Third of children’s sunglasses sold online pose “serious risk”

A third of children’s sunglasses bought from online marketplaces, including Amazon, AliExpress, Ebay, TikTok, Shein and Temu, do not provide the eye protection required and are unsafe to wear, according to a new investigation from Which?, a UK consumer champion that tests and reviews products.

Which? researchers bought 20 pairs of kids’ sunglasses from the six online marketplaces and found that UV protection levels were found to be dangerously low for two of the pairs tested, despite claiming to have full UV protection, while some offer significantly different protection from one lens to the other, when good sunglasses should offer the same protection in both lenses.

It also noted that while several models look enticing, especially to children, with heart or cat-shaped lenses or vintage styles, they either made misleading claims about their ability to block UV rays or had inconsistent UV filtering.

All of the sunglasses tested were found to be missing key information, labels and markings, such as CE or UK Conformity Assessed markings (UKCA), which are required for them to be sold in the UK legally.

As a result, none of the 20 pairs of sunglasses bought from online marketplaces can be sold legally in the UK, said Which?, which has labelled the sunglasses as Don’t Buys and would urge consumers to avoid them.

Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, 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.”

In response to the research, an Amazon spokesperson added: “Safety is a top a 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.

“If customers have concerns about an item they’ve purchased, we encourage them to contact our Customer Service directly so we can investigate and help resolve their issue. The products in questions have been removed.”

AliExpress, Shein, Temu and TikTok told Which? that it had removed the items that failed the tests from its platforms, while Ebay stated it was “proactively” preventing prohibited listings through seller compliance audits, block filter algorithms for unsafe listings, and AI-supported monitoring by our team of in-house specialists.