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Almost one third of children’s clothing and footwear sampled in an EU-wide enforcement exercise failed chemical requirements, with most breaches linked to PFAS in waterproof products, according to results from a European Commission-funded inspection campaign.
Market surveillance authorities from 12 member states tested 128 products, including children’s products, jewellery and cheap consumer goods made of plastic, against restrictions under REACH and the POPs Regulation. Overall, 25 products, or 20%, failed at least one chemical requirement.
The findings add to a growing body of evidence from EU-wide enforcement projects showing persistent compliance problems across consumer products. Coordinated inspections have repeatedly identified products containing restricted chemicals or poor labelling and information requirements, prompting stakeholders to call for stricter enforcement measures.
When authorities’ checks of warnings, markings and product information were also included, 51 products, or 40%, were found to be non-compliant.
PFAS problem
Seventeen of the 53 children’s clothing and footwear products tested, or 32%, breached EU chemical restrictions, with 16 exceeding applicable limits for restricted PFAS. Fifteen were raincoats, windbreakers, jackets or similar products and one was a pair of beach slippers.
Certain PFAS, including perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), are already restricted in the EU. At the same time, the European Commission is expected next year to put forward a PFAS restriction proposal for consumer uses.
The report also noted that 19 of the 25 products failing chemical testing originated from outside the EU or European Free Trade Association (EFTA), compared with one from within the bloc. It did not specify the origin of the remaining five chemical failures.
Inspectors also found high levels of non-compliance in cheap jewellery, with four of 12 samples exceeding EU limits for cadmium, lead or nickel. Meanwhile, three of the 33 cheap plastic consumer products tested failed chemical requirements, including two shower curtains containing excessive levels of PFAS and a reflector set containing too much cadmium.
Member state inspectors bought samples both online and from physical stores in Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Spain and Sweden. The report found no significant difference in non-compliance according to whether products had been purchased online or in physical stores.
Enforcement measures included sales bans, market withdrawals, recalls and destruction of products.
Authorities issued 12 Safety Gate notifications for children’s clothing and footwear following the campaign.