'Unsafe' sunglasses pulled from Amazon, eBay and Temu
An investigation looked at 20 pairs, and found problems with each of them
A third of children's sunglasses purchased from popular online marketplaces such as Amazon, AliExpress, Ebay, and Temu have been deemed unsafe due to insufficient protection, according to an investigation by Which?. The consumer watchdog bought 20 pairs of children's sunglasses, discovering that two pairs had "dangerously low" UV protection levels, despite claims of full protection.
Furthermore, some pairs offered significantly different protection between lenses. Several models, including Cute Cat Kids' Sunglasses UV Protection, Classic Vintage Holiday Sunglasses UV400, Kids' Aviators, Kids £1 Sunglasses, and red heart-shaped sunglasses, made misleading claims about their UV-blocking abilities or had inconsistent UV filtering.
None of the tested sunglasses met UK legal requirements, lacking essential information, labels, and markings like CE or UKCA markings, rendering them unfit for sale in the UK. Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said: "With summer holidays approaching, it is understandable that parents will want to buy their children sunglasses, and kids and parents alike might be tempted by some of the cheap and trendy options sold online.
"Our research shows many of these models are so ineffective as to be dangerous for children to wear and this is a consequence of online marketplaces having no real responsibility or incentive for taking safety seriously. The Government's Product Regulation and Metrology Bill must be strengthened to include legal responsibilities for online marketplaces to ensure the products they sell on their sites are safe, with heavy fines for those that fall short of the required standards."
A representative from Amazon responded: "Safety is a top priority, and we require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws, regulations and Amazon policies. We continuously monitor our store and take action to maintain a safe selection for our customers, including removing non-compliant products and reaching out to sellers, manufacturers, and government agencies for additional information."
"The products in question have been removed." AliExpress also stated that it had taken down the items that did not pass Which?'s tests, and said: "AliExpress takes product safety very seriously and we have strict rules and policies in place to ensure a safe online shopping environment.".
An eBay spokesperson said: "Consumer safety is a top priority. We proactively keep our site safe and prevent prohibited listings through seller compliance audits, block filter algorithms for unsafe listings, and AI-supported monitoring by our team of in-house specialists. If we find an unsafe product, we remove it immediately and alert buyers, which is the exact approach we took on April 4 2025, before Which? contacted us."
Temu said: "We take product safety very seriously. All three flagged listings have been removed from the platform pending further review." A TikTok representative added: "The safety of our customers is of our utmost priority, and we have strict measures in place to ensure that our sellers comply with regulations and safety standards. These listings have been removed from our platform."
Shein said: "We take product safety very seriously and are committed to offering safe and reliable products to its customers. We immediately removed the items from our site as a precaution while we investigate."
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