초록
Objectives: The aim of this study was to introduce the overall progress of exposure assessment to humidifier disinfectant (HD); to present participants' demographic characteristics, exposure characteristics to humidifier disinfectant, and exposure classification; and furthermore to compare those characteristics between survivors and non-survivors. Methods: An assessment of environmental exposure to HD was conducted using modified HD-specific questionnaires that had been previously validated. We analyzed the data from 4,482 participants who had been potentially exposed to HD and had registered with the KEITI (Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute) from September 2016 to May 2018 (the fourth survey). Environmental exposure assessments were performed as follows: 1) contact with participants, 2) environmental exposure assessment though face-to-face interviews, 3) assessment review and coding, and 4) exposure rating. Results: Overall, survivors made up 77.1% (3,457 subjects) and non-survivors made up 22.9% (1,025 subjects). When compared with the survivors, non-survivors had a higher proportion of subjects aged >60 years and subjects who answered as suffering lung damage and having purchased HD because it is "Beneficial to health" (p<0.05). For the exposure characteristics compared to survivors, non-survivors had a higher proportion of cases of distance from humidifier to face being less that one meter and the spray direction being toward the face (p<0.05). Overall, respondents who used the "Oxy Ssak Ssak New Gaseupgi Dangbun", "Aekyung Gaseupgi Mate", "Homeplus Gaseupgi Chungjungje", and "E-Mart Gaseupgi Salgyunje" products made up 66.1, 12.3, 4.0, and 3.6%, respectively, and 72.5% of respondents used products with PHMG as the active chemical. When compared with survivors, non-survivors had a higher proportion of use of "Oxy Ssak Ssak New Gaseupgi Dangbun" but a lower proportion of use of products with CMIT/MIT, PGH, or PHMG as the active chemical. Conclusions: This study provided demographic characteristics and exposure assessment for applicants who have been injured by HD. In spite of the limitations of performing past exposure assessment through a questionnaire survey, such as recall bias, useful results may be obtained by comparing survivors with non-survivors. Further studies such as the exposure rating method and so on are necessary to assess past exposure to HD.
