Gov't against unfounded promises

June 25, 2012

Tokyo gov't warns against unfair ads over radioactive decontamination

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120625p2a00m0na015000c.html

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government found 136 cases of unfair advertisements on the Internet for radioactive decontamination in fiscal 2011 in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, government officials say.

The officials say the Tokyo government ordered advertisers involved to correct or drop their ads.

The metropolitan government's Bureau of Citizens and Cultural Affairs, which monitors web banners as part of its consumer affairs operations, checked about 24,000 banner ads in fiscal 2011.

Of the total, the government issued instructions in 582 cases, up sharply from 302 a year before, citing violation of the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations and other regulations. Of the 582 cases, about one-fourth concerned ads promoting radioactive decontamination without verified data.

According to the metropolitan government, 56 cases were for ads for water purification equipment, 34 cases involved ads for health food, 16 concerned ads for radioactivity measuring devices and 11 were ads for protective masks.

Some ads for water purification devices said the equipment could remove 95 percent to 99 percent of radioactive cesium and 96 percent to 99 percent of iodine, while some promoted supplements that could supposedly remove radioactive materials and carcinogenic substances from the body.

The metropolitan government also found protective masks and detergents that were being touted as effective against radioactive substances although they had been produced like other ordinary masks and detergents. Some other products featuring zeolite, which has the property of absorbing some substances, were advertised without any scientific proof.

The Tokyo government found 39 unfair ads for disaster-prevention products, characterizing some as being recommended by U.S. international rescue teams without providing any foundation for the claims.

A metropolitan government official says the number of unfair ads remains high even over a year after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear crisis, and urges consumers to check the credibility of advertising claims.