'Fire Hazard' Recall of 54 Products Including Batteries... KATS "Focused Investigation on Electric Kickboards"

Auxiliary battery product (business operator Duin, model name: JTS-PB100) recalled by the National Institute of Technology and Standards. Photo by National Institute of Technology and Standards

The National Institute of Technology and Standards under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 11th that it has issued recall orders for 54 products found to be non-compliant with safety standards after conducting safety investigations on 916 products across 73 categories, including batteries, electric kickboards, and furniture, which have been designated as priority management items due to high rates of safety standard violations or frequent accidents such as fires.

The 54 products subject to recall orders include 14 electrical appliances, 14 daily necessities, and 26 children's products. The electrical appliances include batteries (2) with fire or electric shock risks, electric ranges (1), electric rice cookers (1), range hoods (1), and electric heating pads (1).

Among daily necessities, there are furniture items (4) with tipping hazards, double eyelid tapes (4) containing harmful substances, and masks for cold protection, fashion, or sports use (3). Children's products include toys (6), children's accessories (4), children's leather products (3), and infant tricycles (2) that were found to contain harmful substances such as phthalate plasticizers.

In particular, furniture, double eyelid tapes, children's accessories, and batteries showed non-compliance rates of 40%, 33%, 27%, and 13%, respectively, which are significantly higher than the average non-compliance rate of 6.1% in the first half of this year, requiring consumers to exercise special caution when purchasing these items.

The National Institute of Technology and Standards stated, "Regarding electric kickboards, which have raised significant safety concerns due to frequent fire incidents, we investigated 4 products this time and have conducted focused investigations on a total of 51 products since 2021, resulting in recalls of 7 products. We will continue to conduct intensive safety investigations on products prone to safety accidents, such as electric kickboards, to eradicate the circulation of hazardous products in the market."

Fires involving electric kickboards surged from 85 cases in 2021 to 142 cases in 2022, with 114 cases recorded in 2023 and 42 cases from January to August this year. The institute issued recall orders for 5 electric kickboard products last year. Although 8 products were investigated this year, no recall orders have been issued so far.

To block the circulation of the 54 recalled products in the market, the National Institute of Technology and Standards disclosed product information on the 'Product Safety Information Center' and 'Consumer24' websites and registered them in the 'Hazardous Product Sales Blocking System (upss.gs1kr.org),' which is linked to approximately 250,000 retail stores nationwide and online shopping malls.