TY - JOUR
T1 - Association between humidifier disinfectant use duration and lung cancer development in Korea
AU - Kang, Sungchan
AU - Hwang, Jeong In
AU - Kim, Su Hwan
AU - Lim, Hyungryul
AU - Lee, Dong Wook
AU - Lee, Woojoo
AU - Kim, Jong Hun
AU - Yu, Sol
AU - Lim, Jungyun
AU - Kim, Younghee
AU - Kim, Kyoung Nam
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025, Korean Society of Epidemiology. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - OBJECTIVES This study was conducted to assess the association between the duration of humidifier disinfectant use and lung cancer development. METHODS We analyzed data from 3,605 applicants registered for compensation from the Korean government due to health conditions related to humidifier disinfectant exposure. Among these individuals, 121 were diagnosed with lung cancer at least 4 years after their initial exposure (through December 2021). Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for lung cancer incidence were estimated according to the duration of disinfectant use using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS Compared with <5 months of use, the HRs for lung cancer were 1.81 (95% CI, 0.41 to 7.97) for 5-14 months, 2.45 (95% CI, 0.58 to 10.41) for 15-29 months, and 4.61 (95% CI, 1.12 to 18.91) for≥30 months. Using never smokers with <15 months of use as the reference category, the HRs were 2.97 (95% CI, 1.34 to 6.56) for never smokers with≥15 months of use, 2.73 (95% CI, 0.94 to 7.95) for current or former smokers with <15 months of use, and4.74 (95% CI, 1.94 to 11.61) for current or former smokers with≥15 months of use. CONCLUSIONS Our study provides some of the first robust epidemiological evidence that prolonged humidifier disinfectant use contributes to lung cancer development. Future studies—particularly those including unexposed populations—are needed to confirm these findings.
AB - OBJECTIVES This study was conducted to assess the association between the duration of humidifier disinfectant use and lung cancer development. METHODS We analyzed data from 3,605 applicants registered for compensation from the Korean government due to health conditions related to humidifier disinfectant exposure. Among these individuals, 121 were diagnosed with lung cancer at least 4 years after their initial exposure (through December 2021). Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for lung cancer incidence were estimated according to the duration of disinfectant use using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS Compared with <5 months of use, the HRs for lung cancer were 1.81 (95% CI, 0.41 to 7.97) for 5-14 months, 2.45 (95% CI, 0.58 to 10.41) for 15-29 months, and 4.61 (95% CI, 1.12 to 18.91) for≥30 months. Using never smokers with <15 months of use as the reference category, the HRs were 2.97 (95% CI, 1.34 to 6.56) for never smokers with≥15 months of use, 2.73 (95% CI, 0.94 to 7.95) for current or former smokers with <15 months of use, and4.74 (95% CI, 1.94 to 11.61) for current or former smokers with≥15 months of use. CONCLUSIONS Our study provides some of the first robust epidemiological evidence that prolonged humidifier disinfectant use contributes to lung cancer development. Future studies—particularly those including unexposed populations—are needed to confirm these findings.
KW - Cox proportional hazards model
KW - Humidifier disinfectants
KW - Lung neoplasms
KW - Polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105010910099
U2 - 10.4178/epih.e2025023
DO - 10.4178/epih.e2025023
M3 - Article
C2 - 40340266
AN - SCOPUS:105010910099
SN - 2092-7193
VL - 47
JO - Epidemiology and Health
JF - Epidemiology and Health
M1 - e2025023
ER -
