Decoded Korea

PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, the "forever chemicals" — are the target of the largest chemical restriction in EU history. A proposal to limit more than 10,000 of them at once is moving through the EU system, with a decision expected in 2026. Several US states have already banned them from cosmetics, textiles, and furniture. Korea's chemical database, K-REACH, registers 147 PFAS. None carry the "prohibited" flag. Eighteen are classified as persistent organic pollutants. The rest — about 129 — are registered with no hazard classification at all. What PFAS are PFAS are a family of synthetic chemicals built around carbon-fluorine bonds, among the strongest in chemistry. That bond is why they resist heat, water, and oil, and why they are used in non-stick coatings, waterproof fabrics, food packaging, and firefighting foam. It is also why they do not break down — they persist in water, soil, and human blood for years. Hence "forever chemicals....

Retinal serums sell at 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2%. Bakuchiol is marketed as a plant-based retinol alternative. Granactive Retinoid appears on ingredient lists as hydroxypinacolone retinoate. All are vitamin A derivatives or stand-ins, all are sold as retinol's gentler or stronger relatives, and none has a concentration limit in any of the 10 countries we track. In an earlier post, we covered how the EU set the first hard limits on retinol in 2024. This time we checked every other retinoid in our database to see which ones those limits actually reached. Of the 26 retinoid compounds we track, only three are restricted anywhere — retinol, retinyl acetate, and retinyl palmitate. The other 23, including retinal, which is more potent than retinol, carry no concentration limit in any market we cover. Why retinal is the stronger one Every vitamin A derivative has to convert to retinoic acid before skin can use it. The number of conversion steps sets both potency and irritation. Retinyl est...

When a cosmetic product is found to violate Korean cosmetic regulations, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) can order it off shelves. Every recall order ends up in a public registry, available through the government's open-data portal. We pulled the full registry through data.go.kr and read every case. It contains 30 active recall orders, and 18 of them came from just four companies. The count is small partly because of how the registry works. Each recall order stays visible for three years from the order date, so what we see is a rolling window rather than a lifetime tally. The earliest case dates to June 2023. The most recent is February 2026. Comparing 30 to other countries is tricky. EU RAPEX, for instance, lists products in market-surveillance categories that overlap with but do not match Korea's recall criteria. Four companies, 18 of 30 cases Four manufacturers account for more than half the registry: One OEM wet-wipe maker had eight separate wet-wipe pro...

In our earlier analysis of Korean sunscreens , we found that about 7 out of 10 carry SPF 50+. That covered UVB protection — the type that prevents sunburn. This time we looked at the other half of the equation: UVA protection, measured by the PA rating system. The result: in 2025, more than half of all Korean sunscreen products registered with the MFDS carry both SPF 50+ and PA++++. That is the highest possible rating in both categories. What PA means SPF measures protection against UVB rays — the ones that cause sunburn. PA measures protection against UVA rays — the ones that penetrate deeper into skin, cause photoaging, and contribute to skin cancer risk. The PA system was developed in Japan and adopted by Korea. It uses plus signs to indicate protection level: Rating UVA protection level PA+ Some PA++ Moderate PA+++ High PA++++ Extremely high PA++++ was introduced in 2013 as the highest grade. Not every market uses this system — the EU uses a UVA sea...

Most cosmetic products contain fragrance. A typical perfume or scented moisturizer uses dozens of individual fragrance compounds, blended together and listed on the label as a single word: "Parfum" or "Fragrance." That single word is about to get a lot more specific — in the EU, at least. EU Regulation 2023/1545, published in July 2023, expanded the list of fragrance allergens that must be individually named on cosmetic product labels from 24 to 80. New products placed on the EU market must comply by July 31, 2026. Existing products already on shelves have until July 31, 2028. We checked our 10-country regulatory database to see how many of these allergens are regulated elsewhere. What changed in the EU Before 2023, the EU required individual labeling for 24 fragrance allergens. If a product contained Linalool above 0.001% in a leave-on product (or 0.01% in a rinse-off product), the label had to say "Linalool" — not just "Parfum." Regulati...

Korea's chemical substance management system, K-REACH, tracks over 47,000 registered substances. Each one carries up to 9 regulatory flags — toxic, restricted, prohibited, priority management, CMR, accident preparedness, registration required, persistent organic pollutant, and Rotterdam Convention. Of those 47,000+, only 97 carry the "prohibited" flag. That is 0.2% of the database. These are substances where handling itself is banned in Korea — manufacturing, import, and use are all prohibited. We pulled the full list to see what Korea considers dangerous enough to ban entirely. What the 97 look like The 97 prohibited substances fall into a few recognizable groups. Banned pesticides — the largest group About half the list consists of pesticides that were widely used in agriculture before being phased out globally. Aldrin, Dieldrin, Endrin, Heptachlor, Chlordan, Endosulfan, Paraquat, Parathion — names that show up in environmental science textbooks. Most of these ar...

Vitamin C serums are sold at 10%, 15%, 20%, and sometimes 30% concentration. These are high numbers for an active ingredient. For comparison, the EU recently capped retinol at 0.3% in most cosmetics. So how is 20% vitamin C legal when 0.3% retinol is the EU limit? Because no country regulates L-Ascorbic Acid concentration in cosmetics. None of the 10 markets in our database — EU, Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, ASEAN, Brazil, Argentina, the US, or Canada — has a limit. 76 forms of vitamin C Our database contains 76 ingredients with "Ascorbic" or "Ascorbyl" in their INCI names. Vitamin C in skincare is not a single ingredient — it is a family of compounds, each with different stability, potency, and skin penetration characteristics. The ones consumers encounter most often: Form INCI name Characteristics L-Ascorbic Acid Ascorbic Acid Most potent, least stable. Requires low pH. The form used in 10–20% serums MAP Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate Stable,...