Yahoo Finance eBay and Amazon delist faulty carbon monoxide alarms
Dozens of potentially deadly carbon monoxide alarms have been removed from sale by Amazon and eBay after a Which? investigation found some of them would not have protected their buyers.
The consumer group tested four alarms that were on sale on both sites – including an Amazon bestseller – and found that they consistently failed to sound when the gas was present.
Which? said all four claimed to meet the British safety standard for detecting carbon monoxide.
Carbon monoxide poisoning causes about 50 deaths a year in England and Wales, and up to 4,000 incidents a year result in a hospital visit.
Which? has called on the Office for Product Safety and Standards to take a more active role in market surveillance to identify products that pose a potential safety risk.
It said one of the alarms – the Topolek GEHS007AW CO alarm (£14.99) – was listed as a bestseller on Amazon. It failed to detect the gas in more than 80% of tests.
Three other unbranded alarms that were made in China and sold through sellers on Amazon and eBay for under £10 also repeatedly failed to sound when there was carbon monoxide present.
Amazon and eBay have removed the alarms from sale and delisted another 50 lookalike alarms.
Alex Neill, Which?’s managing director of home products and services, said: “When household names such as Amazon and eBay are selling products that could put consumers at risk, it is clear more must be done by businesses and the government to proactively identify potentially dangerous products and stop them from entering people’s homes.”
eBay said customer safety was its top priority and it worked with trading standards to ensure only lawful products were listed. Amazon said: “All sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account.”
