"Children Stay There Every Day"... 43% of Daycare Centers and Schools Exceed Limits for Hazardous Substances

[Financial News] Hazardous substances exceeding environmental safety management standards or air-quality problems were found at more than 4 in 10 children's activity spaces, including daycare centers, kindergartens and elementary schools. Problems were identified at more than half of local children's centers, kindergartens, elementary schools and daycare centers.
According to data submitted by the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute to Eo Gi-ku, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly Committee on Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor, 1,084 of the 2,509 children's activity spaces that underwent environmental safety assessments last year exceeded the environmental safety management standards. That represented 43.2% of the total. Environmental safety assessments are conducted to inspect hazardous substances and air quality at facilities where children spend time and encourage improvements.
Local children's centers had the most serious results. Problems were found at 415 of the 587 centers assessed, putting the exceedance rate at 71%. The figures were 48 of 71 kindergartens, or 68%; 233 of 352 elementary schools, or 66%; and 311 of 505 daycare centers, or 62%.
Six of the 12 other theme-park businesses exceeded the standards. Play facilities had a relatively low rate of exceedances, with violations found at 71 of 982 facilities, or 7%.
A duplicate count of the problem categories showed that phthalate exceedances were the most common, occurring at 725 facilities. Standards for heavy metals were exceeded at 476 facilities, while air-quality standards were exceeded at 202.
Phthalates are chemicals used to make plastic softer. Some phthalates are classified as suspected endocrine disruptors, and prolonged excessive exposure may affect reproductive function or physical development. For this reason, they have been designated as substances subject to management in children's activity spaces.
Similar problems have been repeated in surveys conducted over the past five years. From 2021 through last year, a total of 6,922 children's activity spaces underwent environmental safety assessments, and 2,730 of them, or 39.4%, exceeded the environmental safety management standards.
The number of facilities exceeding the standards rose from 79 in 2021 to 249 in 2022, 373 in 2023, 945 in 2024 and 1,084 last year. Compared with 2021, the number of facilities exceeding the standards increased more than 13-fold over five years.
Eo Gi-ku pointed out that heavy metals and phthalates had been found in daycare centers, kindergartens and schools, where children spend long hours, and said the causes and vulnerable areas at each facility should be analyzed in detail. He also called for follow-up inspections to determine whether facilities that exceeded the standards had actually completed corrective measures.


[email protected] Jung Ji-woo Reporter