Denial on Report
Civil groups related to a humidifier disinfectant disaster point their fingers at LG Household & Health Care which has claimed to be irrelevant to the case as a perpetrator and called for the punishment of the company.
The Nationwide Humidifier Sterilizer Disaster Victim Network, humidifier sterilizer victims and their family groups among others recently urged the prosecution to launch an investigation into humidifier sterilizers produced by LG Household & Health Care in the eighth press conference on the Campaign to Call for the Punishment Of Companies Responsible for Fatal Humidifier Sterilizers in front of the headquarters of LG Household & Health Care in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
These groups claimed that LG Household & Health Care had sold humidifier disinfectant products containing sterilization ingredients that should not be used in humidifiers. According to the group, the product in question is “119 Humidifier Sterilizer” loaded with benzalkonium chloride (BKC) and dialkyl aminoethyl glycine (DAAG) hydrochloride which belong to sterilizer components prohibited by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). More than 1.1 million units of “119 Humidifier Sterilizer” were sold for seven years from 1997 to 2003 but they were not included in the government's survey list because they were already discontinued in 2011 when the disaster made headlines.
"LG's 119 Humidifier Sterilizer victimized 24,000 to 41,500 people," said an official of a civic group. “LG should find and compensate all of them.”
On the other hand, LG Household & Health Care says that it is unfair for the company to be called a murderer company. It is said that LG expressed its dissatisfaction, saying, "Even though no one was victimized by our products, we were fined three billion won."