In a concerning revelation, unbranded carbon monoxide (CO) alarms purchased from online marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon, AliExpress, and Wish have consistently failed to detect the lethal gas and activate alarms during British Standard CO detection tests, according to recent research by consumer watchdog Which?.
With approximately 40 accidental deaths attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning in England and Wales annually, the failure of these alarms poses significant risks to public safety. The organisation had previously alerted eBay about the inefficacy of one of these alarms seven years ago, yet upon reexamination earlier this year, five out of the ten cheapest alarms on the platform were still the same model that had previously failed tests. Dangerous alarms were also identified on other platforms including Amazon, AliExpress, and Wish.
