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Text | Brown sugar
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Preface
In 2011, a horrific event occurred in South Korea, in which about 14,000 people lost their lives and nearly a million suffered from lifelong diseases.
And what everyone didn't expect was that the fuse of all this turned out to be the air humidifier, how did this seemingly "harmless to humans and animals" small household appliances cause such a catastrophe?
East Window Incident: Pneumonia that appeared inexplicably but spreads
In fact, as early as April 2011, there were already pneumonia patients in the Seoul area, but the patients and doctors at that time did not realize the seriousness of the problem.
Everyone thought that the cold weather and the alternation of seasons caused respiratory sensitivity would cause the probability of pneumonia to increase slightly, but no one thought that this other pneumonia case was just a prelude to the tragedy.
Seasonal pneumonia can often be cured with care, but doctors have found that the symptoms reflected in these patients are not quite the same as ordinary pneumonia and are much more difficult to deal with.
The most frightening thing is that this is not the worst news - when the doctors watched the film, they found that the condition of the lungs of these patients not only did not improve significantly, but worsened even more!
This also shows that doctors are helpless to some extent about this condition, and the previous experience of curing common pneumonia has lost its reference value when facing these patients.
The condition of the patients admitted to the hospital was so menacing that no matter how big the doctor was, he couldn't sit still, and everyone faintly noticed that this pneumonia did not seem to be an ordinary seasonal disease.
All of a sudden, many people fell into this unknown uneasiness.
The situation is expanding: there are many cases of severe illness and deaths that do not respond to treatment
As more and more pneumonia patients are admitted to hospitals, doctors, experts and scholars are trying to find out the source of this wave of diseases, what is the cause of this wave of diseases?
After a comprehensive analysis of the condition, the doctors found that the pneumonia was not contagious, thus successfully ruling out the possibility of an epidemic, but the most essential causative agent was still not found.
Unfortunately, the speed with which the cases spread did not give them much time, and the treatment of ordinary pneumonia did not work for them, and many patients deteriorated and deaths began to appear.
It is reported that the mortality rate of this wave of pneumonia patients was once as high as 80%, that is, two out of every ten patients will die due to ineffective treatment, and this mortality rate is much higher than that of ordinary pneumonia.
Because the exact source cannot be found, there is no way to prevent the emergence of new cases in the first place, so many more people are paying the price with their lives because of the disease.
Peel back the cocoon: the "culprit" turned out to be from the air humidifier
As the number of severe cases continues to increase, it is urgent to find the cause of the disease, time is of the essence, and every day of delay will lead more people to fall into this fear.
Doctors who were at a loss began to observe patients suffering from this disease, and found that the disease was more common in small children and pregnant women with weak immune systems, but before they could rejoice, a steady stream of men, women, and children were sent to the hospital.
The situation has become so dire that it has attracted a lot of attention from the South Korean side, and finally, after multiple levels of detailed investigation and inquiry, it was found that these patients have something in common - that is, they all use air humidifiers at home.
As soon as the results of this survey were announced, it caused an uproar in an instant, after all, air humidifier as a common small household appliance, the audience is too wide, and no one would have thought that it would have such great power.
Is it true that air humidifiers are so harmful to the human body?
The answer, of course, is no, because so many Koreans suffer from lung disease from using air humidifiers because they not only use water in the process, but also add a "humidifier cleaner".
According to the advertisement of the brand of the detergent, this detergent can disinfect the air humidifier during use, so as to keep the machine clean and hygienic, which can effectively improve the user experience.
Therefore, when Koreans buy this detergent, it is naturally for the purpose of improving the quality of life, and no one expected that this detergent is not only not as easy to use as advertised by the brand, but also brings a lifetime of nightmare to many consumers' families.
Of course, it's not unfounded to say that it's the culprit – researchers have investigated and found that the biocide contains a chemical that is very harmful to the human body, and this substance is the root cause of the disease.
After the human body accidentally inhales this substance, the lungs will receive varying degrees of damage, and the serious ones will be life-threatening, and this conclusion has also been confirmed in subsequent in vivo experiments.
The causative factor was found, and the menacing pneumonia in South Korea was brought under control, and the humidifier cleaner was also banned, and this "unsolved case" was solved.
Struggling: A difficult road to defending your rights
Nearly one million South Koreans were affected by the accident, and even 14,000 deaths were caused by ineffective treatment, and many others were left with lifelong respiratory diseases, which can be said to be very costly.
Later, the victim's family also repeatedly defended their rights against the brand and protested in various ways, but with little success, because the manufacturer of the fungicide is a well-known international brand, with headquarters abroad and only branches in South Korea.
The South Korean authorities have never taken a positive attitude towards handling this matter, not only evading in the face of the media, but also evading the outside world's doubts, and failing to come up with a strong plan.
Such a negative attitude of the South Korean government has left the victims' families feeling isolated and helpless, and the rights defense action has not been repercussed for a long time.
In the end, the brand chose to apologize publicly under the pressure of public opinion, and provided some compensation to the victims and their families to make up for the losses, but this still could not heal the pain of losing loved ones.
And the inaction of South Korean officials during this time has left many local people feeling disheartened, and people have found that they are not worthy of the people's full trust.
How harmful substances enter the body through air humidifiers
The occurrence of such a horrific accident has caused great concern in the whole society, and everyone will inevitably have some worries when facing air humidifiers, and safety has become the most concerned issue for everyone.
So how exactly does an air humidifier work, and how does it deliver harmful substances to the human body?
Most of the air humidifiers we can see on the market work by heating the water with electricity, heating the water to produce water vapor, and then spraying the water vapor into the air, so as to achieve the effect of adding humidity to the air.
In this way, humidifier cleaners, which cause many Korean residents to suffer, are dispersed into the air along with water vapor, and it is inevitable that living in such air for a long time will inhale this harmful substance.
Some experts have monitored the use of air humidifiers, and the PM2.5 value in the air of a room with the air humidifier on is significantly higher than that in a room without a humidifier.
In other words, although the air humidifier was not the culprit of the accident, the harmful substances in the sterilizer became easier for the human body to inhale during the use of the machine.
That's why so many South Koreans who have used this fungicide have been recruited.
What should we pay attention to when using an air humidifier?
After entering the winter, the weather in many areas has become cold, especially in the northern region, which is not only cold, but also very dry, and you have to drink a lot of water every day, otherwise not only your lips will be chapped, but also your mouth will be dry.
At this time, the northern friends who have begun to heat their homes should have a more obvious feeling of dryness, so many people will place air humidifiers indoors to relieve dryness indoors.
The volume of the air humidifier is not large, and it seems inconspicuous to put it there, but it can make the room moist, and it is almost a necessary "artifact" in the heating room and air-conditioned room in winter.
I don't know if there have been too many accidents, large and small, many people have doubts even after deciding to buy an air humidifier, so what are the precautions when we use an air humidifier?
The first thing to pay attention to is the cleaning of the humidifier with water, and many humidifiers now will have warning signs to inform consumers not to add substances other than purified water to the humidifier, just follow the prompts.
In addition, it is necessary to clean the water tank regularly to avoid dust and other dirty things falling into it when filling with water, and inhaling it when breathing, causing respiratory sensitivity or other adverse effects.
The fog outlet should also be cleaned frequently, so as to keep the outlet unblocked, so as not to cause blockage, and the water vapor cannot be sprayed out smoothly, which will burn out the machine and increase the risk.
And when we leave the house, we should also pay attention to the power off of the air humidifier in time, and do not let the machine run in an unattended environment, so that it is good to leave circuit hazards or fire hazards.
As long as it is used in the right way, the air humidifier itself will not cause any harm or adverse effects to our body, and we don't need to panic too much about it.
summary
Any appliance is for people, and an air humidifier is no exception, and if the room is relatively dry, then it is still necessary to place a humidifier.
It's just that there is such a tragic lesson from the Korean people in front of us, and we must read the instructions carefully before using them to master the correct way to use them.