The Japan Association of Chain Drug Stores issued the notice to its 190 member companies Friday, the official said.

The notice also advised its members stores to be careful when selling an acid detergent that is used with the sulfur products to generate hydrogen sulfide gas.

“The notice is what we can do most at this moment for a campaign to prevent people from committing suicide by generating hydrogen sulfide gas,” an association official said.

The country has seen dozens of recent suicide attempts using hydrogen sulfide gas, produced by the materials through instructions found easily on the Internet.

Authorities have urged Internet providers to voluntarily crackdown on the Web sites and have voiced concern that wide media coverage is leading to more suicides.

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