Thursday 29 August 2013

EU authorities ban dozens of LED products

Twenty LED lighting products have been banned or recalled in the European Union so far this year due to risks of electric shock or fire.

But differences between the amount of unsafe LED products found by the authorities in different countries suggest that the handful of items identified is only the tip of the iceberg.

Finland, for instance, which benefits from a relatively robust market surveillance regime, spotted more than a third of the dangerous LED products dealt with in the whole of Europe – even though the country is home to barely one per cent of the EU’s population.

The products affected included retrofit lamps, floodlights, torches and linear fittings. Most were made in China, although two were made in Germany. In the majority of cases the products were ordered to be recalled and withdrawn from sale.

One of the products found to pose a risk of electric shock was an LED night light in the shape of Christ on the cross, on sale in Slovakia.

The worst hit brand was China’s Jiage, which has had two of its LED torch products banned in Hungary because they could cause electric shocks, burns or fire.

Even some well-known brands such as Philips, Sylvania and LED Hut have voluntarily recalled LED products on sale in the UK and Spain in the last few months due to safety fears.

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