Fear growing over health risks of chemical cleaning supplies

The continuing battle over the toxicity of a major brand’s humidifier sterilizer has led to rising fears about chemical household products, data showed Friday.

A growing number of consumers are balking at purchasing chemical household products, beyond those manufactured by Oxy Reckitt Benckiser. RB’s humidifier sterilizer Oxy Ssak Ssak is currently blamed for allegedly causing the deaths of over 103 people in Korea.

According to industry watchers, the widespread fears reflect consumers’ distrust toward manufacturing companies and government agencies’ ability to identify potentially harmful products and warn consumers about them if they are not taken off the market completely. 

Sales have dropped most drastically for products with a higher potential for toxicity such as bleaching agents, but demand is also falling for other chemical products such as air fresheners and dehumidifying agents. 

Over the past three weeks, grocery store chain Lotte Mart saw a 22.6 percent on-year decrease in sales of bleaching agents and an over 15 percent drop in sales of air fresheners. For discount retailer E-mart, sales of bleaching agents fell by almost 50 percent on-year for the first week of May.

Meanwhile, consumers are seeking out natural agents to use in place of products that have more chemicals. 

According to social e-commerce market Tmon, sales of baking soda have risen by 26 percent compared to last year over the past two weeks. Sales of plant-based detergents also rose by over 30 percent. Baking soda is used widely as a natural agent for cleaning and dehumidification.

The shift in consumer preferences from effectiveness to safety has large potential ramifications for the household product industry. In response, the Ministry of Environment said Wednesday in an official report to the National Assembly that it was considering changes to the current system of screening toxins in consumer products. 

The current system focuses on managing products after they have been manufactured and distributed, but changes would shift the focus to proving the safety of products before they are made available to the public.

The Ministry of Environment said in its report that it hoped to implement these changes by the end of the year.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)