EU Recalls 6 Chinese Wall Chargers Over Electric Shock Risks

The European Commission (EC) ordered a recall of six Chinese wall chargers over electric shock risks earlier this month, as revealed by the 29th report released this year as part of the regulator's Rapid Alert System meant to keep consumers on the Old Continent informed about any potential dangers posed by various goods on the market. The European Union's executive branch banned the units bearing the model numbers EP-TA20EWE, A1400, ES-D06, JM-T0XX, MY-222, and RP-U21. The former three wall chargers were released as unbranded devices marketed under generic monikers like ?Travel Charger,? whereas the latter trio was launched by China-based Powerful, EMY, and Proda. Refer to the gallery below to see all products blacklisted by the EC.

Proda?s RP-u21 USB Charger and EMY?s MY-222 Travel Charger were originally flagged by Denmark earlier this month and are the only two models on the EC?s new list of banned power supply units that weren?t reported as posing a ?serious risk? to consumers. Instead, their risk levels were placed in the regulator?s ?Other? category, though that classification doesn?t necessarily imply that the two are safer than the rest of the banned products and is simply meant to denote the fact that the actual threat level they pose has yet to be accurately determined. The other models were already confirmed as being highly dangerous to consumers and were also reported by Denmark. While it?s currently unclear whether the chargers are being sold by European retailers outside of Denmark, the majority of them can still be ordered directly from their manufacturers in all parts of the world as of this writing.

All six of the aforementioned units were found to be in violation of the Low Voltage Directive and the EN 60950 European standard, the EC said. Danish market watchdog determined that the devices have insufficient electrical insulation and creepage and clearance distances that are too short for them to be deemed safe. The EC hence ordered an immediate recall of all blacklisted units throughout the political bloc, with their distributors being expected to comply with the order in the shortest possible time frame. It?s understood that the recall in Denmark already started but it remains to be seen how long will it take for the products to be pulled from all EU markets in which they are available.