[THE INVESTOR] The Environment Ministry released Friday a list of models of air purifiers and air conditioners that use toxic filters.

According to the ministry, filters containing Octylisothiazolinone (OIT) were detected in 51 air purifier models from companies such as LG, Samsung, Coway, Winia, Cuckoo, Chungho Nice and 33 air conditioner models for home and automobiles from companies including Hyundai Mobis, LG, Samsung and Doowon.

As part of product recalls over the concerns, companies said they would offer free filter replacements to customers.

All of these filters -- except those used by Doowon -- were manufactured by multinational conglomerate 3M.

OIT, one of the chemicals detected in local company Aekyung’s toxic humidifier disinfectant, has been classified as a harmful substance since 2014.

The disputed filters have been banned from use since June 15, except Coway’s 18 air purifier models which were manufactured for export, the ministry said.

“We will cooperate with other ministries and related companies in recalling the problematic products according to procedures,” said Hong Jung-seop, the director of chemical substances management department of the ministry.

To check the level of toxicity based on the amount of OIT released in the air, the ministry conducted an experiment in June by activating air purifiers and air conditioners in a closed 26 square-meter room.

About 24 percent to 46 percent of OIT was found in the air after five consecutive days of activation. As much as 76 percent of it was also detected from an automobile’s air conditioner after eight hours.

The ministry added that an investigation is ongoing to find if there is a clear correlation between the use of filters that contain OIT and health risks.

Meanwhile, manufacturer 3M released an apology on Friday and said that it would voluntarily recall all of the problematic filters. According to a local news report, 3M sold over 1.1 million filters to local companies over the last two years.

Samsung also announced on Friday that it would replace current filters with OIT-free ones for customers upon request. It added that the affected models are currently not available for sale.

Some companies such as Cuckoo, however, argued that the amount of OIT contained in their products is too low to pose health risks.

Coway also began to conduct its own research at Seoul National University’s environmental institute to prove the safety of its filters.

“The result of our experiment showed that no OIT was detected (in our product), but we will bring it to an external institute for another confirmation,” said an official from Coway.

By Kim Da-sol / The Korea Herald ()