[Exclusive] Seoul begins audit of subway air purifiers for 'suspicious lack of performance'

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It was confirmed as a result of SBS coverage that the Seoul Metropolitan Government has begun an audit of the large-capacity air purifiers installed in subway stations.

The Seoul Audit Committee recently received intelligence that the subway large-capacity air purifier was suspected of underperforming, such as a remarkably poor ability to absorb outside air, and is investigating whether it meets key performance, including the ability to remove fine dust.

Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Government sent a technical advisory group to three subway stations on the afternoon of the 27th to conduct on-site inspections on the performance of large-capacity air purifiers.

Afterwards, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will start a separate verification of whether the supplier has delivered an air purifier with the same performance based on the test report submitted at the time of the contract.

About 4,400 large-capacity air purifiers worth about 17 billion won were delivered to Seoul Subway Lines 1 through 9 in 2020.

In June 2019, the Ministry of Environment and other relevant ministries announced measures to strengthen indoor air quality management, and the distribution of large-capacity air purifiers began at each subway station.

The supply contract and distribution were conducted twice by Seoul Transportation Corporation and once by the Seoul Metro Relief Line.

At the time, three air purifier companies won a contract through a bidding at the National Public Procurement Service, and then installed them separately for each line.

As a result of the audit, if it is found that the delivered large-capacity air purifier does not meet the performance of the delivered large-capacity air purifier, unlike the test report submitted at the time of the contract, the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to initiate follow-up procedures such as recall measures and a fact-finding investigation.

A person in charge of a supplier who met with SBS reporters answered that there was no defect in the performance of the air purifier in relation to the related allegations and that he was willing to accept any additional verification.