The European Union recorded a record number of warnings about unsafe non-food products since the data began to be collected. Cosmetic products made up the main share among potentially dangerous goods. About this informs DW.
According to a report published on April 16, the European Commission received 4,137 warnings about dangerous goods that were provided by national authorities of EU member states through the Safety Gate system, a platform for informing about threats from non-food products.
The largest number of reports concerned cosmetics that contained harmful substances, in particular the fragrance BMHCA, which is banned in the EU from 2022. This compound is suspected of having adverse effects on the reproductive system and may cause skin irritation.
Almost half of all alerts were related to chemicals. Among the most frequently mentioned are nickel and lead in jewelry, allergenic fragrances in cosmetic oils, and phthalates used as plasticizers in textiles.
Cosmetics caused 36% of all warnings. In second place are toys (15%), followed by electrical appliances (9%) and cars (10%).
In 2024, some cosmetic products have already been recalled in some EU countries. According to the Cosmetics Europe association, a significant part of dangerous products entered stores even before they were included in the prohibited list and remained on sale. This list does not include food products – a separate monitoring and warning system operates for them.
Apart from cosmetics, most of the goods of concern came from China. European Commissioner for Consumer Protection Michael McGrath attributed this to the growing popularity of Chinese online platforms such as Shein and Temu, which sell cheap clothes and other goods.
