<Anchor> It turned out that
two years ago, the Korea Consumer Agency confirmed the detection of large amounts of environmental hormones through an experiment on the seat cover of a domestic car.
It has not been disclosed for two years, but it was explained that it was because of the backlash from automakers and concerns about lawsuits.
Reporter Jeong-Hyun Jung covered it.
<Reporter> When
I cut the seat cover of a car with a knife, the artificial leather part was revealed.
As a result of an experiment conducted by Korea Consumer Agency two years ago on genuine seat covers of passenger cars of five domestic automobile companies, phthalate plasticizers were detected in seat covers of four companies made of artificial leather.
As an environmental hormone that disturbs the hormonal action when it enters the human body, it is particularly dangerous for infants and children. In the case of products such as oral toys, its use is strictly restricted so that its content by weight does not exceed 0.1%.
Phthalate-based plasticizers identified at the time were 250 to 300 times higher than the limit for children's use.
However, there are no legal restrictions on the use of seat covers.
[Kye Myung-chan/Hanyang University Life Science Professor: You expose your skin in summer.
Even when riding a car.
(Environmental hormones) that entered through the skin remain for a long time (in the human body).] The
Consumer Agency did not disclose the results of the experiment while evaluating that "it is presumed that phthalate plasticizers are being used without restrictions because there is no standard for the content of harmful substances in interior materials.
Consumer Agency explained that the experiment was not publicized at the time, and it was not disclosed because it was feared that automakers would file a lawsuit against it if the detection was announced without regulatory standards.
However, Korea Consumer Agency disclosed in a press release that environmental hormones were detected in the car steering wheel cover in December 2018.