“We hope you will stop using Oxy products and throw away Oxy products you already purchased if possible to show your disapproval of Oxy’s unethical business practices.”
On April 25, 37 consumer groups, including a group representing the victims of toxic humidifier disinfectants and the Asian Citizens’ Center for Environment and Health, declared a nationwide boycott of Oxy products at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul .
Some members of those consumer groups put on a performance of hurling Oxy product onto the ground in a show of their anger at the way Oxy Reckitt Benckiser, one of manufacturers of toxic humidifier disinfectants, handles the case.
They lambasted Oxy for producing and distributing toxic products while understanding clearly that high levels of toxicity existed in its products. To top it off, the company dismissed consumer complaints about their toxic products for a long time and even bribed some researcher to doctor research results in favor of the company, the consumer groups strongly criticized.
As of now, the number of people killed by toxic humidifier disinfectants stand at 146, according to the consumer groups.
“A consumer group official said: “Companies like OXY are still strutting around because systems like collective action lawsuits and punitive damages have yet to be introduced to this country.”
Along with the boycott campaign, they plan to take aim at the government which has been sitting on its hands even though it found out that such fatal materials were approved for use and distributed and consequently so many deaths were caused by products using the materials. They will also call for the enactment of a special law on fatal humidifier disinfectants and hearings on the case.
