One in five household chemical products sold through overseas direct purchases does not meet South Korean safety standards. The violations were particularly concentrated in air fresheners, paints and coatings, and adhesives.
The Climate Energy Environment Ministry reported on September 23 that, from January to August of this year, it investigated the safety of 2,213 household chemical products distributed domestically and purchased from overseas. Of these, 220 products were found to violate safety standards or were deemed non-compliant with domestic regulations.
Among the 1,313 domestically distributed products surveyed, 31 were found to violate safety standards, resulting in a violation rate of 2.4%. This is a decrease from 3.2% in 2024 and 3.7% last year.
By category, air fresheners had the highest number of violations, with six cases. There were four violations among filter-type preservation products, and three each for cleaners, adhesives, special-purpose coatings, deodorants, and object paints, totaling 12 categories with violations.
In contrast, 189 out of 900 overseas direct purchase products were found to be non-compliant with South Korean safety standards, resulting in a non-compliance rate of 21%. This is approximately nine times higher than the violation rate for domestically distributed products.
When categorized by intended use, 75 of the non-compliant products were related to scents, including incense and aroma oils, as well as indoor and automotive air fresheners. There were 69 products related to automotive repair paint pens and leather and shoe dyes, as well as waterproofing and anti-fogging agents. Additionally, 30 products were adhesives for nails, eyelashes, and crafts. These three categories accounted for 92.1% of all non-compliant overseas direct purchase products.
Unlike domestically distributed products, overseas direct purchase household chemicals are not subject to safety standard verification or reporting. Considering the difficulty in confirming the safety of these products, the ministry has expanded its annual safety investigation volume to over 2,000 since last year.
The ministry has recommended the suspension of sales and use, voluntary recalls, and consumer notifications for domestically distributed products found to be in violation. It has also requested online retailers to block sales. Administrative actions, including bans on manufacturing and importing and recall orders, have been completed based on the nature of the violations.
For non-compliant overseas direct purchase products, the ministry has requested sales blocks from overseas online retailers and customs holds from the Korea Customs Service. Product names, images, sales locations, and details of non-compliance can be checked on the chemical product safety portal, 'Choroknuri.'
Heo Hye-in, a manager at the Climate Ministry's Chemical Product Management Division, stated, "Since overseas direct purchase household chemical products are not subject to safety standard verification or reporting, consumers should check on Choroknuri to see if any products are publicly listed as non-compliant before making a purchase."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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