Remove toxic products from shelves
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The manufacturers of children's sandals involved in the investigation have been investigated for exceeding the standards and have been filed for prosecution by the market supervision department. One of the products has been recalled nationwide.
Among the children's sandals investigated for exceeding standards, in addition to unlabelled products, the physical labels implicate three nominal manufacturers: Jieyang Guanmei Shoes Co., Ltd., Wuchuan Bopu Xinfeng Plastic Shoe Factory, and Beijing Aidebao Trading Co., Ltd. All three manufacturers have been filed with relevant market supervision departments. The details are as follows:
1. Jieyang Guanmei Shoes Co., Ltd.: After receiving clues from the media, the Jieyang Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau conducted a surprise inspection on the company involved and required relevant shopping platforms to immediately remove the products involved and stop sales. At the same time, it learned from the incident and organized a comprehensive investigation and rectification of the plastic sandals industry.
2. Beijing Aidebao Trading Co., Ltd.: In mid-June, Toxics-Free Corps staff reported the manufacturer on the 12315 website and subsequently provided additional documentation. The Beijing Chaoyang District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau filed a case in July and issued penalties in August.
3. Wuchuan Bopu Xinfeng Plastic Shoe Factory: In mid-June, Toxics-Free Corps staff reported the manufacturer on the 12315 website. The Wuchuan Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Guangdong Province immediately conducted an on-site inspection of the factory the same day it received the report:
3.1 The party concerned was in a normal state of business operation, and no plastic children's shoes of the same type as those exposed for random inspection were found in its business premises.
3.2 Three types of plastic children's shoes were randomly selected from the party's finished product warehouse for sampling and inspection. The test results received on June 30th showed that two of the plastic children's shoes were unqualified.
3.3 Through investigation, we learned that the children's shoes reported were indeed produced and sold by this shoe factory. We have ordered to recall the batch of unqualified products sold, and will file a case for investigation and punishment in accordance with the law.
At the same time, in the National Consumer Product Recall Information Bulletin (July 28th 2025-August 3rd 2025), we saw that many children's shoes were recalled due to excessive levels of phthalates, including the same children's sandals purchased during the Toxics-Free Corps investigation, which were nominally produced by the Wuchuan Bopu Xinfeng Plastic Shoe Factory.
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Results of a survey on phthalates in primary school backpacks released
In May, Toxics-Free Corps selected 50 of the top 10 selling elementary school backpacks on five e-commerce platforms: JD.com, Taobao, Pinduoduo, Douyin Mall, and Kuaishou Mall. They commissioned a third-party testing agency to test their phthalate content. The results showed that 19 of the 50 backpacks exceeded the permitted phthalate level, with the highest exceeding the permitted level by 306 times. The materials primarily involved were transparent plastic and artificial leather. For more details, see the full report: Student Backpack Safety Tips: Beware of "Hidden Hazards" in Backpacks.
Phthalates exceeding the standard in sampled primary school backpacks in 2025 (by platform)
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788 links selling mercury-containing whitening cosmetics were found, and 551 of them were removed from shelves.
From June to August, we conducted an online sales investigation on 16 whitening cosmetics with high mercury risks discovered in 2024, and found a total of 788 sales links, with the specific distribution as follows: 147 on Taobao, 13 on the 1688 platform, 1 on Kuaishou, 66 on Douyin, 309 on JD.com, and 252 on Pinduoduo.
After communicating with each platform, Taobao, 1688, Kuaishou, and Douyin all promptly removed the sales links for the offending products. After unsuccessful communication with JD.com, we reported the issue to the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee, and all 309 links have been removed. After unsuccessful communication with Pinduoduo, we reported the issue to the Changning Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, but the case was not filed. As of a review on September 1st, only 15 of the original 252 illegal links had been removed, while the remaining 237 continued to sell the same products.
AI Products and Services
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Review of the functions of the Toxics-Free Corps AI assistant children's shoes Agent
On June 10th, the upgraded version 2.0 of the Toxics-Free Corps AI Assistant officially launched, introducing three AI agents for children's shoes. We analyzed usage data from July and August: By the end of August 2025, the three AI agents had been used over 800 times, with a success rate in line with expectations, validating user needs and the fact-checking process. We also reviewed the overall process, promotional information, feature details, and user feedback from this campaign, summarizing lessons learned and providing important insights and optimization directions for the subsequent development of AI agents in other categories.
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Participate in the AI for Love | How to Build a Social Innovation Formula Themed Event
On August 2nd, Project Director Hu Yongling participated in the "AI for Love: How to Build a Social Innovation Formula" themed event, co-sponsored by A Better Community and X-Institute. Several guests shared their experiences and reflections on the digitalization of public welfare, elderly care, inclusive corpus development, and support for children with learning difficulties, all from the perspective of technology empowerment.
During the event, participants discussed social pain points through group workshops and proposed several preliminary ideas for technological solutions. This event fostered cross-disciplinary exchange and provided valuable insights for integrating technology with social innovation.
Image source: @ABC A Better Community
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Toxics-Free Corps participated in the "Sustainable Living AI Assistant Online Innovation Workshop"
From August 6th to 7th, Toxics-Free Corps participated in the "Sustainable Living AI Assistant Online Innovation Workshop" held at Tencent headquarters in Shanghai. Core members from four project partners, including the Shanghai Ziteng Community Environmental Service Center, Beijing Novaloop Environmental Technology Co., Ltd., Changsha Green Hunan Environmental Science and Education Center, and Shenzhen Zero Waste Environmental Public Welfare Development Center (Toxics-Free Corps), attended the workshop. Focused on the core objectives of "getting to know partners, strengthening AI understanding, co-creating application scenarios, and clarifying work plans," the workshop featured a variety of interactive activities, including ice-breaking sessions, Q&A sessions, case studies, co-creating LEGO scenes, and planning discussions.
The ice-breaking session focused on "AI Terminology Learning Together," where participants exchanged ideas and built an "AI Working Dictionary," solidifying their foundational AI knowledge. A Q&A session focused on core issues, with participants working in groups to build practical AI application references. A case study session allowed organizations to share their AI application ideas, fostering cross-institutional collaboration. A LEGO scene co-creation activity, led by Professor Huang Lin of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, focused on two key themes efficiently and co-creatively and resulted in a series of key achievements. Finally, the workshop concluded with an in-depth discussion of next steps and a clear path to AI product implementation.
This workshop facilitated a closed-loop process from conceptual consensus to implementation across partner organizations, building a strong foundation for the project's continued success. Going forward, Toxics-Free Corps will work with its charitable partners to deepen AI product development and cross-institutional collaboration, exploring new pathway for the public welfare application of AI technology in sustainable consumption and lifestyles.
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Initiate the Toxics-Free Corps AI Topic Selection Meeting
To uncover real-world consumer problems and support knowledge base QA upgrades and large-scale model optimization, we launched the first "Toxics-Free Corps" AI topic selection meeting on August 21st. This meeting brought together 10 partners to discuss everyday shopping scenarios and the quality of AI question-and-answering.
Public Events
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28 children's products submitted by the public for inspection were found to exceed the standard in 7 items
In July, Toxics-Free Corps collected and tested 28 children's products, including toys, stationery, and daily necessities, through a public testing campaign. Seven of these products were found to contain excessive levels of hazardous chemicals, including phthalates, TVOCs, and formamide. One pair of imitation sandals contained 359 times the permitted level of phthalates. This case has prompted group leaders to provide refunds to parents, among other actions.
Detailed test results and compliance lists can be found in the full report: Public welfare inspection reveals safety concerns about children's products: 7 out of 28 children's products seriously exceeded the standards!
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Shenyang Lizhou Public Welfare Development Center Launched a 15-Session Series of Courses on the "Toxics-Free Corps"
To enhance children's awareness of chemical safety and improve their ability to prevent related risks, Toxics-Free Corps partnered with Lizhou Public Welfare to promote the implementation of this course in three community service centers under Lizhou Public Welfare during the summer vacation, with a total of 151 children participating.
During the activity, the children learned about the potential hazards of chemicals in daily consumer products, and combined it with the interactive practice of the "Toxics-Free Journey" card game, mastering the methods of identifying and avoiding risks in a relaxed atmosphere.
One participating child said after the class: "I must hide all my brother's ducklings when I get home. He always plays with the ducklings while taking a bath, and sometimes he even chews them as teething sticks. Now I think this is too dangerous." Such genuine feedback shows that the course has achieved tangible results in enhancing children's daily chemical safety awareness.
Image: @Shenyang Lizhou Public Welfare Development Center
Teacher Han Peiyu explains to children the key points of choosing stationery
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Mao Da was invited to give a lecture on Jiapei.com
On July 19th, Dr. Mao Da, founder of the "Toxics-Free Corps," was invited by Jiapei.com to conduct an online science popularization workshop for parents titled "Beware of the‘Toxics' Around You: The Potential Risks and Scientific Understanding of Chemical Exposure in Children's Environment." More exciting content will be available on the Toxics-Free Corps video account.
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2025 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Science Popularization Industry Development Carnival
From July 25th to 27th, Toxics-Free Corps participated in the 2025 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Science Popularization Industry Development Carnival held at the Huifeng Center in Guancheng, Dongguan City. Through theme lectures, industry exhibitions, field visits and other forms, this event built an innovative platform for the cross-border integration of science popularization with culture, tourism and sports, attracting the participation of many science popularization institutions, enterprises and the public. As a public welfare force dedicated to promoting consumers to stay away from toxic products, Toxics-Free Corps participated in this kind of event for the first time and also brought three young volunteers to participate in depth. Click here for details. Event Review | Toxics-Free Corps participated in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Science Popularization Industry Development Carnival
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Zero Waste & Toxics-Free Corps Environmental Protection Promotion in Lushan Camp
From August 10th to 20th, Qi Yuting, a core volunteer of the Toxics-Free Corps, held a chemical safety workshop at the Lushan Camp. Eleven children and seven parents participated in the workshop, studying the "Toxics-Free Home" manual and playing with the "Toxics-Free Journey" cards. The workshop helped the children and parents gain a preliminary understanding of toxic chemicals in daily life and a basic understanding of how to identify and purchase safe products. The children, who previously enjoyed playing poker, began to actively play the "Toxics-Free Journey" cards, significantly improving their awareness of chemical safety and self-protection.
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Beijing Railway Procuratorate visits and exchanges
On July 23rd, relevant staff from the Minors Protection Department of the Beijing Railway Transportation Procuratorate visited the Beijing office of Toxics-Free Corps. The two sides exchanged views on work philosophy, work methods, and products of interest, and expressed their hope for future cooperation in the field of online product safety to jointly protect the health of minors.
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Send representatives to attend the resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution
From August 5th to 15th, the resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-5.2) was held in Geneva, Switzerland. Representatives from Toxics-Free Corps attended the meeting as observers. During the meeting, Toxics-Free Corps, along with four other organizations, including the All-China Environmental Protection Federation, co-hosted a reception for representatives from relevant international organizations and governments to exchange information on actions and observations regarding plastic pollution control. Furthermore, the group, along with several domestic organizations, visited the World Wildlife Fund headquarters in Gland, Switzerland.
Members and directors of the Toxics-Free Corps Team who participated in INC-5.2
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Mao Da participated in the Foodthink podcast "Not Enough Waste to Burn?" to support the joint action
Starting in early June, a video titled "From Waste Surrounding Cities to Not Enough Waste to Burn, China's Speed Leaves the West Bewildered" went viral. Given the growing and widespread misleading impact of the video, Foodthink invited senior figures in the waste management and environmental protection fields to record a podcast titled "'Not Enough Waste to Burn,' a Dangerous False Proposition." Dr. Mao Da participated. For more information, click here: The Truth About "Not Enough Waste to Burn"
Self-media operations
#Operation of "Toxics-Free Corps" WeChat official account (July-August): 33 articles published, 22,000 total read times, 587 new users.
#According to incomplete statistics as of the end of August, the total number of readers of Toxics-Free Corps's self-media operations on all platforms has reached more than 1,000,000.
Brand influence
Mao Da participated in the Taixue lecture and broadcast.
On August 21st, Dr. Mao Da, founder of the "Toxics-Free Corps," was invited by Taixue to be the opening speaker for the third season of the program. His talk, based on the global plastics treaty negotiations, discussed how plastics impact our daily lives. For more details, click here: Mao Da: Why the Global Plastics Treaty Negotiations Failed to Achieve a Conclusion.
Public Fundraising
1. Toxics-Free Corps X Monthly donation
As of August 31st, our monthly donation project [Delivering Products Safely to Children] has received a total of 113,940.95 yuan; the cumulative number of donations has reached 2,732, with the support of 184 monthly donors.
2.Toxics-Free Corps X Crowdfunding
As of August 31st, our crowdfunding project [Give Children a Healthy Future] has received a total of 56,474.82 yuan and 2,649 donations. The investigation into high-risk infant and children's products is ongoing.
