Korea’s organic cosmetics after 400 victims of a toxic disinfectant

South Korea is known for having a very self-conscious youth. By some estimates, the country has the highest rate of plastic surgery per capita in the world. In South Korea 980,000 recorded operations took place in 2014. It has had the most operations per capita for the last seven years. Cosmetic products are a matter of course in this society. The South Korean government recently announced that they would establish strict guidelines in order to introduce a certification system on organic or natural cosmetics, explains Pulse News.

This comes at a time when this industry grows at an explosive rate. In addition to that, the announcement of compensation being paid to over 400 Koreans whose health has been damaged or have even died because of the use of a disinfectant for humidifiers, makes the situation look worse. This has become a popular product in Korea’s dry weather. 51 people have died and 235 have suffered lung damage. Now, the company says it accepts, “full responsibility for the role that this product played in these health issues, including deaths,” and that it has improved its product safety processes, according to Time.

The U.S. and Europe do not have the government-backed official standards for natural or organic cosmetics, but they have reliable accreditation organizations. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) of Korea now wants to set criteria in order to define precisely what are considered as natural or organic farmed cosmetics. These criteria would set a norm that could be applied to the certification process. The MFDS believes that similar private independent organizations like the european NaTrue should be established to issue their certifications