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Serial Lecture: Regulations for Color Materials - 11 J. Jpn. Soc. Colour Mater., 90〔8〕，293–299（2017）

Chemical Management Regulations of Korea
Sung-Hoon K im＊,†＊ Department of Textile System Engineering. College of Engineering, Kyungpook National University,

80 Daehak-ro, Buk-gu, Daegu 702-701, Korea†Corresponding Author, E-mail: shokim@knu.ac.kr(Received March 17, 2017; Accepted April 26, 2017)
Abstract
Man-made disasters caused by the negligence of chemical safety officers of workspaces will always occur without fundamental measures forthe administration of safe control of chemicals. Responding to the repeated incidence of chemical accidents, in September 2012, the congress
passed, the「Act on the Registration and Evaluation, etc. of Chemical Substances」and the「Chemicals Control Act」to replace the previous「Toxic Chemicals Control Act」based on the experience of responses to the EU REACH regulation. This paper describes the background ofchemical regulations, domestic chemical accidents and the problems on regulation in Korea.
Key-words: Chemical accidents, Regulation (of chemical substance), Safety management, Chemical control act

1．Background of Chemical ManagementRegulations1-6)
Over 88 million chemical substances have been developed,
while approximately 120,000 chemical substances aredistributed in the commercial market worldwide, and it
is estimated that around 40,000 chemicals are distributed
domestically in Korea. These chemicals might make oureveryday life more convenient, however they can also be
the key to destroy it. Lead by EU, movements to regulate
chemicals which have the potential to harm human healthor the environment have spread throughout the world.
「REACH」June 2007, EU;「Act on the Evaluation ofChemical Substances and Regulation of Their Manufacture,etc. (Chemical Substances Control Law)」April 2010, Japan;「Amended Measures on the Environmental Managementof New Chemical Substances (Decree or Order 7)」October
2010, China, are good examples of the world wide effort
to control chemicals. Management of chemicals is now
mandatory, not optional. The principle of ‘No Data, No
Market’ which restricts legal transaction of chemicals whenrequired data is not provided, is now a norm for international
chemical trading, which prompted the need for Korea to also
have its own responsive chemical regulations. The system〔氏名〕 きむ そんふん〔現職〕 慶北大学校工科大学繊維システム工学科 教授〔趣味〕 スクーバダイビング，水中写真（www.shokim.
com）〔経歴〕 1984 年慶北大学校大学院工業化学科修士課程修了。1987 年大阪府立大学工学部応用化学科博士課程修了（工学博士）。1987 年 4 月
繊維システム工学科講師着任後，助教授，副教授を経て1998 年より同学教授。

provided pursuant to the「Toxic Chemical Control Act」is not
sufficient for the management of human health according to
the exact purpose of use, and type of exposure to the humanbody for each and every various chemical. Accidents are also
reported to have occurred due to the insufficiencies of theprevious management system. The lung damage of numerous
victims caused by humidifier disinfectants containing
substances such as PHMG, PHG, etc. occurred without
proper acknowledgement of the hazard of the chemicals.
The government’s lack of administration is considered
to be one of the major causes of this tragedy. Products
containing hazardous substances were manufactured anddistributed to the general public for over 10 years with nocontrol system to manage and administrate the distribution ofchemicals, which eventually lead to numbers of unfortunate
fatalities.
PHMG ( Polyhexamethylene Guanidine ) is used inother countries, but not in the manner that its usage cancause a direct and lethal hazard to the human body suchas application as humidifier disinfectants. In countries
other than Korea, PHMG is categorized as a fertilizer or ahazardous substance, and its application is strictly regulated.
Since it was the Ministry of Environment who approved
the manufacturing application filed by Yukong, themanufacturing company of PHMG, now named as SK
Chemical, it is inevitable to conclude that the Ministryof Environment was responsible for opening the door toapply a hazardous substance such as PHMG to humidifier
disinfectants.
It was the Ministry of Trade and Industry, now known as
the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, who permitted－35－© 2017 Journal of the Japan Society of Colour Material