Journal of Environmental Health Sciences (한국환경보건학회지)

Korean Society of Environmental Health (한국환경보건학회)
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Searching for a Social Solution for the Humidifier Disinfectant Disaster in Korea

가습기살균제 참사에 대한 사회적 해법의 모색

  • Lee, Young Hee (Department of Sociology, The Catholic University of Korea)
  • Received : 2019.07.31
  • Accepted : 2019.08.09
  • Published : 2019.08.31
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Abstract

Eight years have passed since the Korean government's medical agency officially reported that the fatal lung disease found in some hospitals in 2011 was caused by chemical disinfectants used in household humidifiers, marking the introduction of the humidifier disinfectant disaster. Over the past eight years, a medical-scientific approach has been taken by the Korean government in its efforts to solve the problems in terms of relief of and compensation for the potential victims. One of the unintended consequence of this approach has been the fact that the number of "official victims" recognized by the government is quite small compared to the total number of applicants who claim to be suffering from the humidifier disinfectant disaster. This is mainly due to the fact that the medical-scientific approach relies on excessively strict, rigid, and narrow medical-scientific criteria provided by medical experts for judging the degree of applicants' bodily damage from the use of humidifier disinfectants. As a result, this medical-scientific approach is becoming increasingly criticized by patients' organizations mainly composed of rejected applicants. Based on the analysis of the limits of this medical-scientific approach and after clarifying the social implications of the disaster from a sociological perspective, this paper proposes certain social approaches focused on participatory governance as a means of dealing with the current issue. Finally, the paper emphasizes that the act of taking social responses to the humidifier disinfectant disaster should also be considered a process of enlarging and deepening democracy in Korea.

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