Doctors warn of serious side effects after auto parts maker allegedly gave workers 'vitamin shots' that were actually chelation injections

DN Automotive, a major domestic automotive battery manufacturer, is facing allegations that it deceived workers by administering chelation injections — which force heavy metals out of the bloodstream through urine — while telling them the shots were vitamins. The Ministry of Employment and Labor has referred the company to police on obstruction of business charges, and doctors are now warning that the injections carry serious risks.

According to Yonhap, the alleged incidents took place at DN Automotive's Ulsan factory ahead of mandatory special health screenings. The company is accused of periodically giving workers chelation injections — which flush heavy metals from the blood through urine — while describing them as vitamin shots. The suspicion is that the company feared workers would test high for lead and administered the injections, despite their known risks, to suppress those results.

The central question under investigation is whether the company gave workers chelation shots immediately before their special health screenings to prevent elevated lead levels from showing up in the results. The Ministry of Employment and Labor determined that administering the injections just before the screenings may have obstructed the government's worker health-protection measures, and referred DN Automotive to police on obstruction charges.

A ministry probe found 68 violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act at the Ulsan factory. The ministry referred the violations for indictment and imposed a fine of 46.2 million won ($34,500).

The chelation treatment itself can cause significant side effects, doctors say.

Lee Yu-jeong, a professor in the family medicine department at Korea University Guro Hospital, told Money Today that even when a blood test shows elevated lead levels, the decision to administer chelation therapy — and at what dosage — must take into account a range of factors: the patient's age, the concentration of lead in the blood, whether lead-poisoning symptoms are present, and, for women, whether they are pregnant, as well as kidney function. "This treatment is mainly performed at university hospitals," she said. "At our hospital, we see roughly one case every five years — it is that rare."

Heavy metal poisoning can present as mild symptoms such as abdominal pain, constipation, headaches and fatigue, or as more serious neurological symptoms including impaired consciousness. Patients without such symptoms are not considered candidates for chelation therapy, regardless of how high their heavy metal levels are.

Lee said the strict criteria for chelation treatment exist precisely because the therapy can cause serious side effects.

One employee who said he was given the injection against his will reported that his blood pressure spiked to 180 mmHg and his vision suddenly doubled.

Product information for deferoxamine mesylate, a chelation agent used in iron-poisoning cases, states that visual impairment can occur even after a single dose.

The risks also include flushing, hives, low blood pressure, shock, and both visual and hearing impairment.

In the United States, preventive use of chelation therapy is prohibited by law because of the risk of side effects such as kidney damage. The treatment is to be administered only to patients who require it, and only at appropriate doses.

Lee said WHO guidelines also recommend that, in the absence of heavy metal poisoning symptoms, clinicians should first reduce the patient's exposure to heavy metals and monitor their condition rather than immediately starting chelation therapy. "Not everyone diagnosed with heavy metal poisoning is a candidate for chelation treatment," she said.

She added that while lowering blood heavy metal levels through chelation serves a legitimate therapeutic purpose for patients who need it, administering the injections to workers who believed they were simply receiving vitamin shots — in order to avoid abnormal readings during a health screening — "would not escape ethical scrutiny."