Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) has tested 27 plastic shoes bought in seven countries to see if they contained phthalates, heavy metals, azo dyes, tin organic compounds or polyaromatic hydrocarbons.

Two of the shoes bought in Sweden contained the phthalates DEHP and DBP, which are on the Candidate List of substances put forward for Authorisation because of concerns about their reprotoxic properties. The analyses showed that 17 of the 27 shoes that were tested contained one or more of the six tested phthalates, with most containing two or three phthalates. The phthalate DEHP was present in various amounts in all 17 of these products. The highest DEHP content, 23%, was found in a pair of flip-flops from South Africa.

Two pairs of shoes contained mercury and several contained lead and cadmium. The study shows that the content of chemicals is not linked to where the shoes are manufactured or purchased. Neither is it possible to draw any conclusions regarding the chemical content based on the price of the product.

The results in the report indicate the need for tighter legislation at an international level, an EU level and a domestic level, leading to the phasing out of hazardous chemicals in products.

The SSNC project has also highlighted the unawareness among retailers and suppliers regarding Candidate List substances in their shoes. Under article 33 of REACH, suppliers of articles containing a Substance of Very High Concern must provide customers with sufficient information to allow the article to be used safely. SSNC has e-mailed two Swedish retailers, EuroSko and the Nilson Group, that had sold the shoes containing phthalates, posed as a “normal consumer”.

EuroSko replied that it was not aware of the Candidate List or of REACH.  After being informed about REACH, it contacted the supplier that had sold the product to them, Bjorn Borg, which said the product did not contain any Candidate List substances. When the Nilson Group received the email it analysed the shoe bought from its store and replied to say that it did contain Candidate List substances. The company apologised and said it would withdraw the product from the market.

Link to the SSNC website