‘Don’t buy’: Dangerous carbon monoxide alarms found on four major online marketplaces
Dangerous carbon monoxide alarms are being sold online, Which? has warned.
The consumer watchdog says devices that fail to detect high levels of the potentially lethal gas were found on eBay, Amazon, AliExpress and Wish.
Which? claims the government is failing to take “urgent action” to hold these marketplaces to account – and it first flagged one of the unsafe models to eBay seven years ago.
That device failed to respond to carbon monoxide in 10 out of 28 tests – and even when it did, the alarm was too quiet.
Pic: Which?
A total of 149 listings for dangerous carbon monoxide alarms were discovered across the four websites – and all of them have now been removed.
eBay was the only company to disclose sales figures, and revealed at least 1,311 had been sold on its platform.
Five dangerous alarm models – all unbranded and made in China – featured prominently on these websites when the “cheapest first” filter was chosen, with some being offered for as little as £5.
One alarm failed to trigger 22 times when carbon monoxide was in the air, while another product didn’t sound in 15 separate tests.
Sue Davies, the watchdog’s head of consumer protection policy, said: “Which? has been raising concerns about dangerous CO alarms for years, yet online marketplaces continue to allow them on their sites and into people’s homes, despite the potentially fatal consequences.
“This is the latest in a long line of examples of unsafe products being readily available on online marketplaces, with far too little action taken by the platforms to prevent them being allowed for sale.
“The government cannot delay any longer. It must move at pace to establish new regulations that put consumer safety first and enable tough enforcement action against online marketplaces that break the rules.”
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Pic: Which?
Avril and Gordon Samuel founded the Katie Haines Memorial Trust in 2010 following the death of their daughter from CO poisoning and have been campaigning for better awareness.
Avril said: “We have previously highlighted concerns about some carbon monoxide alarms being sold online, many coming from China, and campaigned vigorously about the need to purchase CO alarms only from reputable manufacturers and retailers.”
She added: “If the alarm is not to standard, this defence is negated and could have fatal results.”
Figures indicate that carbon monoxide poisoning has caused more than 200 accidental deaths in England and Wales in the last decade.
An Amazon spokesman said: “Safety is a top priority at Amazon. We require all products to comply with applicable laws and regulations and have developed industry-leading tools to prevent unsafe or non-compliant products from being listed in our stores.
“We have removed these products pending further investigation.”
Pic: Which?
An eBay spokesman said: “We take the safety of our users very seriously and immediately removed the listings reported to us by Which?
“We prohibit unbranded and unsafe brands of smoke or carbon monoxide detectors. We only allow sellers to list approved brands of carbon monoxide detectors and have taken action against the sellers who breached this policy.
“We continuously review and update the measures in place to prevent the sale of unsafe products. We have also conducted further sweeps of our site to remove any similar listings.”
A Department for Business and Trade spokesman said: “We take public safety extremely seriously which is why we are consulting on modernising our product safety framework to hold online marketplaces to account, ensuring items sold online meet the same standards as on the high street.
“If businesses don’t comply with product safety regulations, the Office for Product Safety and Standards will take appropriate enforcement action such as ordering the removal of the product from the market.”
UK
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A family has been left “incredibly distraught” after the death of a four-year-old boy in his garden in Ceredigion in west Wales.
Maldwyn “Gwern” Evans died at his home in Tynreithin, Tregaron, on 20 June.
His family described him as a “keen little farmer” who would be remembered for his “captivating personality”.
“As a family, we are incredibly distraught by our tragic loss, and he will be greatly missed by us and the entire community,” they said in a statement issued through Dyfed-Powys Police.
“He was a loving son and a caring brother, who touched the hearts of so many.
“He lived his short life to the fullest and will be remembered for his captivating personality.
“He was an extremely keen little farmer who had knowledge and ability beyond his years.”
They added: “We would like to thank everyone for their support and kindness at this horrific time.
“It has meant so much to the whole family.”
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Dyfed-Powys Police said in a previous statement: “The death is not being treated as suspicious and HM Coroner has been informed.
“Our thoughts are with the family who are receiving support and they have asked for privacy during this difficult time.”
Newly released footage shows the search for missing British teenager Jay Slater continues by both land and air.
The search for the 19-year-old from Lancashire, who is missing in Tenerife, has now entered its tenth day.
He has been missing since Monday 17 June.
The friends he was holidaying with last heard from him at around 8.30am that day.
He told them he planned to walk back to his accommodation after missing a bus – a journey of around 11 hours by foot.
The search currently centres on Masca, a mountainous area on the western tip of the island.
The village, which is home to around 90 inhabitants, lies at an altitude of 650m, and is where Mr Slater is believed to have been when he was last heard from.
Pic: Guardia Civil/X
Pic: Guardia Civil/X
Search continues
The footage from Spanish police comes after Mr Slater’s father said the family were being kept in the dark by some officers.
It shows a helicopter searching the mountainous area, with search teams on foot having been joined by sniffer dogs.
They then enter a wooded area and proceed to search the mountainous region.
In one clip, an officer uses binoculars to try and see if there are any signs of the missing teen.
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Jay Slater’s dad has said police have left him and his family in the dark over the hunt for the missing teen.
The 35-second montage of clips was posted on the X social media platform on the Guardia Civil account.
“We continue with the search for the young British man missing in Tenerife,” police said in the post on Tuesday night.
“Different Guardia Civil units from the area participate, joined by agents, with their dogs specialised in searching for people, from Madrid.”
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But The Times reports that the dogs have not been given a piece of Mr Slater’s clothing for them to pick up a scent.
Cadaver dogs have been trained to pick up the scent of human remains without the need for a specific prompt.
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Mayor Emilio Jose Navarro told the Reuters news agency that some locals have been interviewed by police.
That includes some who claim they saw Mr Slater watching Euro matches on the coast.
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