[SBS Kim Sung-joon's current affairs observatory]

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■ Broadcast: Kim Sung-joon's current affairs observatory (FM 103.5 MHz 14:20 ~ 16:00)
■ Progress: SBS Kim Sungjun anchor
■ Broadcast date and time: Friday, March 15, 2019
■ Dialogue: Choi Ye-yong, Vice Chairman of Special Investigation Division
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- Of the victims of humidifier disinfection, only 10% are recognized as victims.
- Humidifier disinfectant victim, 4.5 times higher risk of suicide attempt than general population
- The victim has to prove the damage.
- 'Humidifier disinfectant syndrome' Approaches all symptom symptom without distinction

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

The death toll from the humidifier disinfectant has been investigated for the first time in 16 years. Not to mention that the economic damage amount is estimated at up to 54 billion won. The psychological damage was more severe than the economic damage. All related products were discontinued long ago, but the physical and mental suffering of the victims is still ongoing. For more information, please contact the vice chairman of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters in Korea. Vice Chairman Hello.

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

Yes. Hi.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

After the humidifier disaster, you say that this is the first time you have investigated the affected family directly?

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

Yes. That's right. Our Social Disaster Special Investigation Committee unveiled the truth of the two disasters of Sewal and the humidifier and soon after it launched with the mission of creating a safe society that does not cause such a thing to happen again. It was a result of a survey of experts who participated in the last three months about the difficulties of the family members of the victims of the humidifier disaster.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

How did the investigation proceed?

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

More than 6,000 victims are reported. More than half of them received government results, but only 10% of them are considered victims and the remaining 90% are not victims. And a lot of people are still waiting for the verdict. In this situation, I did not go through the process for 3 months, so I extracted 100 households randomly. About 1,300 adults and about 700 children were included in the survey.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

So, you do not set a standard specifically, but you did a random sampling.

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

That's right.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

So what's the status of the victims?

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

I appeal to a wide variety of diseases. In particular, there is a very big problem about the mental health that the moderator said. Depression, anxiety disorder, insomnia, suicidal risk. These are things. And here is the socio-psychological state of drowning. Seven out of 10 of these people are in a very serious condition. Another thing is the danger of suicide. The problem is not only a suicidal tendency, but it is a very worrisome topic that the response to the actual attempted suicide is 4.5 times higher than the general population.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

It is a random trend, so it is a similar trend for the rest of the households that have fallen out of the survey.

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

It seems to be. Still, to further investigate this year, I will randomly pick another 100 households again this year to investigate similar items and check them again.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

When are you doing that?

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

It will be soon.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

But when we came up with this humidifier disinfectant news, it was revealed through some interviews. If you install a humidifier at home, because there were many cases to install the child at home. My mother told me that I used a humidifier for my children's health and also used a humidifier disinfectant to make my child's health worse and put me at a serious risk.

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

Yes. One of the characteristics of this case is that it is suffering from the perpetrator's consciousness even though it is the victim. So I have a great sense of guilt that I bought and bought the product and the damage to my child and our family. Despite the fact that it is not so, the measures from the government and corporations are not enough and I have to suffer the pain for a long time. It remains a very serious condition for parents, especially in families with affected children. I think that it should be done in our society to solve it quickly.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

Then, including these mothers. Even people who feel suicidal impulses as much as 4.5 times higher than ordinary people and try to do it are many. Is not there a system for these people now?

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

There is also a partial mental health monitoring. First of all, as I mentioned before, only 1 out of every 10 people reported as victims and 9 others are not recognized. This should be solved fundamentally. Everyone reported has had a new health condition or worsened condition after using a humidifier disinfectant product. The government recognizes this only if a clear medical causal relationship is identified. It takes a lot of time and I do not know when these people will be relieved in the future. In that sense, the researchers are advising that a more broad approach approach is needed. Such a process that we accept and suggest to the government, that it is accepted, and that it is actually applied. As you can see, this is a bit of a last-minute process, but I hope that all of this will happen in the next two years, when a special committee will be held in the future.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

But to be recognized as a victim now, there is a part where you have to prove the damage anyway. So, if you tell the victim who was at the scene when you report the results of the in - depth investigation yesterday, if you ask him to prove the damage, he should use the humidifier disinfectant again, and give birth to a sick child and do the autopsy. You say that to the extreme. I am concerned about how this proof part should be handled.

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

That's not really the case, but it's a big principle that needs to be applied to other common social events as well. Because the victim has to prove it all, the current system has to change. The victim wrote a humidifier disinfectant product, and after that it was bad for me or someone died. Suffice it to appeal. In fact, there is a need for a system that identifies the product manufacturer, which can be the main culprit of the problem, and the government that has aided or exacerbated it. But now, for now, the victim has to prove everything. On the contrary if it is not proven, it is in a strange form that the indictment goes to the perpetrator.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

Okay. This mental damage problem, there are a lot of problems to be solved. In addition to that, we now know that the damage to our physical health is recognized as a disease caused by bactericides. But there is another health damage besides that. What is that?

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

Yes. As you said, the government recognizes the lung disease that was confirmed in the first epidemiological investigation in 2012. After that, only asthma and fetal damage have been confirmed. Fetal damage, when a child is in a mother's abdomen When a mother is exposed to a humidifier disinfectant and her child is still or has a health problem. I can only accept that limited. Those who participated in this survey are appealing for a wide variety of diseases. Ophthalmologic diseases, nervous system diseases, skin diseases, internal diseases, and even cancers vary greatly. By the way, the path of the humidifier fungicide exposure, and the processes that it can cause into our bodies, all this is possible. So the people who participated in the survey are many medical experts, economists and various experts participated in the comprehensive advice. This is not a very strict causal approach, not a proven disease approach. Humidifiers Do not you have access to some mental illness that appears in people who use sanitizers. In that regard, a kind of humidifier disinfectant syndrome or humidifier disinfectant mental illness. Is not this a concept that can be solved properly? I was giving this advice. We want to actively accept those parts.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

"Humidifier disinfectant syndrome" is not good lungs, it is not good. Do not distinguish by area or symptom. So, let 's define the whole damage of humidifier disinfectant as a syndrome and find a way to relieve it extensively. I guess I should say this.

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

That's right. And not only the direct physical health, but also the mental health, social adjustment, and poor quality of life confirmed by the serious situation this time.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

Okay. Finally, a SK Chemicals vice president who was the exclusive distributor of the humidifier disinfectant in question was arrested. This was a problem in the investigation of the state three years ago, but I could not find a definitive clue, and I found out that I discovered it during the search process. What do you think the redemption of this SK chemical vice president has on the whole problem of humidifier disinfectant?

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

SK Chemicals is the company that developed the humidifier disinfectant product in 1994 when it first appeared in the world. So you can see it as the cadre who opened the box of Pandora. It was SK Chemicals that supplied more than 90% of the products sold since then. In that respect, it was very late, but the representative of the company, who is in charge of the company, was arrested. And because the reason for the redemption is the accusation that it was an attempt to destroy the evidence. Of course, you have to be arrested and taken to justice. But the prosecution is going to have to investigate further. In fact, it is true that the investigation into the allegations of manslaughter that consumers were killed and injured by the harmfulness of this product. I think we should investigate it properly and judiciously deal with it regardless of its status.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

Okay. I will listen to you here. thank you.

▶ Choi Yee-seong, Deputy Director of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters:

Thank you.

▷ Kim Seong-joon / Host:

So far, I have talked with the vice chairman of the Special Investigation Division of Social Disasters in Choi Yeo-yeong concerning the actual condition of households affected by humidifier disinfectants.