A safety and quality inspection of children’s highchairs found that four units on the market had structural issues and one contained excessive levels of plasticizers, while two failed to meet label standards, the Consumers’ Foundation said yesterday.
The foundation worked with the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection to randomly inspect 10 types of children’s highchairs sold domestically, the foundation said.
The chairs should be structurally sound, not have small holes or hinges that could trap children’s fingers, and must be tested for harmful chemicals, such as plasticizers and formaldehyde, it said.
Photo courtesy of the bureau
In addition to inspecting the highchairs’ material, structure and stability, the foundation checked to ensure they had a “commodity inspection mark” and “Chinese product label,” it added.
The results showed that four highchairs failed to meet the National Standards of the Republic of China set for children’s highchairs, it said.
The four chairs had problems such as the use of self-tapping screws, lacking sufficient chair back height, having a too deep or too big hole at the bottom of the armrest, and having an insufficient recline angle, it said.
One of the tested items was found to have plasticizers exceeding the maximum permitted level, and two did not have commodity inspection marks or Chinese product labels, it added.
The foundation said the Clikk highchair from Norwegian brand Stokke had a hole deeper than 10mm, with a width between 7mm and 12mm, at the bottom of the armrest, and also failed to include the commodity inspection mark and Chinese product label.
The bureau said the companies selling the four items that failed to meet the “quality” standards have been informed to recall or correct their products within a given time, or they could face a fine of NT$100,000 to NT$1 million (US$3,048 to US$30,480).
Stability is the most important factor in choosing a highchair, and children should not be left in a highchair unaccompanied by an adult, the foundation said.
Plasticizers and endocrine disrupting chemicals could have long-term effects on children’s health, it said.
People should look for the commodity inspection mark when purchasing children’s highchairs, and avoid letting children who are too young to sit on their own in a highchair, it added.
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