Dangerous baby pool floats that could cause infants to drown being sold online, says Which?

Dangerous baby pool floats that could cause infants to drown being sold online, says Which? An investigation by the consumer champion found 171 of what it described as lethal products for sale on six online marketplaces - Amazon, AliExpress, eBay, OnBuy, Shein and Vinted Potentially dangerous baby pool floats are being sold on popular online sites including Amazon and eBay, Which? has warned. An investigation by the consumer champion found 171 of what it described as lethal products for sale on six online marketplaces - Amazon, AliExpress, eBay, OnBuy, Shein and Vinted. Many of the swim floats included in the investigation had canopies designed for shade - but Which? said that canopies and overhead structures can become unstable in winds, leading to a risk of them overturning. Amazon’s own AI chatbot even recognised that one baby swim float had serious safety concerns and warned against buying it. Which? said some of products appeared to be identical or pose the same risks to those in safety alerts issued by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). There are at least 14 alerts for swim floats with canopies on the UK government’s recall site. Meanwhile, Which? said 25 products found in its investigation looked similar to one that was involved in the death of a two-year old in the US. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warned consumers in April to stop using Relaxing Baby Swim Floats. Which? said these floats can flip over or submerge the occupant underwater, posing a risk of drowning to infants and toddlers. There is not currently a UK alert for the Relaxing Baby branded float. Another variation of baby floats that Which? deems to be dangerous includes ones that have inflatable rings that fasten around a baby’s neck. Which? found 33 examples of these for sale. Sue Davies, Which? Head of Consumer Protection Policy, said: "Babies’ lives are potentially at risk because online marketplaces continue to operate what we see as an irresponsible business model that allows anonymous third-party sellers to list almost anything and face no consequences. "We’ve seen time and again that they will not do enough to prevent the sale of unsafe products unless they are forced to. The government must stand firm against Big Tech lobbying and do what is needed to keep children safe. "It must urgently use its new powers under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act to impose a clear legal duty on online marketplaces for ensuring the safety of products sold through their third-party sellers, with tough enforcement for those that fall short." A spokesperson for Amazon said: "Nothing is more important to us than safety, particularly when it comes to babies and infants. It's why we prohibit certain products from our store and have strict proactive controls on this category, which require independent third party lab testing and certification documents. "We've removed the products in question and are investigating how these came to be available. We continuously monitor our store and we take swift action when we're alerted of potential issues." A spokesperson for AliExpress said: “Product safety is a top priority for AliExpress. Following notification from Which?, we immediately removed the flagged listings from sale in the UK and are rolling out additional category-level safety measures for baby swimming floats. We are committed to working with UK regulators and consumer organisations to ensure a safe shopping environment.” A spokesperson for eBay said: “We’ve removed the listings identified by Which? and carried out further checks to identify and remove similar items. We'll be using learnings from these listings will be used to improve enforcement and detection to make filters stronger going forward. "eBay uses technology, AI-supported monitoring and specialist teams, working closely with regulators, to help prevent unsafe products from being sold. Together, these proactive measures prevent millions of potentially unsafe items from being sold each year.” A spokesperson for OnBuy said: "Product safety is a top priority for OnBuy, and our Risk Team works closely with Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) to identify and remove unsafe and non-compliant products. "The products identified have been removed from our marketplace, and we have initiated and are overseeing a recall to ensure affected customers are contacted and offered full refunds. We have also undertaken a wider review to identify and remove similar products. We continue to strengthen our product safety controls, including the adoption of new technology designed to identify and block potentially non-compliant products as they are created. A spokesperson for Shein said: "We take product safety extremely seriously and are committed to providing a safe and reliable shopping experience for all our customers. As soon as we were informed of the findings, we initiated our established product safety protocols and immediately removed the products identified from sale as a precaution while we investigate. We have also initiated a site-wide review of similar products. "All sellers on SHEIN Marketplace are required to comply with applicable laws and regulations, as well as our product safety standards. We have robust measures in place to prevent non-compliant products from being listed on our platform, and continuously strengthen these safeguards." A spokesperson for Vinted said: “Under our Catalogue Rules, items prohibited by law or regulation are not allowed to be sold on Vinted. We take action as soon as we become aware of potentially prohibited listings, whether through our own detection tools or through reports from members. "If a listing or a member’s behaviour goes against our rules, we take action. Depending on the case, this may include removing listings or suspending accounts. We care about the safety of our members, and are constantly working on our processes and policies to respond to emerging safety risks."