The popular product is being recalled due to a chemical risk
A popular party product is being recalled as it “does not comply with the requirements of the Toy Safety Directive”. The party essential has been recalled due to safety concerns via Safety Gate, the EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products.
Measures “ordered by public authorities” to the manufacturer request the removal of this product listing by the online marketplace. The risk type is described as chemical and relates to a certain type of partytime balloon.
The brand of balloon is Brand LOCKII (also spelt Lockii) its country of origin is Germany, however, the balloons have been available to online shoppers via retailers such as Amazon.com as toys or celebration items.
Safety Gate described the balloons as a product sold online, in particular via Amazon, adding a code for information – (ASIN: B0F48Y5KYB).
Safety Gate reported the risk description on their website, stating: “The rubber of the balloons releases an excessive amount of nitrosatable substances (measured total value: 7.25 mg/kg).
“Nitrosatable substances can be absorbed through the skin and mouth while playing and generate nitrosamines. Nitrosamines may cause cancer.
“Legal provisions (at EU level) and European standards against which the product was tested and did not comply.
“The product does not comply with the requirements of the Toy Safety Directive.”
Some LOCKII balloons on the Amazon websites are listed as “Currently unavailable” with the online retailer’s information detailing “We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock”.
However, a small selection of this brand of balloon is still available to purchase via Amazon.co.uk (at the time of writing).
Measures ordered by public authorities to the manufacturer are the “recall of the product from end users” and the “removal of this product listing by the online marketplace”.
Last year, in December 2025, Which?, UK’s consumer champion, reported on “dangerous balloons found for sale on online marketplaces” via their own website.
Which? reported that “balloons with up to six times the safe level of cancer-causing chemicals were available from AliExpress, Debenhams, eBay, Shein and The Range”.
Testing 21 balloons from several retailers, Which? found that “8 out of the 21 balloons contained concentrations of potentially carcinogenic chemicals far above the UK permitted limit and can’t be sold in the UK legally”.
The consumer champion explained that “the balloons failing our tests were bought from sellers on AliExpress, Debenhams, eBay and Shein and directly from The Range.
“We also tested balloons from sellers on Amazon and Temu that passed our tests and are safe to buy”, Which? added in an online report about balloon safety in December 2025.
Advice on buying “safe” balloons for children especially means looking for official safety marks. This is the UKCA mark in the UK – and the CE mark in the EU.
These marks indicate that the balloons meet health and safety, including toy safety regulation, while also meeting important environmental standards.
