of the products could not be traced back to their country of origin.
According to the commission, following the trail of the product back to its source within China “remains difficult.”
