Harmful Chemicals

[Anchor Lead]

The number of Koreans practicing yoga has spiked dramatically, recently reaching two million people. But hazardous substances have been detected in some yoga mats, even in the ones advertised as environment-friendly. The presence of harmful chemicals in everyday products is exacerbating public fears of chemical substances.

[Pkg]

This is a yoga academy in Seoul. Every one of the students is sitting on a yoga mat. It is characteristic of yoga to have the skin come in direct contact with the mat. Sometimes even the face and mouth touch the mat.

[Soundbite] Na Ju-hee(Director, Yoga Academy) : "Since yoga mats come in direct contact with the skin, I purchase high-end, quality mats and dry them under the sun after class."

But the Korea Consumer Agency tested 30 yoga mats sold in the market and found hazardous substances in seven of them. Four mats contained phthalic plasticizers, one of the known endocrine disruptors. Some mats had the chemical as high as up to 245 times the standard. Other culprits included short chain chlorinated paraffins in two mats and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the other two. One mat even tested positive for two of these substances.

[Soundbite] Dr. Oh Beom-jo(SNU Boramae Medical Center) : "Phthalic plasticizers can cause reoroductive problems in adults and PAHs are toxic to the liver and kidneys."

Six out of the seven mats containing these harmful chemicals were relatively thin PVC products. Some of these mats had even advertised themselves as environmentally-friendly. The Korea Consumer Agency requested the pertinent authorities to set up safety standards for yoga mats.