Fears grow over sterilizer products

By Kim Tae-jong

Lee Jung-mi, a mother of a 13-month-old boy, has stopped using wet tissues for fear of possible health side effects they might cause.

“It’s inconvenient, but I don’t want to use them anymore as they could be hazardous to my son’s health, although there is no scientific evidence or anything yet,” she said.

Like Lee, a number of consumers, especially those with young children or babies, are jittery about the safety of sterilizers and cleansing products available on the market since some humidifier sterilizer products have been found to cause serious illness.

Health authorities last week ordered manufacturers of six types of humidifier sterilizer to recall their products within 30 days.

After months-long experiments, they concluded they caused a mysterious lung disease that resulted in the death of a number of pregnant women earlier this year.

Upon the announcement, fears are growing over other household items such as wet wipes, hand sanitizers, deodorizers and air fresheners, which appear to contain similar toxic or hazardous chemicals used in humidifier sterilizer products on the recall list.

Many people also argue the vague fears were even fuelled by the government’s mishandling of the humidifier sterilizer incident.

Recall time-consuming

“Despite their possible negative influence on our health, the government has neglected its duty to guarantee the safety of humidifier sterilizer products, allowing manufacturers to sell them even after they found harmful elements,” Ko Kum-sook, director of the Korean Women’s Environmental Network, said. “It also failed to effectively cope with the issue, taking months until it finally decided to recall products,”

The civic group demanded the government create a new body to monitor and regulate household products.

Amid growing public concerns, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said it would be safe to use other sterilizers and cleansing products following the directions specifically for each product.

“We can’t say all wet tissues and hand sterilizers are 100 percent safe because they contain traces of toxic chemicals,” an official from the ministry said. “But if you follow the instructions for each product, it is unlikely health problems will arise by using them.”

To prevent similar health problems from using household products, the ministry is now discussing with related other government bodies to come up with systematic solutions,” he added.