Ordering products from China is much cheaper, but is it also safe?
Many people, including myself, occasionally order something from China or another country where items are cheaper. All sorts of websites have been created specifically for this purpose: websites for traders and websites or apps for consumers, such as AilExpress and Wish. Below, I’ll try to explain as clearly as possible the difference between ordinary items from China and items that could be dangerous. I’ll also include a very impressive video about a product people buy for their health, and what the product actually is.
Which products can I buy from China without any problems?
Of course, you can buy many products from China that you won’t regret, or at least not at all. Products like:
- Clothing
- gadgets
- Jewelry
- Computer stuff
- Phones
- Etc.
As long as these items are sold by a seller with a high rating (many stars) and the product itself has a high rating and good reviews, you run little to no risk. For example, you often see that the jewelry isn’t of high quality, but no one would expect that at such bargain prices. Similarly, you often see that clothes and shoes often run small, but they include special charts with European sizing, and you can often read in the reviews how accurate these are. Even phones from, for example, a genuine Xiaomi dealer, including a warranty, are for sale.
What are the chances of me being scammed?
With electronics in particular, you sometimes see scams, such as a power bank with almost no power, or a device for fuel-efficient driving that doesn’t offer what it claims, as you can see in the video below. However, with most items whose quality can be easily checked at a glance, you can gauge the risk by looking at the product ratings and reviews. Most items with a 4.7 or higher rating are generally excellent. Of course, a 5-star rating doesn’t mean anything if only a few people have bought the product; the first few stars are likely from the seller themselves.
I can buy the same Medical Device from China, is that possible?
Let me start by explaining that new legislation on medical devices came into effect on May 26, 2020. More on this below.
Many beautiful and high-quality products, including a great many toys, are made in China. I’ll discuss toys separately below because I also recommend being very careful before giving a child toys from China. China, like the Netherlands in the Golden Age, doesn’t care about copyright. China freely creates and copies anything, as it sees fit. This has many advantages. Everything is possible and becoming cheaper, and the wheel doesn’t have to be reinvented so that Chinese companies can immediately cash in on a new hype.
This means that you can sometimes buy a good product from China cheaper than in Europe, but for the same money, you also risk putting yourself at risk. I’d like to start by showing you a video about a hype among biohackers about using a simple product to improve your body through its properties. In this video, you see that these products acquire their properties through harmful radiation from a hazardous material, rather than the safe method advertised. This even fools those who purchased a measuring device specifically to measure their effectiveness.
And what about Red Light Therapy from China, it’s all the same, right?
Until the new legislation is ratified, you might still be able to buy a red light lamp from China that’s good enough for your therapeutic purposes. However, there can be huge differences between lamps, with effects ranging from requiring a very long session due to low output to LEDs intended for plant growth that emit mostly useless light that can even be dangerous to your eyes, and if they use UV-enabled LEDs, can even be harmful to your skin. Because there’s currently no oversight of this, stricter regulations on such products will be implemented starting May 26th.
Some tricks the Chinese are known for include forging certificates and substituting expensive, often dangerous, items for cheap options. Below is a video comparing adapters (chargers) and their dangers. After watching this video, you’ll never leave cheap adapters plugged in again.
Specifically to prevent the use of harmful LEDs, to ensure LEDs with the correct irradiation intensity, and to prevent further hazards such as electro-smog (EMF), etc., our lamps are manufactured by a recognized manufacturer to our specifications. We then request test reports from the manufacturer for these tests using very expensive equipment, and then measure everything ourselves with our own specialized measuring equipment. For this purpose, we have, for example, a spectrometer that measures light frequencies, a special meter for measuring irradiation intensity that can also measure the invisible infrared, and an EMF meter that can measure electromagnetism and magnetic radiation.
If you can’t measure yourself whether the LEDs emit the intended light, and they emit useless or harmful light, you risk wasting a lot of time and even endangering your eyes and skin. This is the big difference in experience between a more expensive European medical device and taking a gamble with a Chinese one.
This is an example of a grow light that will look red but has no infrared but does have UVA like a tanning bed, anything below 650nm is mostly waste
What’s dangerous about toys from China then?
If you’ve watched the videos above, you’ll see that many high-risk products come from China. The Chinese don’t really consider the harmfulness of materials and their durability, etc. Moreover, toys often don’t carry a European CE mark, but a Chinese one. Numerous cases have been documented of babies or children injuring themselves or choking on loose parts of toys. These are simply not considered there, unless ordered by a Western buyer.
Conclusion
Do what feels right for you, but if it concerns your health or your child, think twice and do your research.
