Enforcement 5/26: Inspection of Home Electronics 2025

As part of this regulatory project on consumer electronics, the Swedish Chemicals Agency has examined the chemical composition and labeling of a total of 209 products. In our analyses, we have looked for substances restricted under the RoHS Directive, the REACH Regulation, and the POPs Regulation.

The project was divided into three sub-projects:

1. Follow-up of previously inspected companies with deficiencies (low-cost products)
2. Previously inspected companies (low-cost products)
3. Companies inspected several years ago (low-cost products)
4. Gadgets

63 of the products contained excessive levels of prohibited substances. This corresponds to 30 percent. The proportion of products with substance deficiencies differed greatly between the different sub-projects. The most shortcomings were found in the sub-projects Follow-up Gadgets and Not previously inspected companies.

Lead is the most common substance deficiency. We found too high levels of lead in 59 products. The substance was found in solders inside the products on circuit boards, speakers and small motors, for example, and in some cases also in the plastic in cables. Other common substances we found were short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and the phthalates DEHP and DBP. They were in soft plastic, often in the plastic on cables. The substances we found are limited in various legislations. It is therefore important for companies to make demands on their suppliers regarding the content of substances based on several pieces of legislation.

More than a third of the products lacked the labelling required for electrical products. According to the RoHS Directive, an electrical product must be CE marked and have identification marking and marking with the name and contact address of the manufacturer and importer. It is noteworthy that 83 percent of the products that contained excessive levels of substances restricted in the RoHS Directive were nevertheless CE marked. The manufacturer must mark the product with CE after checking that the product meets all requirements. When products are incorrectly CE marked, there is a risk of eroding confidence in the CE mark.

Our review of consumer electronics shows that there are still many electrical products that contain prohibited substances on the Swedish market. The content of these substances does not pose any acute risks to the user, but they contribute to the total exposure to substances that are hazardous to health and the environment that we are exposed to in our everyday lives, and they can have long-term effects. Since supervision must be risk-based, we will continue to review low-cost electronics where we know that we find a lot of shortcomings.

The project was divided into four subprojects focusing on low-cost products:

1. Follow-up of previously inspected companies with deficiencies
2. Companies not previously inspected
3. New and old companies
4. Gadgets
   

63 of the products contained excessive levels of prohibited substances. This corresponds to 30 percent. The proportion of products with substance-related deficiencies varied significantly between the different subprojects. The highest number of deficiencies was found in the subprojects “Gadgets” and “Companies not previously inspected.”

Lead is the most common substance deficiency. We found excessive levels of lead in 59 products. The substance was found in solder inside the products, for example on circuit boards, speakers, and small motors, and in some cases also in the plastic of cables. Other common substances we found were short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) and the phthalates DEHP and DBP. They were found in soft plastics, often in the plastic of cables. The substances we found are restricted by various regulations. It is therefore important for companies to set requirements for their suppliers regarding substance content based on multiple regulations.

More than one-third of the products lacked the labeling required for electrical products. According to the RoHS Directive, an electrical product must be CE-marked and bear identification markings, as well as the name and contact address of the manufacturer and importer. It is noteworthy that 83 percent of the products containing excessive levels of substances restricted by the RoHS Directive were nevertheless CE-marked. The manufacturer must affix the CE mark to the product after verifying that it meets all requirements. When products are incorrectly CE-marked, it risks undermining confidence in the CE mark.

Our review of home electronics shows that there are still many electrical products containing prohibited substances on the Swedish market. The presence of these substances does not pose any immediate risks to the user, but they contribute to the total exposure to substances hazardous to health and the environment that we are exposed to in our daily lives, and they can have long-term effects. Since oversight is supposed to be risk-based, we will continue to review low-cost electronics where we know we will find many deficiencies.