Sparkly items easily catch the eye, but all that glitters isn't gold.
One shopper found that out the hard way after buying "suspiciously cheap" jewelry from a marketplace, only to later discover its origins and some other disturbing details.
Posting on the r/Anticonsumption subreddit, the shopper detailed that the earrings they bought were under the label "Han Kou design by Korea." This brand is often found on Temu, an online retailer that has been found to sell illegal products by the European Commission, as Euronews detailed.
While the Redditor assumed that shopping at a marketplace from an actual person would avoid buying from shady online retailers that sell low-quality products, it turns out the items they bought were potentially harmful to health.
"I was of course disappointed that I'd unknowingly indulged in this, however after a bit more research found me at an official European safety website that found Han Kou (and likely many other of the 'brands' on these sites) jewelry had extremely high cadmium levels," they said. "Additionally, other research found lead and other harmful chemicals in similar jewelry.
That website is a European Union page that details how the product contains 10% cadmium, which "is harmful to human health because it accumulates in the body, can damage the kidneys and bones and it may cause cancer."
This is a troubling situation, and it's a good thing that the original poster caught the issue soon after purchase. But it serves as a reminder to do the necessary research when buying products and only shop from trusted retailers.
"Don't make the same mistake as me and think that something is safe because it's sold in person because you truly don't know the origins," the Redditor said.
The sale of cheap, low-quality items encourages overconsumption, and when these products inevitably break, deteriorate, or are found to be harmful to health, they will probably end up in a landfill. There, they will take up space, take decades to break down naturally — if ever — and encourage the production of methane gas, which is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide in planet-heating potential, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
It's a waste of money, too. Perhaps consider avoiding spending small amounts on multiple items and instead save up to buy a high-quality item that will last for decades and won't cause health complications. Even buying from thrift stores can land you these top-notch products at a fraction of the usual retail price.
"Setting aside the fact that fast fashion has a horrific environmental impact and exploits workers (which are already valid enough reasons to not purchase from them) it boggles my mind that people don't realize the extent of corners that are cut to get the products that cheap," one Redditor said.
"Sites like Temu are ruining the secondhand market," observed another. "I saw some crystals in an odds and ends shop the other day and I caught myself wondering if it was secretly from Temu. It's getting harder and harder to trust stuff."
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