Greenpeace finds hazardous chemicals in Shein garments

Greenpeace has analysed dozens of SHEIN branded garments and the data are alarming: 15% contained hazardous chemicals that exceed EU regulatory limits (in some cases exceeding the levels by an exorbitant amount). 32% contained ‘legal’ levels of these substances, but in already worrying proportions.

SHEIN is an ultra fast fashion brand that sells clothes worldwide only through its online platforms. It is considered ultra fast fashion because it has gone beyond fast fashion. It has copied the model imposed by the fashion industry in such a way that, if a brand takes about three months from planning a garment to bringing it to market, SHEIN has shortened the process to just three to seven days, ahead of its closest competitor, Zara, which takes two to three weeks.

Greenpeace bought 42 items from Shein’s websites in Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland and 5 items from a pop-up shop in Munich, Germany, and sent them to an independent laboratory for analysis of their chemical composition. The analyses show that SHEIN is in breach of EU environmental regulations on chemicals, thus endangering the health of consumers and the staff of the suppliers who manufacture the products. Shein is therefore in breach of the REACH Regulation.

Of the 47 SHEIN products tested, seven were found to contain hazardous chemicals that exceed EU (European Union) regulatory limits, and five of these products exceed the limits by 100 % or more, i.e. exceed the maximum limits. Nickel in high-heeled boots, formaldehyde in tutus, nickel in a jacket or chromium… Substances that do not break down, that bioaccumulate or that are present at near unsafe levels.