Background It has been 10 years since the outbreak of lung disease caused by humidifier disinfectants in Korea, but the health effects have not yet been summarized. Therefore, this study aims to systematically examine the health effects of humidifier disinfectants that have been discovered so far. Methods All literature with humidifier disinfectants and their representative components as the main words were collected based on the web, including PubMed, Research Information Sharing Service, and government publication reports. A total of 902 studies were searched, of which 196 were selected. They were divided into four groups: published human studies (group 1), published animal and cytotoxicology studies (group 2), technical reports (group 3), and gray literature (group 4). Results Out of the 196 studies, 97 (49.5%) were published in peer-reviewed journals as original research. Group 1 consisted of 49 articles (50.5%), while group 2 consisted of 48 articles (49.5%). Overall, respiratory diseases such as humidifier disinfectant associated lung injury, interstitial lung disease, and asthma have a clear correlation, but other effects such as liver, heart, thymus, thyroid, fetal growth, metabolic abnormalities, and eyes are observed in toxicological experimental studies, but have not yet been identified in epidemiologic studies. Conclusion The current level of evidence does not completely rule out the effects of humidifier disinfectants on extrapulmonary disease. Based on the toxicological evidence so far, it is required to monitor the population of humidifier disinfectant exposure continuously to see if similar damage occurs.
Background Because income and working hours are closely related, the health impact of working hours can vary according to economic status. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between working hours and the risk of poor self-rated health according to household income level. Methods We used the data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VI and VII. The information on working hours and self-rated health was obtained from the questionnaire. After stratifying by household income level, the risk of poor self-rated health for long working hour group (≥ 52 hours a week), compared to the 35–51 working hour group as a reference, were calculated using multiple logistic regression. Results Long working hours increased the risk of poor self-rated health in the group with the highest income, but not in the group with the lowest income. On the other hand, the overall weighted prevalence of poor self-rated health was higher in the low-income group. Conclusions The relationship between long working hours and the risk of poor self-rated health varied by household income level. This phenomenon, in which the health effects of long working hours appear to diminish in low-income households can be referred to as the ‘poor worker’s long working hours paradox’. Our findings suggest that the recent working hour restriction policy implemented by the Korean government should be promoted, together with a basic wage preservation to improve workers’ general health and well-being.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the Republic of Korea’s Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management (Health-EDRM). This study aims to examine the Republic of Korea’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on Health-EDRM, especially human resources, health services, and logistics. Challenges in the Republic of Korea, including lack of medical workforce, confused risk communication, shortage of hospital beds, and inefficient distribution of medical resources, have been highlighted in this paper in terms of human resources, health service delivery, and logistics, which are components of Health-EDRM. It is essential to address the cooperation between the government and private sectors, the protection of occupational health and safety of medical staff during the pandemic, and strategies and technologies to scale up the health facilities, to respond to a future crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.
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