SEOUL — Civic groups recently called on the government to work out more concrete and substantial measures to monitor and control endocrine disruptors, or “environmental hormones.”
The Citizens’ Alliance for Consumer Protection of Korea (CACPK) also urged the government to ban the use of 13 chemicals which are found to disrupt the hormone and immune systems of both humans and animals.
The request came one day after the Environment Ministry reported that endocrine-disrupting toxic substances, including cancer-causing dioxin, were widely detected in the environment throughout the country. The ministry also announced counter-measures.
The report was the first of its kind in Korea. It was based on 17-month-long inspection into the residue of endocrine disruptors in 113 locations in river water, air and soil.
Kim Jai-ok, executive director of CACPK, said the government came up with lukewarm ones at a time when there are growing public concerns about the dangerous hormone disruptors.
“We’ve called for strict control on the use of 13 endocrine disruptors over the last two years. However, the government has done nothing to regulate the toxic chemicals,” Kim said.
She said the 13 materials included dioxin and bisphenol A, which are widely used in the process of making plastic products and coating the inside surface of cans containing soft drinks and food.
Kim urged the government to make it mandatory for manufacturers to attach labels to their products so that consumers can recognize which products contain endocrine disruptors harmful to human health.
She also called on businesses not to use the harmful compounds in manufacture of toys to protect children.
As for the government measures revealed on Sept. 5, the consumer rights activist said that they lacked concreteness and promptness in dealing with endocrine disruptors.
“What’s important is to take immediate action against those harmful substances in order to ensure the health of people and protect the ecosystem and the environment,” she stressed.
The Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) also said in a statement that the government will have to map out a more comprehensive and fundamental approach to controlling dangerous and unsafe materials.
“We highly support the government’s probe into endocrine disruptors’ exposure to the environment. We hope it will lead to substantial steps toward regulating the harmful substances,” said the environmental group.
But the KFEM pointed out that the government has failed to hammer out prompt plans to contain the level of toxic materials in the ecosystem.
“We urge the government to introduce a wide-ranging system to regulate endocrine-disrupting substances immediately and effectively in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) and other government agencies,” the KFEM said.
The Environment Ministry came under attack for disclosing abstract and lukewarm measures. It just proposed to legislate a special law on endocrine disruptors.
The ministry only promised to push for a set of plans to control harmful substances, while continuing to monitor those areas in which excessive levels of hormone disruptors are detected.
According to a recent survey conducted by CACPK, 87.7 percent of 1,315 Koreans believed that endocrine disruptors were extremely dangerous.
Most of those questioned said that instant food and noodle containers, imported meat products, plastic toys and feeding bottles were believed to contain hormone disruptors.