[NEWS FOCUS] Questions linger over toxic material regulations

The revelation of toxic substances in toothpaste products, albeit at a minuscule level, has further fanned the fires of public frustration over the government’s lax regulations, amid ongoing safety concerns on the use of chemicals in everyday products in South Korea.

On Monday, Rep. Lee Jeong-mi of the minor Justice Party said that a total of 11 toothpaste products sold by the local cosmetics company AmorePacific contained from 0.0022 to 0.0044 parts per million of Chloromethyl-methylisothiazolone (CMIT) and methylisothiazolinone (MIT). The two substances were also found in toxic humidifier disinfectants blamed for the loss of at least 200 lives here. Other than AmorePacific, 30 additional local companies and two foreign companies were found to have sold products containing CMIT and MIT.

CMIT and MIT, chemicals easily found in household products for its strong antibiotics or sterilizing power, were permitted for use until they were designated as toxic materials in 2012.

After the Environment Ministry tested the clinical consequences and found links to health risks such as allergic reactions, CMIT and MIT were banned from use in manufacturing toothpastes.

According to the Act on Testing and Inspection in the Food and Drug Industry, the use of CMIT and MIT is only permitted for up to 15 ppm in manufacturing cosmetics for the purpose of preservatives. But the products have to be washable after use for the sake of users’ health.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said that the problematic toothpastes are still “safe to use,” citing US and Europe where the use of CMIT and MIT is not restricted at all or allows up to 14 ppm of CMIT and MIT for making toothpastes, based on the health risk assessment by the European Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety.

In other countries such as the US and in Europe, toothpastes are considered cosmetics. CMIT and MIT are permitted as preservatives in toothpastes under law there.

While toothpastes fall into the category of licensed drug items in Korea, the ministry said that the amount of CMIT and MIT used in toothpastes is not detrimental to human health as it can be rinsed away with water after brushing the teeth.

However, public doubts remain over the government’s control of toxic substances in products for daily use, especially as some 900 victims from the use of toxic humidifier disinfectant reported health issues to the government since 2008.

Earlier this month, a total of 27 wet wipe products and 60 cosmetic products were banned from use after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety conducted safety tests and found CMIT and MIT in these products.

Experts voiced concerns that health risks still remain when exposed to the use of CMIT and MIT contained products.

Leem Jong-han, a professor of occupational medicine at Inha University Hospital, stressed the possible danger of oral intake of CMIT and MIT.

“When CMIT and MIT in toothpastes are consumed through the respiratory system, it can cause health related diseases in lungs, based on several clinical experiments conducted on animals,” said Leem to The Korea Herald.

He also criticized the ministry’s legal loophole in controlling and supervising toxic chemicals used in products sold in markets.

“Rather than focusing on controlling certain chemicals, the government should establish and run all-round health risk assessment system like in Europe which conducts separate safety tests for each and every chemical product,” added Leem.

Earlier this year, lawyers’ group Minbyun said the current management of chemical ingredients posed grave dangers and called on the government to test all substances that have not had their safety proven.

According to data provided by the National Institute of Environmental Research, the Environment Ministry conducted chemical toxicity tests on about 600 chemicals out of 37,000, as of 2015.

The government has argued that it is impractical to test all 37,000 chemicals and categorize them by toxicity.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)