Food ministry refutes microcystin-poisoned rice scandal

An algae-ridden lower part of the Nakdong River near the drinking water reservoir for Busan, Aug. 11, 2022 / Yonhap

Environmental observers call the government's poison test 'unreliable'

By Ko Dong-hwan

Korea's food watchdog has refuted claims about a poisoned rice scandal that was brought up last week by environmental activists, saying the authority did not find any poison in rice samples used in a test conducted last year.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety told The Korea Times on Wednesday that it had collected samples of rice, radish and cabbage from across the country and tested them to check whether the foods being distributed across the country are safe to eat.

According to results released to the public in January, 40 samples of rice from 2021 were collected from a rice processing complex where produce from paddy fields near the country's four biggest rivers was stored.

Parts of the Han River, Nakdong River, Geum River and Yeongsan River have been polluted with green algae because dams on the rivers stagnate the water flow and have, therefore, disrupted ecosystems.

Environmental observers have long argued that the stagnant waters had polluted agricultural land by generating microcystin, a toxin produced by certain freshwater cyanobacteria in green algae.

The ministry's tests also included 90 samples of rice, radish and cabbage cultivated, reaped and sold by retailers nationwide in 2022. According to the list of locations, all the samples were collected by the government. The sites for the sampling were spread out evenly across the land.

The ministry said in January that the tests, conducted from September to December last year, used liquid chromatography ― a technique to separate, identify and quantify each component in a mixture ― to find signs of six different microcystin types, including the strongest, MC-LR, and the weakest, MC-RR.

"No region in the European Union or the United States looks out for microcystin in managing their foods," the ministry had said when releasing the test results. "But some jurisdictions, including Korea, and the World Health Organization (WHO) enforce a standard level of microcystin to monitor the cleanness of their drinking water."

The ministry's latest remarks came after professor Lee Seung-jun from Pukyong National University in Busan conducted a similar test from September to November last year. Releasing the results earlier this month, he claimed to have found that six out of 20 samples from near Nakdong River and one out of three samples from near Yeongsan River, contained the toxin in an amount exceeding the country's standard for drinking water. While the standard is 0.2 microgram per liter, the problematic samples contained the toxin in amounts from 0.51-1.92 microgram per liter.

Participants in a press conference on March 13 object to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's "unreliable" test for traces of microcystin in agricultural produce, and urge the government to work with the public on an additional test. Courtesy of Korea Federation for Environmental Movements

Lee used standards from the California Environmental Protection Agency, French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety as well as the WHO.

"Two years in a row now, we have found some of our local produce is poisoned with microcystin," Rep. Lee Soo-jin from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said citing the professor's report. Rep. Lee serves on the Environment and Labor Committee of the National Assembly.

"The poisoned produce from the lower streams of Nakdong River are being distributed to school cafeterias nationwide under disguise as eco-friendly produce."

In a separate on-site inspection from June to July 2022, as much as 8,600 micrograms per liter of microcystin were found at a riverside park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, near Nakdong River, according to the lawmaker. The figure is more than 1,000 times that of the standard level from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Environmental observers have criticized the ministry, saying the test samples the authority used were not from locations with a particularly high risk of having microcystin. The activists claimed that the authority deliberately avoided suspect locations.

Korea Federation for Environmental Movements released a statement on March 14 saying most of the sample-acquisition locations the ministry had released "had nothing to do with green algae."

"The vicinity of Nakdong River, which currently has the worst green algae conditions, as well as the estuaries of Geum River, Nakdong River and Yeongsan River, which were saturated in green algae even before the major rivers became the target of redevelopment projects were barely inspected by the ministry," the group said.

"It wouldn't be so different from the Korean government testing natural produce from countries other than Japan to see if they contain radioactivity and concluding it's safe to import the produce from Japan."

Since former president Lee Myung-bak built 16 dams on the aforementioned four rivers during his term (2008-2013) to store water for industrial and agricultural purposes, the water system started showing signs of a serious green algae problem. Local activists satirically dubbed the foam "green algae latte."

The ministry said earlier this month that they are talking with members of the public to jointly launch an additional inspection for traces of microcystin.