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Original article Association between humidifier disinfectant use duration and lung cancer development in the Republic of Korea
Sungchan Kang2orcid , Jeong-In Hwang1orcid , Su Hwan Kim3orcid , Hyungryul Lim4orcid , Dong-wook Lee5orcid , Woojoo Lee2orcid , Jong Hun Kim6orcid , Sol Yu7orcid , Jungyun Lim7orcid , Younghee Kim7orcid , Kyoung-Nam Kim1orcid
Epidemiol Health 2025;e2025023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2025023 [Accepted]
Published online: May 2, 2025
1Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
2Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
3Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea
4Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea
5Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Korea
6Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea
7National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon, Korea
Corresponding author:  Kyoung-Nam Kim,
Email: kknload@yuhs.ac
Received: 1 February 2025   • Revised: 22 April 2025   • Accepted: 23 April 2025
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Abstract

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, and 4.74 (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.

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