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Our Investigations

In order to monitor whether the PVC children's sandals sold on e-commerce platforms meet the requirements of national mandatory standards and ensure the safety of consumers' online shopping products, in March 2025, Toxic-Free Corps used "children's sandals PVC" as the search keyword and sorted the top 10 samples from JD.com, Taobao, Pinduoduo, Douyin Mall, and Kuaishou Mall according to sales volume from high to low, and select the size of infant shoes (≤170mm). The samples were sent to a qualified third-party testing agency for phthalate content testing, with one testing point selected for each pair of shoes.

The overall phthalate exceeding standard rate is 50%

From the overall survey results, 25 out of 50 pairs of PVC children's sandals sampled in this inspection exceeded the phthalate standard, and the overall phthalate exceedance rate was 50%. The exceedance situation of each platform is shown in the following table:

Looking at the specific values of the excess levels, the average excess level of 25 pairs of children's sandals found to contain excessive levels of phthalates was 365 times, with the highest exceeding the standard at 509 times. The substances involved included DBP, DEHP, and DINP. The specific distribution of excess levels is shown in the figure below:

The highest sales volume of samples exceeding the standard is over 1 million, and the negative impact is wide-ranging.

We also noted that of the 25 pairs of samples found to exceed the standard, 13 pairs had sales exceeding 10,000 pairs (at the time of order placement). One sample, found to contain 496 times the phthalate level, had sales exceeding 1 million units, demonstrating a widespread impact. Therefore, consumers should carefully consider all available information when purchasing children's sandals and avoid blindly trusting the quality of high-selling products.

The situation of excessive samples without labels is serious

We are also very concerned about whether product labeling complies with Chinese legal requirements. Unlabeled products are those that lack necessary information such as product name, manufacturer, manufacturer's address, implementation standards, and certification. These products are considered products without any quality assurance and violate Article 27 of China's Product Quality Law and Article 24 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Standardization Law. Of the 25 pairs of shoes found to exceed the standard in this survey, 20, or 80%, were unlabeled. This demonstrates the concern about the quality of unlabeled products, and consumers should avoid purchasing them.

Comparison of purchase prices of samples that meet standards and samples that exceed standards

The survey results show that the average price of samples that meet the standards is 37 yuan, while the average price of samples that exceed the standards is 16 yuan. The overall price level of samples that meet the standards is significantly higher than that of samples that exceed the standards.

To further analyze the price distribution of the two, we arranged the purchase prices of 25 pairs of samples that met the standards and 25 pairs that exceeded the standards in ascending order and plotted a comparative scatter plot (sample number on the horizontal axis, purchase price on the vertical axis). The chart shows that within the price range of 0-25 yuan, the prices of samples that met the standards and those that exceeded the standards are relatively close, perhaps suggesting that compliant production does not necessarily require high costs.

Therefore, we recommend that manufacturers of products that exceed the standards should actively learn from manufacturers that produce in compliance with regulations, achieve compliance through optimizing production processes, using qualified raw materials, and other means, and improve economic benefits while ensuring quality and safety.

After communication between Toxics-Free Corps and various e-commerce platforms, as of May 28, all samples containing excessive phthalates have been removed from the shelves.

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What changes have occurred in the three consecutive years of surveys from 2023 to 2025?

Judging from the specific situation of each platform, the phthalate exceedance rate of Taobao, Douyin Mall and Kuaishou Mall has dropped significantly compared with the previous two years, especially the Taobao platform, which has dropped from 90% in 2024 to 20% in 2025; JD.com's exceedance rate has rebounded; Pinduoduo's exceedance rate has not changed significantly, and the situation remains serious.

We believe that Taobao's performance in this spot check is inseparable from its commitment to product quality and safety. Recently, the Taobao Security Center published an article titled "Strike Hard! TAOBAO & TMALL GROUP Forms Dual Alliance to Launch a ‘Quality Defense War'." The article stated that TAOBAO & TMALL GROUP has continuously invested heavily over the past year, spending over 120 million yuan annually to conduct regular spot checks on high-risk products and improve quality control efficiency through intelligent technology.

However, the problem of unlabeled products remains serious. From 2023 to 2025, the number of children's sandals sampled was 50 pairs each year, and the number of unlabeled products was 29, 22, and 29 pairs, respectively, accounting for around 50% each year. The situation of unlabeled products has not improved significantly.

Looking at the overall phthalate exceedance rate among the 50 pairs of children's sandals sampled, the overall phthalate exceedance rate showed a downward trend, a positive trend. Compared with 2024, this year's overall phthalate exceedance rate dropped by 32 percentage points, a significant improvement in the exceedance situation.

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Advice for consumers

1. Purchase through regular channels and avoid products without any quality assurance. If you buy products without any quality assurance on an e-commerce platform, choose to return them and reserve the right to complain to the platform.

2. Avoid choosing children's sandals made of PVC. If you need to buy them, choose products from brands with high credibility.

3. Don't buy children's shoes that are too cheap or have a strong smell.

4. Pay attention to the physical product information: Choose products marked with the product name, manufacturer, manufacturer address, implementation standards, and certification information. For implementation standards, look for the national mandatory standard GB 30585-2014 "Technical Specifications for Safety of Children's Shoes" (children's shoes produced after June 1, 2025 must meet the new standard GB 30585-2024 "Technical Specifications for Safety of Children's Shoes").

5. It is recommended to use Toxics-Free Corps AI assistant to obtain product quality information interpretation and decision support for children's shoes by querying children's shoe brands, quality inspection reports, public opinion, etc.

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For the health of children, we advocate:

E-commerce platforms:

1. Strengthen random inspections of children's shoes, especially PVC children's sandals, a high-risk category.

2. Strengthen the review of products without any quality assurance

3. Strengthen the qualification review of merchants and use AI and other technical means to more efficiently check the qualifications of merchants and products of children's shoes

4. Require merchants to display product labels on product pages to facilitate consumer information

5. Support consumers to return products without any quality assurance when they buy them, and improve the consumer reporting channel for products without any quality assurance

Brands and manufacturers

1. Enhance legal awareness, be familiar with the relevant provisions of laws and regulations on product labeling, and strictly abide by them

2. Enhance awareness of standards. Children's shoes on the market must comply with national mandatory standards.

3. Non-compliant products already on the market should be recalled

4. Strengthen the detection of limited substances in raw materials to prevent problematic raw materials from entering the production process

Market Supervision and Administration Bureau

1. Carry out legal education on product labeling for manufacturers and strengthen supervision of products without any quality assurance.

2. Supervise the implementation of national mandatory standards for children's shoes

3. Increase random inspections of children's shoes, especially PVC children's sandals, a high-risk category.

Impact of the survey on phthalate content in children's sandals:

1.During International Children's Day in 2025, Toxics-Free Corps' second annual investigation into PVC children's plastic sandals garnered widespread media and public attention, reaching the top of Sina Weibo's trending search list on June 2nd and garnering coverage from CCTV. According to incomplete statistics, nearly 6,000 related reports were collected within two weeks. As early as 2024, Toxics-Free Corps' first annual investigation into PVC children's plastic sandals was featured in the renowned domestic media outlet The Paper, prompting local government departments in key areas of children's sandal production to convene a meeting to regulate the plastic shoe industry.

2. Since 2023, Toxics-Free Corps has conducted phthalate content surveys on children's sandals for three consecutive years. The phthalate exceedance rate has dropped from 88% in 2023 to 50% in 2025. This is believed to be closely related to the regulatory efforts of the manufacturers' local market supervision bureaus and e-commerce platforms. We understand that, after receiving a media tip, the Jieyang Municipal Supervision Bureau in Guangdong Province conducted a surprise inspection of a company in Jieyang involved in Toxics-Free Corps' investigation. The relevant shopping platform immediately removed the product from sale and simultaneously launched a comprehensive investigation and rectification of the plastic sandal industry.