Study Reveals Online Marketplaces Selling Hazardous Products, Including Dangerous Carbon Monoxide Alarms

According to a new study, many online marketplaces are selling products that can be harmful or unsafe for the consumers. According to WhichCO’s findings, online marketplaces on TikTok, eBay, Amazon and Etsy are selling dangerous products which can put consumers’ or buyers’ lives at risk. All of these marketplaces have been listed for unsafe carbon monoxide alarms.

The study found that these online marketplaces were selling 500W plug-in heaters in 2023 which were unsafe and had a tendency to cause fire. All of them soon removed the product but they have again added a new listing of this product on their online platforms.

The listings didn’t have any product safety information but Which?, UK’s consumer champion, issued the warnings for the product in 2022. Two weeks after the product was removed from the listing but it got added again after seven weeks.

As issues about the products on these online marketplaces started to rise, it was found that many electric products on Etsy were not handmade and were dangerous to use like alarm clocks and electric toothbrushes. TikTok didn’t remove the electric plug-in heater from its store but soon the description about the product was added. TikTok removed the product from sale after three months allowing customers sufficient time to make their purchase.

Amazon requires a barcode for all of their products to be listed but the heater was unbranded and had no barcode, which means the product shouldn’t have been listed in the first place. Amazon reviewed the product and then removed it too.

Whenever you are about to purchase a product, make sure to research about the brand and do not go for unbranded products. Read the reviews of the product and be vary of counterfeit or fake CE/UK CA marks.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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