Talc has been found in two types of condoms made in China available in the Korean market, International Environmental Consultants said Tuesday. Condoms made by Korean companies were talc-free, as they used corn starch powder instead of talc.

The Chosun Ilbo collected 16 condoms sold in motels, convenience stores and online shopping malls, and commissioned the International Environmental Consultants to analyze their substance. The test discovered talc in two brands made in China. Talc has been widely used in cosmetics such as powder or in pills. But in condoms it can be deleterious to health, the World Health Organization banned the use in manufacturing them no matter whether it contains asbestos or not in 2003.

The result shows that the announcement made by the Korea Food and Drug Administration on April 7 that there are no condoms being sold in Korea that contain talc was wrong. The KFDA at the time made the announcement without collecting and studying the condom samples from the market, only consulting documents submitted by Korean condom manufacturers. "Because talc is a banned substance for making condoms and as there was no mention of talc on the product license, we did not carry out a separate study on this," a KFDA spokesman said.