Exposures to humidifier disinfectant and various health conditions in Korean based on personal exposure assessment data of claimants for compensation.

BACKGROUND: Humidifier disinfectants (HDs) were commonly used household chemicals to prevent microbial growth in a humidifier water tank in South Korea. A growing body of evidence has indicated that its airborne exposure can induce severe lung injury. However, there has been low awareness of other health outcomes in HD users. This study aimed to evaluate health conditions appealed by claimants for compensation in relation with an increased exposure to HD. METHODS: From survey data of personal HD exposure assessment of claimants for compensation in Korea, we included a total of 4,179 subjects [cases in each dataset were defined by nine reported health conditions, i.e., pneumonia, asthma, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, otorhinolaryngologic disease, brain disease (including cerebrovascular disease), dermatological disease, lung cancer, and all cancers]. HD exposures was considered as the following exposure criteria: exposure duration, exposure proximity, exposure direction, chemical type, cumulative exposure time, indoor air concentration, and cumulative exposure level. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between HD exposure and health conditions. RESULTS: After adjusting for sociodemographic and health behavioral factors and other chemical exposures (households, environmental, and occupational exposures), an increase in cumulative HD exposure time was significantly associated with risks of all nine diseases (all p-trends < 0.05). An increase in HD exposure duration was associated with asthma, respiratory disease, otorhinolaryngologic disease, dermatological disease, all cancers, and lung cancer (p-trends < 0.05). Indoor HD concentration was associated with only pneumonia (p-trend = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that cumulative exposures to airborne HD might potentially increase the risk of various reported health outcomes.

Humidifier Disinfectant Consumption and Humidifier Disinfectant-Associated Lung Injury in South Korea: A Nationwide Population-Based Study.

Humidifier disinfectant (HD) is a household biocidal product used in humidifier water tanks to prevent the growth of microorganisms. In 2011, a series of lung injury cases of unknown causes emerged in children and pregnant women who had used HD in Korea. This study investigated changes in the nationwide number of cases of humidifier disinfectant-associated lung injury (HDLI) in concordance with nationwide HD consumption using data covering the entire Korean population. More than 25 kinds of HD products were sold between 1994 and 2011. The number of diagnosed HDLI, assessed by S27.3 (other injuries of lungs) of the Korea National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) data, sharply increased by 2005, subsequently decreased after 2005, and almost disappeared after 2011 in concordance with the annual number of HD sales. The number of self-reported HDLIs, assessed using data from all suspected HDLI cases registered in the Korea Ministry of Environment, changed with the annual number of HD sales, with a delay pattern, potentially induced by the late awareness of lung injury diseases. The present study suggests that changes in the nationwide annual consumption of HD products were consistent with changes in the annual number of HDLI cases in Korea.