Toxic Substances Smeared on Apartment Exterior Walls Shocks Residents

[Anchor]

Residents in a Busan apartment complex are up in arms after discovering that toxic chemical products were used without even minimal safety barriers to remove stains from the exterior walls. With residents having caught and denounced workers for the exact same issue just a few months ago, criticisms are mounting that safety negligence has crossed the line.

KNN reporter Kim Min-sung has the story.

[Reporter]

This is an apartment complex in Haeundae-gu, Busan.

Workers aboard an aerial work platform are painting and spraying water on the exterior walls of the apartment.

They are trying to remove exterior stains, but the substance applied with brushes is toxic.

This is a container of liquid recovered from the work site.

The workers were applying a product known as an efflorescence remover, which close inspection reveals contains a mixture of nitric acid and phosphoric acid.

Nitric and phosphoric acids are highly acidic and can cause skin corrosion or damage to the eyes and respiratory tract.

The removal agent even carried an acute toxicity warning label.

Yet the work was carried out right above the heads of residents without any prior notice requiring caution and without any protective barriers.

[Lee Young-jin / Apartment Resident: Water droplets mixed with nitric acid and other things were blowing around, and it looked very dangerous. It is a place where people always walk by when (children) go to school....]

Back in May, the construction company at this same apartment complex also faced complaints from residents after performing defect repair work using a cleaning agent mixed with hydrochloric acid.

Now, they have been caught by residents once again using toxic substances without any safety measures.

[Kim Tae-seok / President of the Apartment Residents' Representative Council: We told them to come up with preventive measures to ensure there is no damage, and we even received a firm promise that they would do so....]

Experts also point out that safety measures to prevent secondary harm to residents were inadequate.

[Hong Seung-chul / Professor of Occupational Health and Safety, Inje University: While short-term acute effects are relevant to the workers, the impact on residents constitutes secondary damage. Because of the pressure of the sprayed water, it will splash in all directions....]

The construction company apologized for the lack of safety measures and stated that it will proceed with further work only after receiving approval for the work plan from the residents.

(Video by Kim Tae-yong | Video Editing by Lee So-min)

KNN Kim Min-sung
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.