Revealed to contain insecticide in laundry detergent, Miaojiajia chairman threatens to sue, experts and scholars criticize
Text by Upstream and Downstream reporters Wang Wen-hao and Yang Chen-yu
After a six-month investigation, the Upstream and Downstream News Market revealed that Miao Guan Jia anti-mite and anti-allergy laundry detergent contains the insecticide permethrin, and held a press conference with the Homemakers United Foundation to urge relevant government agencies to investigate whether unknown chemical substances are being used in laundry detergents. The next day, Tsai Tsung-yang, chairman of Miao Guan Jia Taiwan, personally took to the front line and aggressively attacked the test report as "alarmist," causing consumer panic, and Miao Guan Jia threatened to file a lawsuit.
Miao Guan Jia issued a statement claiming that permethrin is a raw material approved for use by the WTO, that its toxicity is relatively extremely low, and that unless it is directly swallowed, it basically causes no harm to the human body. In fact, anti-mite agents contain permethrin, and as long as clothes are rinsed 1 or 2 more times than usual during washing, there should not be residual amounts harmful to the human body. (Editor's note: Miao Guan Jia should have mistaken WHO for WTO. WHO is the World Health Organization, WTO is the World Trade Organization, and only WHO is responsible for toxicological testing and assessment of insecticides.)
Miao Guan Jia's statement claimed that permethrin is almost not absorbed by the skin. When permethrin is used for plant protection it is called a "pesticide," when used for environmental sanitation it is called an "insecticide," when used on human skin (to control head lice and scabies) it is called a "medicine," and when used for anti-mite protection in clothing it is called an "anti-mite agent." It is not, as the media claims, "pesticide put into laundry detergent."
Tsai Tsung-yang pointed out that the Homemakers United Foundation used the Council of Agriculture's permethrin residue standard of 0.05 ppm for edible crop residues as a comparison for a non-edible, purely external laundry product, which is unfair and biased against the company's product, and stated: "Environmental groups should do their homework before killing people." Miao Guan Jia plans to file a lawsuit. (Editor's note: The investigative report was actually conducted by the Upstream and Downstream News Market.)
After Miao Guan Jia held a press conference yesterday morning threatening to sue, its claims came under attack and questioning from attending scholars and experts yesterday afternoon at the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection's National Standards Technical Committee for Daily Necessities, which was convened to discuss laundry detergents.
Wu Chia-cheng: If you buy laundry detergent, it should be laundry detergent; the fewer strange things the better
Regarding the addition of permethrin to Miao Guan Jia laundry detergent, meeting chairman Wu Chia-cheng, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at National Taiwan Normal University, pointed out: "Consumers want to buy laundry detergent, but there is pesticide in it, which falls short of consumers' expectations. If you buy laundry detergent, buy laundry detergent; the fewer strange things the better. A toxic chemical molecule is toxic no matter what name you call it. If we follow the manufacturer's logic, permethrin is so effective, then from now on we can just use detergent in the fields!"
In response to Miao Guan Jia citing the U.S. military's use of permethrin on military uniforms for insect protection as evidence of permethrin's effectiveness and safety, Wu Chia-cheng replied: "U.S. soldiers are very strong; they are going to war, and they can withstand this amount of permethrin. But this stuff of ours is used by ordinary families, by mothers and children. Can they withstand the toxicity of permethrin?"
Regarding Miao Guan Jia citing permethrin's medical uses as evidence of the safety of adding it to laundry detergent, Wu Chia-cheng said that the chemical molecule is the same, and it does not divide into medical use, pesticide use, or environmental sanitation use; its toxicity to the human body is the same. It is just like "we hold a Republic of China passport, and whether we go to Japan or to mainland China, we are still the same person." He stressed that the impact and harm caused by chemical substances must be resolved from a scientific perspective.
Experts present also echoed Wu Chia-cheng's remarks, pointing out directly that the materials submitted by Miao Guan Jia were only evidence of medical use; but what is being considered now is laundry detergent, a daily necessity, which is a completely different matter and unconvincing to consumers.
Whether a product is safe or not, manufacturers bear the greatest responsibility for gatekeeping
Wu Chia-cheng said bluntly that manufacturers need to do a good job of safety gatekeeping themselves first: "Whether a product is safe or not, the government certainly has a responsibility to supervise, but the manufacturer's responsibility is even greater. If you do not know whether the things you add are safe, why are you selling them? Are we all supposed to sacrifice a bit of our health so that one manufacturer can accumulate relatively large wealth?"
Wu Chia-cheng called for action, saying that there are so many chemical substances. Today permethrin has appeared in laundry detergent, so many meetings must be held to discuss whether testing and residue standards should be set. Tomorrow it will be unknown which chemical substance appears again, and there will always be no way to guard against them all. Moreover, once it is allowed, it will have a great impact on other industries.
Wu Chia-cheng gave an example: the day before yesterday he attended an organic agricultural product promotion event held by a local government. If the addition of permethrin to laundry detergent is allowed, not only will environmental hormones pollute water bodies, but it will also deal a blow to organic agriculture. These are all costs that must be paid once it is allowed. Therefore, he believes that the government must conduct a comprehensive consideration of whether environmental sanitation pesticides or agricultural pesticides can be added to laundry detergent.
Lin Chung-ying: Full ingredient labeling should be implemented to protect the public's right to know
"Today is already the 51st meeting of the National Standards Technical Committee for Daily Necessities this year, and only now are we discussing the ingredients in detergents for the first time," said Dr. Lin Chung-ying of the Division of Clinical Toxicology at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. According to the materials provided by the Upstream and Downstream report, this detergent contains not only permethrin but also another antibacterial agent, Isothiazolones, which is a chemical substance that easily triggers severe allergies, yet it appears in the laundry detergent we use and even affects our environment.
"Have the manufacturers done tests on the dangers of these added substances to the human body and on bacterial resistance? Manufacturers cannot say that the amount added is very small, so the impact is not significant. These effects may only become harmful ten or twenty years later," questioned Lin Chung-ying, who is herself a CNS committee member.
Lin Chung-ying stressed that she opposes adding unnecessary chemical substances to laundry detergent, and that manufacturers should honestly label what ingredients laundry detergent contains, ensuring that "the public has the right to know."
Huang Chi-sen: Laundry detergent manufacturers are exploiting legal loopholes, which is unfair to other law-abiding operators
Huang Chi-sen, chairman and academic group leader of the Taiwan Environmental Pest Management Association, said that for permethrin to be used as an anti-mite agent, it must be registered with the Environmental Protection Administration for use as an environmental sanitation pesticide. Now operators are evading pesticide management laws and environmental sanitation pesticide management laws by adding it to laundry detergents, which is unfair to other law-abiding operators.
Based on his own experience researching anti-mite insecticides, Huang Chi-sen pointed out that the Environmental Protection Administration has currently issued seven environmental sanitation pesticide permits for anti-mite uses, and these operators have spent a great deal of money and time conducting efficacy tests and toxicological data.
"Suppose after they register an environmental sanitation pesticide, one liter sells for 1,000 yuan, and you, a detergent manufacturer, add permethrin and sell one liter for 300 yuan. This is very unfair to the seven operators that obtained environmental sanitation pesticide permits, because they took the legal route and registered with the Environmental Protection Administration," Huang Chi-sen said.
Huang Chi-sen pointed out that dust mites eat our human dandruff, and dust mites hide in bed sheets and sofas, so when making insecticides today, contact toxicity and oral toxicity must be tested, and only after truly passing efficacy tests can they be used as environmental sanitation pesticides. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has nearly 4,000 people managing environmental sanitation pesticides. If permethrin is incorporated into the CNS2477 national standard, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will not have the manpower to manage factories and manage pesticide technical materials.
Therefore, Huang Chi-sen suggested that if the manufacturer's purpose in using permethrin is to kill mites, it should return to environmental sanitation pesticide management. "A product is a product. If the purpose and use are as a drug, then it is a drug. The country already has relevant legal provisions for pesticides and environmental sanitation pesticides. Why create a new use?" he questioned.
Miao Guan Jia representative: The data in the media report is correct, but the way it is cited is open to question
When attending the meeting, Miao Guan Jia spokesperson Chou Chih-cheng said: "Permethrin is imported from abroad; we are also victims. We advocate 100 percent disclosure of the finished product, and we look forward to the government making clear regulations. The dispute is only temporary; the system is forever. We hope the government will treat this case as a general case for review, require detergents to disclose all ingredients, and give us a chance to lead Europe and the United States in regulation."
Chou Chih-cheng also promised: "In future product development, Miao Guan Jia will obtain certification from third parties and academic institutions, and only after confirming that it is safe and free of concerns will new products be launched."
Regarding the media report, Chou Chih-cheng believed there was a gap in testing standards, arguing that what should be tested is the residual amount after washing clothes, not the edible residue standard: "The data tested by the media is correct, but the way it is cited is open to question."
The Miao Guan Jia incident shocked society, and the technical meeting saw a rare large turnout
Yesterday's meeting was estimated to have more than 60 attendees, including technical committee members, manufacturers, scholars, and consumer group representatives. One attending committee member said that in the past, when attending committee meetings, they had never seen such a large turnout, which shows the shock the incident of insecticide being added to laundry detergent has caused society.
Wu Chia-cheng believed that regarding this incident, neither the government nor the manufacturers should make excuses anymore; the purpose of the meeting was to stop making excuses for poor management. He would suggest that the Environmental Protection Administration's legal affairs committee study whether the act of using anti-mite agents in laundry detergent violates environmental protection-related laws, and ask relevant competent authorities such as the Council of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health and Welfare about the current management situation.
Wu Chia-cheng said the meeting also resolved to ask the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection to require operators to implement the provisions of the Commodity Labeling Act. In the future, all ingredients in laundry detergent, and the percentages of all ingredients, must be clearly labeled, and names must also be clearly labeled. For example, "permethrin" must be labeled as "permethrin" and cannot be replaced with "antibacterial agent" or similar substitutes.
The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection said that after collecting the current management methods of various ministries and agencies regarding permethrin, it hopes to invite scholars and experts to hold another meeting as early as possible before the Lunar New Year holiday to further discuss whether the national standard for laundry detergent should include testing for pesticides and environmental sanitation pesticides.