By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

Fears of asbestos-contamination is spreading from baby powder and cosmetics to some brands of chewing gum, and balloons. According to the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA), Sunday, some chewing gum brands were found to have contained talc ― a mineral that can contain asbestos.

Asbestos is known to cause respiratory diseases such as asbestosis and lung cancer.

The KFDA is investigating how the toxic material contaminated the products, speculating that it presumably occurred in the manufacturing process. Whether or not the products in question were exported remains unconfirmed, and it's also uncertain how many people have fallen after using them.

A Saturday report by local broadcaster KBS fueled the controversy. According to the report, talc has been used as a basic ingredient to produce chewing gum. ``It makes gum more tasty,'' KBS reported. Also, balloons have been coated with talc powder in order to prevent their surfaces from sticking together, it added.

Following the report, firms manufacturing these products claimed it would cause no harm to consumers' health.

But the fear is spreading among consumers since the authorities admitted to having conducted no inspection of the products despite repeated warnings from civic groups for years.

Rep. Shin Sang-jin of the ruling Grand National Party publicized an inspection report written in 2004 by Chung-Ang University at the KFDA's request. The report said, ``Talc is banned from being used in producing any products overseas,'' suggesting the food agency conduct immediate in-depth research.

Shin said, ``The institute has done nothing for the last five years, even after knowing the potential risk.''

The Korean Federation for Environmental Movements, a local civic group, is to file a collective suit against companies producing controversial products. The civic group said more than 400 victims had promised to participate in the lawsuit.

The controversy first erupted after the KFDA confirmed April 2 that it had detected 11 brands of baby powder contaminated with asbestos including one from the nation's largest baby goods producer, Boryeong.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr