By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The Korea Food and Drug Administration is under fire for having ignored risks involving baby goods that in March were reported to have contained carcinogens.
Rep. Shim Jae-chul of the governing Grand National Party said Thursday that the government has not taken any steps against Johnson and Johnson's Baby Shampoo and Johnson's Moisture Care Baby Wash, which reportedly were found to contain formaldehyde and dioxane by U.S. civic group The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. About 1.1 particles per million (ppm) of dioxane and 210 ppm of formaldehyde were detected in the shampoo and 3.0 ppm of dioxane was detected in the baby wash.
Formaldehyde was used as an antiseptic treatment but is banned from use in Japan, Sweden and elsewhere, while dioxane was used as a solvent and is banned in European Union member nations.
After the initial report, the civic group and the Chinese government, on whose territory the manufacturing plants are situated, reportedly sent a warning to the drug administration over the possible dangers.
Taiwanese retailers and some supermarket chains in Shanghai reportedly removed the shampoo from the shelves and have given out refunds to customers who bought it, Shim said citing a Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs report.
``Since babies are vulnerable to even the smallest things, the drug administration should conduct thorough studies on such products that are applied directly to the skin and disclose the results,'' he said.
However, the KFDA said the amount of substances found in the products were below Korean standards ― 0.2 percent of the permissible amount ― and that a removal order was unnecessary. Lee Dong-hee, an administration official, said, ``We have requested the cosmetic company and others to substitute the substance for safety's sake.''
Choi Seung-hee, a spokeswoman for Johnson and Johnson Consumer Companies, said the troublesome products were not sold in Korea.
When asked whether other products have been examined, she said the company had sent information and samples of their products in March, and they were acknowledged as safe by the authorities. ``As far as I know, the U.S. drug authorities also said that the products are safe despite the consumer report,'' she said.