Decoded Korea

Until August 2025, Korean chemical law kept a single list of toxic substances. A mixture became a toxic substance once a listed ingredient passed a set concentration, and that concentration was low enough to catch everyday products. Under the old rules, a mixture containing 0.1 percent benzene counted as toxic, which put gasoline, at roughly 0.7 percent benzene, under the same controls as far more dangerous materials. On August 7, 2025, the revised Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (K-REACH) replaced that single category with three hazard categories, each with its own concentration threshold for mixtures. We counted every designation in the current public data to see where the substances ended up. What the three categories mean Human acute hazard covers substances that can harm health after a single or short exposure. Human chronic hazard covers harm from repeated exposure, or harm that shows up after a latency period. Ecological hazard covers harm to aquatic or...