Should TEMU, Shein and Aliexpress Customers Be Excluded from NHS Treatment?
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Sorry a bit of a click bait title but there is a lot of safety issues with goods from these sellers, some products contain lead, cadmium, arsenic and many other harmful chemicals. Some of their cosmetic products are incredibly dangerous and to a lesser extent clothes have the same issues.
When you personally import such goods you are bypassing the normal safety certification process that goods sold in the UK and Europe have to pass. So should you take some responsibility for your shopping choices?
You can hugely increase your risk of heart disease, cancer and many other major diseases especially in young children who are more vulnerable to such chemicals.
This video explains many of the issues across many Chinese retail sites;
I don’t trust any of these companies but some people are naive or vulnerable, a bit like being susceptible to scams, so not entirely sure would be fair to exclude them treatment. I think education and awareness is key and try not to give those companies our business.
It's all to do with having little money and the cost of living, so people are looking for cheap alternatives regardless of the risks.
It's always been the same though. We used to go to Splott market in Cardiff in the early 90s and the amount of crap that used to be sold there was unbelievable.
In answer to your question, it would be a bit extreme to refuse NHS treatment
I've used them a couple of times. Don't use them much cos they are dodgy but the price of goods is great especially if you're skint and let's be honest times are hard. I understand why people use these sites
Why are the goods allowed in the country if they are dangerous. I thought we had laws to stop that ?
suevernon1968 If you buy from abroad its a personal import and you are bypassing the normal certification process. The certification process is for goods sold in the UK and Europe. The UK can't regulate what happens in China and China can't regulate what happens in the UK. It's basically the same as if you were in China on holiday and picked up these goods and they travelled back to the UK with you. A few years ago people in China (who could afford it) were buying Baby formula from the UK and other countries outside China because their own Baby Formula was injuring and sometimes killing their own children because of dangerous chemicals being used. If I remember rightly some of those responsibility got the death sentence. China is a all or nothing type of country when it comes to these sorts of issues.
BonzoBanana I remember reading something a few years ago warning about the contaminated water in snow globes from China , i had a search but cannot find the full story, but did find this
Apparently the Yangtze River is one of the most polluted waterways in the world
telmel I think lead paint is still commonly used in China and still used on toys for their own domestic market and some still get out for export on occasion. There doesn't seem to be a robust certification system in China itself they just export products to the certification standards of other countries so their own domestic products are not as safe. Reminds me of ebikes where in China a few years ago the average retail price of an ebike was about $150 US dollars in their own market. However weirdly they were safer than the ebikes they exported purely because the bulk of the ebikes sold had heavier cheaper lead acid batteries rather than the more dangerous lithium-ion batteries. However this was a rare exception most products sold in China would have inferior safety. They admit that exported products are built to far higher standards and get more checks typically. EV fires are common in China and even saw a video where a new car had its rear axle just fell off so the car was left with only 2 wheels.
I saw a video where a Chinese person was filming inside the car and they got rear shunted in a traffic jam and he jolted backwards while still holding the steering wheel and the steering wheel detached and was just left in his hands which was quite amusing. The steering wheel just looked like a very cheap plastic mould not much different to that used in a child's sit-in toy car. I guess it was a very cheap Chinese car. There certainly wasn't much to its dashboard, just a speedometer and a few buttons. There are some pretty awful cheap Chinese cars that will never be exported as incredibly dangerous in an accident.
BonzoBanana i know that some packages are checked and opened by airport security etc - but I can certainly understand that they can’t possibly even get 1% of the packages that come through. You have certainly made my mind up. Thank you - as its not something I had thought of ! I always appreciate learning something new and important.
An interesting idea and i do think in some cases personal responsibility should come into play when receiving nhs treatment. For example of people get drunk etc.
Amazon also sell products that some of the Temu sellers also sell. I have ssen the sane products, with the sellers details bekow them. So is it safer to buy them from Amazon, where they are higher priced? Ebay also does the same.
nadinegregg70 As you say its exactly the same situation except I've not seen the cosmetic and medical products sold on Amazon marketplace but have seen the same clothes. If its a coming from China its a personal import and you are bypassing certification. Also customs checks are more about making sure tax is paid rather than finding dangerous goods but they do find them occasionally especially if they are fake goods and the actual brand is pushing to prevent them coming into the country.
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