Two-Year Grace Period Granted Despite Group 1 Carcinogen Risk... Consumer Concerns Rise Over Bottled Water Safety

[Anchor]

On hot, sunny days like these, leaving bottled water unattended for a long time can cause harmful substances from the plastic to seep into the water. Starting tomorrow, the 31st, bottled water must be stored indoors away from direct sunlight, or covered if kept outdoors. However, enforcement of these rules has been postponed for two years.

Reporter Jang Se-man has more details.

[Reporter]

In the sweltering heat exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86°F), bottled water cases are piled up in front of a convenience store.

Touching them by hand, they feel warm to the touch.

It is the same at another nearby convenience store, where bottled water placed on outdoor display stands is directly exposed to sunlight.

Measuring the temperature with a thermal imaging camera showed that the surface temperature rose as high as 46 degrees Celsius (115°F).

This happens because stores lack sufficient space inside to store the merchandise.

[Convenience Store Employee: (Bottled water) takes up space anyway and can obstruct movement inside the store, so usually putting everything outside is pretty much the default...]

The problem is that long exposure to high-temperature direct sunlight in midsummer can cause harmful substances to leach from the plastic bottles into the water.

According to an experiment conducted by the Board of Audit and Inspection four years ago, when bottled water was exposed to ultraviolet rays at 50 degrees Celsius (122°F) for 15 days, Group 1 carcinogens such as formaldehyde and the heavy metal antimony were eluted.

This is equivalent to storing water outside under natural conditions for 3.9 months, while actual bottled water is distributed for up to a year or so.

In the case of formaldehyde, it posed no problem under domestic standards, but exceeded allowable limits under Japanese standards. Antimony, which has no domestic standard, exceeded allowable limits based on Australian standards.

Formaldehyde and other substances are generated during the process of applying high temperature and high pressure to plastic raw materials when manufacturing PET bottles, and these substances leach into the water when exposed to high temperatures and ultraviolet rays for extended periods.

[Kang Sang-wook, Professor of Chemical and Energy Engineering at Sangmyung University: When PET molecules are continuously exposed to ultraviolet rays, the molecular chains break. The chemical substances generated in the process are aldehydes.]

The Ministry of Climate and Environment has revised regulations on the distribution and storage of bottled water, making indoor storage mandatory starting tomorrow to prevent exposure to sunlight, and requiring covers to be placed if water must inevitably be kept outdoors.

However, considering difficulties such as a lack of storage space, the government decided to defer enforcement for two years, raising controversy as even the use of covers, which could be implemented immediately, has been delayed.

(Video Editing: Yu Mi-ra, VJ: Shin So-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.