More than a dozen products sold by ultra-cheap online retailer Temu have been pulled from the website after failing to meet Australian button battery safety standards.
It comes less than two years after mandatory battery standards were introduced.
Consumer advocacy group Choice conducted random testing of 15 coin and button battery-operated products sold by Temu in May.
All of the products failed at least one requirement of the mandatory button battery regulations, which came into effect in 2022.
If swallowed, small button batteries can lead to serious injury or death.
The Temu products included children's watches, spinning tops and mini electronic games. Most of the products were found to have insecure battery compartments.
The worst product identified by Choice was an LED light-up tutu skirt, which retailed for $12.79. The product had a lithium battery compartment that could be opened easily with a fingernail, making it especially unsafe for children.
Choice CEO Ashley de Silva said the results were a worrying reminder of the risks to children that small batteries posed.
"We're disappointed to see a big company like Temu flouting mandatory button battery safety standards," he said.
Temu removes products after investigation
Twelve of the 15 products were still available for sale when Choice alerted Temu to the issues. All of the offending products have now been removed from the website.
"It shouldn't take a Choice investigation to ensure unsafe products are removed from their website," Mr de Silva said.
More Australians have turned to Temu for online shopping as the cost of living has risen. The booming online retailer is known for its heavily discounted products which are primarily shipped from China.
Research firm Roy Morgan found 3.8 million Australians shop at Temu at least once a year, while 1.66 million make a Temu purchase every month.
Kidsafe ACT chief executive Francis Ventura said urgent action should be taken to ensure non-compliant products could not be sold.
"Having spoken to many safety forums across Canberra, people are always shocked and sickened when they find out what a button battery does to the inside of a small child," he said.
"It is completely unacceptable for products to not meet relevant standards, as these could potentially cause the death of a little child.
"I urge action to be taken to remedy this situation before a Canberran family suffers an avoidable tragedy."
The 15 Temu products which failed Choice's safety testing were:
- Square watch
- Spinning top with launcher
- Light up projectile with fins
- Space figurine building blocks
- Writing tablet (lithium battery)
- Finger spinning top
- Slap-on animal watch
- Tutu skirt (lithium battery)
- Camera projector
- Projector watch
- LED tea light (lithium battery)
- Coin cell charger (lithium battery)
- Musical keyboard
- Cartoon projector
- Electronic pet game
Calls for even stronger protections
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission introduced mandatory button battery safety standards in 2022.
Under the rules, products that contain the batteries must have secure battery compartments to prevent children from accessing them.
Suppliers must ensure products have been compliance tested and that additional warnings are included on labels. Button batteries must also be supplied in child-resistant packaging.
Choice is calling for the Australian government to go one step further by introducing a general safety provision, which already exists in countries such as the UK.
The provision would introduce a statutory obligation, making it illegal for businesses to sell unsafe products in the first place.
Mr de Silva also called on Temu to sign up to the voluntary product safety pledge, to provide additional consumer protections, as eBay and Amazon had already done.
- If you suspect a child has swallowed or inserted a button battery contact the 24/7 Poison Information Centre on 13 11 26, and Triple Zero (000) immediately if your child is having any difficulty breathing.
