[Anchor]

A family that sold counterfeit luxury goods through social media live broadcasts was caught by police early this year. Upon testing the confiscated counterfeit cosmetics, hazardous substances such as methanol and lead were detected.

Reporter Hong Yeongjae has the details.

[Reporter]

A woman conducts a social media live broadcast, advertising that she is selling luxury wallets at low prices.

[Person A / SNS Broadcaster (Last February): Our place, sis, does a good job with Hermes, you know, considering the price. It's unconditionally in the authentic line, sis.]

However, while the broadcast is underway, the police burst in.

[Person A / SNS Broadcaster (Last February): Just a moment. Someone is here. (We are here to execute a search warrant.)]

The products sold during the broadcast were so-called knockoffs that only copied the appearance of luxury brands.

Police confiscated 7,300 counterfeit items worth 20 billion won based on retail price, and the Korea Consumer Agency tested the safety of 34 products imitating famous cosmetics such as Chanel and Dior among them.

As a result, hazardous substances exceeding standard limits were detected in 11 products, which accounts for 32%.

In 6 types of perfumes, methanol was detected from a minimum of 73.7% to a maximum of 96.9%, which is an excess ranging from 368 to 484 times the allowable limit.

While ethanol is used when making authentic perfumes, methanol costs only 13% of ethanol, so it appears they used it despite its toxicity.

[Park Jun-yong / Head of the Hazard Management Team, Consumer Safety Bureau, Korea Consumer Agency: If methanol is absorbed into the body, it can cause vision loss, and prolonged exposure can lead to side effects such as central nervous system disorders.]

In some hand cream products, CMIT and MIT, which are banned from use because they can cause allergic skin reactions and respiratory and eye irritation, were detected simultaneously.

CMIT and lead components were also detected in lipsticks and body mists.

The Korea Consumer Agency noted that counterfeit cosmetics are highly likely to have lacked proper safety verification and hygiene management. It advised that since they come into direct contact with the skin, if a product is confirmed to be counterfeit, use should be immediately stopped and the item discarded.

(Video Editing: Lee Sang-min)