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The European Union has issued a sky high fine of 200 million euros, and cross-border e-commerce platforms have been heavily fined for "permanent chemical" PFAS

Time：

2026-06-22

The European Commission announced a fine of 200 million euros for cross-border e-commerce platform Temu under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The European Commission commissioned institutions to conduct random inspections on "mysterious shopping", and the investigation was officially launched in October 2024. After 19 months of in-depth evidence collection, the platform's products had prominent issues such as PFAS exceeding standards, detection of other high-risk and harmful substances, electrical safety and performance physical hazards.

On May 28, 2026, the European Commission announced a fine of 200 million euros for cross-border e-commerce platform Temu under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The European Commission commissioned an agency to conduct a "mystery shopping" sampling inspection, and the investigation was officially launched in October 2024. After 19 months of in-depth evidence collection, the platform's products were found to have prominent issues such as PFAS exceeding the standard, detection of other high-risk and harmful substances, electrical safety and performance physical hazards. Ultimately, it was determined that Temu had seriously violated DSA's consumer protection obligations on multiple levels.

PFAS exceeding standards

Perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS) are a large class of compounds containing thousands of specific substances. Due to their extremely stable carbon fluorine bonds, they are almost undegradable in natural environments and are referred to as "forever chemicals" by the toxicology community. PFAS has been proven to be associated with various health risks, and the European Union has explicitly restricted or prohibited the use of PFAS in specific products through the Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulation and multiple chemical specific regulations.

The testing report released by the European Consumer Organization BEUC (European Consumer Union) shows that the PFAS issues of the platform's products are mainly concentrated in two categories:

Food contact materials

In September 2024, the same organization tested 16 disposable tableware and baking paper sold on the Temu platform and found that 9 of them (56%) contained PFAS. More seriously, the fluoride content of the 5 samples exceeded the allowable value of Danish regulations by 10 to 50 times. Disposable tableware and baking paper have a significantly higher risk of PFAS migration into food when heated, compared to exposure at room temperature - meaning that consumers may unknowingly continue to consume low-dose PFAS through their daily diet.

Waterproof clothing

In May 2025, the Danish Consumer Council Forbrugerr å det T æ nk tested 7 waterproof jackets purchased from Temu and found that 6 of them (86%) contained PFAS. These PFAS are derived from waterproof coating treatment processes and are substances prohibited by the European Union. In daily wear, direct contact between the skin and PFAS coating is one of the main ways of human exposure; PFAS particles shed during the washing process can also enter the sewage system, causing persistent environmental pollution.

It is worth noting that both of the above tests are based on the principle of "risk oriented sampling" - the samples are not randomly selected, but are purchased in a targeted manner after predicting a high probability of violations. This sampling method means that the detection conclusion cannot be directly extrapolated to the entire Temu platform, but it fully demonstrates that problematic products have considerable accessibility on this platform, and the probability of ordinary consumers encountering such products in their daily browsing cannot be ignored.

Other harmful substances

In addition to PFAS, the harmful chemical issues revealed in the BEUC report are also concentrated and severe. Here, we will summarize:

In terms of footwear, 82% of the 11 pairs of tested shoes contained phthalates (plasticizers), chlorinated paraffins, heavy metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). One pair of Le Fu shoes had a high concentration of phthalates detected on the sole, reaching 17%, which is 170 times the EU legal limit of 0.1%. In terms of jewelry, multiple rounds of testing have found that heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and nickel exceed the standard, and long-term wearing poses a risk of toxic accumulation through transdermal absorption. In terms of children's toys, some plastic toys have been found to exceed the legal limit of phthalates by 240 times, and the potential interference to children's endocrine system cannot be ignored.

These harmful substances have significant harm to the environment and human health, and are strictly restricted by local environmental regulations. These categories collectively constitute the physical basis for the European Commission's determination that "consumers are highly likely to encounter illegal goods in Temu".

Electrical Safety and Physical Hazards

A considerable proportion of the randomly selected chargers failed the basic electrical safety test; In infant toys, a large proportion of samples are classified as medium to high level safety hazards due to excessive chemical content or the presence of detachable small parts (choking risk).

Compliance Recommendations

After the 200 million euro fine was imposed, Temu has launched a large-scale product compliance investigation and removed a large number of unqualified products from the market. All products entering the EU market must comply with the corresponding CE certification and product safety directive requirements, and must complete qualified testing and save test reports before being put on shelves. Timely monitor updates on EU regulations such as POPs and REACH; Strengthen PFAS screening for functional fabrics such as waterproof, oil resistant, and stain resistant; Food contact materials should comply with relevant regulatory requirements, establish a supply chain chemical control system, and avoid risks from the source.

As a professional third-party testing and certification service organization, Jiayu Testing has qualifications such as CMA, CNAS, CBTL, CPSC, CCC, and has obtained laboratory accreditation from multiple authoritative certification agencies at home and abroad. The laboratory is strictly built and managed in accordance with standards, equipped with advanced instruments and equipment, and has a skilled professional technical team with rich industry service experience and strong testing technology capabilities. It is proficient in various regulatory standards and provides professional services such as EU CE certification, EU POPs testing, REACH testing, PFAS screening, food contact material testing, and various harmful substance testing. It assists enterprises in actively responding to regulatory requirements, helps enterprises achieve risk control, and effectively improves product compliance. Welcome to contact us 400-9269-886 ！