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Abstract
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OBJECTIVES: Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning from coal briquette combustion has been a significant public health problem of the South Korea in the past decades. This study estimated the time trend of the consumption of anthracite coal and the number of victims from CO poisoning due to changes in heating facilities over seven decades.
Methods: Using Population and Housing Census data and energy statistics, we estimated the number of houses using briquette as heating fuel over seven decades. After estimating the incidence of CO poisoning in a housing unit by type of heating facility, we determined the ratio of members of the household who experienced CO poisoning. Finally, the distribution of the victims was estimated according to the severity of the CO poisoning, excluding victims of intentional exposure.
Results: We estimated that total over 26 million people experienced CO poisoning from 1951 to 2018. The household consumption of anthracite peaked in 1986, but the number of victims from CO poisoning reached a peak of about 1 million people in 1980. From 1951 to 2018, a cumulative number of victims of CO poisoning comprised approximately 22,830,000 mild cases, 3,570,000 severe cases, and 65,000 deaths.
Conclusion: The peak number of victims from CO poisoning occurred 6 years earlier than when the number of people using briquettes for heating peaked. This time gap is caused by an improvement in the briquette heating system. This finding provides a quantitative basis for the epidemiological studies on the health outcome of CO poisoning in the population.
Language: en |