O-079 Do Humidifier Disinfectants Cause Lung Cancer?: Standardized Incidence Ratio of Lung Cancer in the Humidifier Disinfectant Victim Cohort

Abstract Introduction Humidifier Disinfectants(HDs) contained various chemicals, including polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG) and oligo(2-(2-ethoxy)ethoxyethyl guanidinium (PGH)), as ingredients. While several respiratory diseases have been recognized as health damages caused by HDs, there is currently no known association with lung cancer. However, a recent PHMG exposure study conducted on rats resulted in lung cancer, and when human alveolar epithelial cells were treated with PHMG, carcinogenesis-related genetic changes were observed. Consequently, there is a need for an epidemiological study on humans. Methods The objective of this study was to assess the risk of lung cancer among HD victims. The HD victim cohort was comprised of 7,343 registered claimants. Exposure histories were merged with the Korea National Health Insurance Service(KNHIS) data to assess cancer morbidity between 2002 and 2020. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) with reference to Korean were analyzed. Results The number of lung cancer cases was 109 in men and 86 in women. The SIRs of lung cancer were 2.77 (N=64, 95% CI=2.13–3.54) in men and 9.18 (N=53, 95% CI=6.87–12.00) in women with a 5-year lag. Discussion and conclusion The cohort used in this study consists of claimants who reported health damage caused by HD exposure, which causes a significant selection bias compared to a cohort of individuals solely exposed to HDs. However the majority of claimed diseases were respiratory issues, only a small proportion of confirmed lung cancer cases claimed caused by HDs. Therefore the findings of this study provide valuable insights into the potential association between HDs and the development of lung cancer.