[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s antitrust watchdog closed an inspection on two local humidifier sterilizer manufacturers, citing a lack of evidence, on Aug. 24. The ballooning toxic disinfectant scandal has resulted in numerous deaths and illnesses here.

Aekyung Industrial and E-mart had allegedly manufactured and sold humidifier cleansers using the chemicals chloro-methylisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone between 2006 and 2011.

The Fair Trade Commission had accused the two companies of having not indicated the health risks of such chemicals on their products in 2012, but acquitted them, saying the lethal effects of CMIT and MIT when inhaled have not been proven.

However, the FTC resumed the inspection in 2016 as the humidifier disinfectant case, one of the worst scandals involving a consumer product using poisonous chemicals, has remained in headlines in South Korea.

But the watchdog closed the case again, citing that Aekyung and E-mart are not required to list the possible health hazards on the products, as there is still not enough evidence the chemicals are fatal.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)