Cancer-causing chemicals found in balloons sold at Wilko, The Range and eBay | UK | News
Cancer-causing chemicals were found in children’s balloons sold on marketplaces such as Wilko, The Range and eBay. Balloons containing up to six times the legal limit of carcinogens were being offered free to UK consumers via leading online marketplaces, as revealed by Which? investigation.
After testing 21 packs of latex balloons from seven online marketplaces, some purchased for children’s parties, the consumer champion found eight packs contained concentrations of potentially carcinogenic chemicals well above the limit allowed in the UK; This indicates that they were sold illegally. This included AliExpress, Debenhams, eBay, The Range (Wilko) and Shein balloons.
One balloon from AliExpress contained more than six times the legally permitted level of nitrosamines, which are possibly carcinogenic. An eBay balloon and a balloon from The Range, also located at Wilko, were found to contain more than four times the safe level.
A balloon purchased from Debenhams contained more than twice the legal amount of nitrosamines (chemicals that can turn into nitrosamines when mixed with saliva).
More than 100 brands of balloons have been recalled or flagged in official product safety warnings in the last decade, the consumer champion said.
In March 2024, Trevor and Lucille Mathers were impressed after purchasing balloons from Amazon Marketplace for their child’s birthday.
A year later, Amazon sent out a notice warning that balloons they purchased could cause cancer through ingestion or dermal exposure. It contained at least 25 times the legal limit of potentially carcinogenic chemicals.
“This wasn’t easy to read when you know your kids are doing exactly that, months after Amazon knew the balloons were full of carcinogens but didn’t tell us,” Trevor told Which?
Amazon said that it immediately removed the balloons from sale upon notification, and that this happened immediately when the request to contact customers came.
Natalie Hitchins Which one? She had a similar experience when she bought two packs of balloons from Shein for her son’s birthday.
Natalie said: “The strong chemical smell coming from a pack of superhero themed balloons was really noticeable. When I inflated them my lips went numb, all I could taste were the chemicals and I felt dizzy. At that moment my partner came into the room and was shocked by the chemical smell.”
Which? He tested the balloons Natalie had purchased and found that they contained more than twice the legally allowed level of nitrosamines.
Sales figures paint a bleak picture. A seller on Shein reported 99,000 sales for balloons with more than twice the legal limit of nitrosamines.
The Secretary of State has the power to enforce product safety requirements on online markets through secondary legislation under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act passed in July.
Which? He called on the government to urgently use these powers to prevent products such as carcinogenic balloons from reaching people in the UK through third-party sellers, and to impose “tough enforcement for those who fall short”.
Sue Davies, Which? Head of Consumer Protection Policy said: “Allowing children to be exposed to high concentrations of carcinogenic substances is outrageous, especially given the repeated official safety warnings about balloons over the last decade.
“Seemingly innocent objects such as party balloons can have serious health consequences if appropriate checks are not carried out to ensure they comply with safety laws.”
Debenhams, eBay, Shein and Wilko confirmed they removed the listings as soon as they became aware of the allegations. Which Range? did not answer the question, but the product in question was also removed.
A spokesperson for Wilko apologized to customers and said the store independently tested these products in June 2025 and found them to be safe.
But because “customer safety remains our top priority,” it recalled the balloons while further testing was carried out. Customers can receive a full refund by returning the balloons to Wilko.
A Debenhams spokesperson confirmed they were in contact with the customer who purchased the product, adding: “We take product safety and compatibility extremely seriously for all products sold on our platform.”
They emphasized: “Although the product is sold by an independent third-party seller, we are in contact with them to understand how this happened.”
eBay said it prevents and removes unsafe product listings through seller compliance audits, algorithms, AI-powered monitoring and close partnerships with regulators, “preventing millions of potentially unsafe products from being listed each year.”
“Consumer safety is a top priority for eBay,” a spokesperson said. “We are examining the broader market to remove all listings offering identical products and automatically notify buyers of security issues.”
A Shein spokesperson said: “Shein takes product safety very seriously and is committed to providing safe and reliable products to its customers.” They added: “We work closely with international third-party testing organizations to ensure compliance with safety standards.”
