South Korea is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. It has the highest penetration of broadband internet connections, one of the highest standards of living in Asia and is known as the home to companies like Samsung and other high tech firms which have recently been responsible for major advances in lithium ion batteries, flash memory, LCD and OLED displays and other major innovations.

But South Korea also has something else which one might not expect from such an advanced country: A belief that electric fans are dangerous, even deadly, especially when in a closed room with a person who is asleep and will not be able to respond to the dangerous conditions presented by the electric fan. Many South Koreans, even doctors and other professionals believe that there may be some very serious risks to sleeping in a room with a fan and that having the door closed could be deadly. While the government, doctors and other experts have admitted that evidence on the dangers of fans is not conclusive, they urge caution be used until their safety can be established.

…no this is not a joke.

It’s been claimed that sleeping in a room with a fan can do the following:

~Suck oxygen out of the room and lead to death due to asphyxiation
~Concentrate CO2 to the point of acute toxicity
~Produce rapid and dangerous changes in atmospheric pressure
~Cause lungs to collapse
~Cool the body and cause hypothermia
~Contribute to hyperthermia (overheating) and death by heatstroke
~Dry out the body by causing evaporation of fluids eventually leading to death by dehydration.
~Produce some sort of infrasonic waves which can have serious or even fatal health effects.

Of course, none of these are actually based on any sound science and anyone who is not from a culture where this is normal will immediately see this as a load of bull, which it is. The only one of these which actually has any validity at all is that movement of air can indeed increase the loss of body heat in cold conditions, but it’s rather doubtful that anyone would be cranking up the fan in a room which is bordering on dangerously cold before hitting the sack. Also a fan may create deadly amounts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, but only if it’s powered by gasoline, which obviously is not what you’d find in the average Korean apartment.

Having a fan in a closed room may not provide adequate cooling during high temperatures and thus could heat stroke could be a danger, but this is true whether or not a fan is present. It has been suggested that the use of fans during a heat wave may contribute to death by hyperthermia by giving the victim a false sense of having adequate cooling. But again, does not really have anything to do with the use of an electric fan but rather the lack of ventilation or air conditioning and the high ambient temperature.

Expert and government opinions:

One might think that such a crazy belief would be quickly dismissed by the government and medical experts. However, this is not the case. Although there is no scientific proof that there is a danger, many professionals insist that the studies are “inconclusive” or that caution should still be taken. Others argue that there is sufficient evidence to infer a danger, even if not a very large or universal one. (Does this sound familiar to anyone?) Of course, there are also South Korean doctors (many infact) who will argue that “Fan Death” is nothing but a baseless myth and that there’s no reason to think a fan could be harmful to anyone. But in South Korea this is still considered a “controversial issue” and there are outspoken professionals falling on both sides.

The government of South Korea issued the following statement in 2006 as a “consumer safety alert”:

“If bodies are exposed to electric fans or air conditioners for too long, it causes bodies to lose water and [causes] hypothermia. If directly in contact with [air current from] a fan, this could lead to death from [the] increase of carbon dioxide saturation concentration and decrease of oxygen concentration. The risks are higher for the elderly and patients with respiratory problems. From 2003 [to] 2005, a total of 20 cases were reported through the CISS involving asphyxiations caused by leaving electric fans and air conditioners on while sleeping. To prevent asphyxiation, timers should be set, wind direction should be rotated and doors should be left open.”

The media has not helped either. One mainstream Korean newspaper published the following in 1997:

The heat wave which has encompassed Korea for about a week, has generated various heat-related accidents and deaths. At least 10 people died from the effects of electric fans which can remove oxygen from the air and lower body temperatures. . . .

On Friday in eastern Seoul, a 16-year-old girl died from suffocation after she fell asleep in her room with an electric fan in motion. The death toll from fan-related incidents reached 10 during the past week. Medical experts say that this type of death occurs when one is exposed to electric fan breezes for long hours in a sealed area. “Excessive exposure to such a condition lowers one’s temperature and hampers blood circulation. And it eventually leads to the paralysis of heart and lungs,” says a medical expert.

“To prevent such an accident, one should keep the windows open and not expose oneself directly to fan air,” he advised.

“Precautionary Principal” vs. common sense:

There are certainly plenty of reasons why one might have a fan even in a closed or mostly-closed room. An electric fan can improve the efficiency and performance of heating and air conditioning by circulating the air more than natural convection alone does. For example, in my room, on very cold days, placing a fan near the heating vent helps to warm the entire room much faster than if left alone, as my room only has heating vents on one side. A ceiling fan can be useful in both hot and cold weather by “string up” the air in a room, preventing the warm air from accumulating on the ceiling. If only a small window or vent is avaliable, then placing a fan in or near it can increase the airflow. And even if fans are not always sufficient alone to keep a person from overheating, they can certainly provide some comfort and help sweat evaporate during times of strenuous activity

Given that the only dangers from a fan are that it could contribute to hypothermia (if you happen to have one going when you’re already dangerously cold to begin with) or hyperthermia (if you take sleeping pills and go to bed in a really hot room thinking “this fan will keep me from getting heat stroke), one would think that there would be no reason for any concern with the use of fans. This however is not the case in South Korea. Even those who dismiss fan death as highly unlikely will often concede that this is a situation where “precautionary principal” applies. Precautionary principal basically is the idea that if you have any evidence, stories, theories or other reasons to think that something maybe might possibly perhaps be slightly dangerous, then it’s always best to take precautions and be “better safe than sorry.” On face value, this might seem logical and in certain cases the burden of proof is placed on safety, but it can get ridiculous pretty fast.

Thus in South Korea many fans have warning labels on them, alerting consumers to the possible dangers. Experts recommend that people refrain from placing fans in children’s rooms or sleeping with a fan going in a closed room. It’s been suggested that keeping a fan on its lowest settings will help to minimize any risks (just to be safe) and if a room has windows, but you’re not sure if they’re large enough to provide sufficient ventilation, then it’s probably best to take the cautious approach and not use a fan.

Ridiculous? Stupid? Wacky? Yes, of course it is. But it’s easy to see this when it’s another culture and a belief which has not been ingrained into one’s head. The question is whether this is actually any more ridiculous, stupid or wacky than the fears of power lines, cell phones, wifi, chemical products and other nonsense which is just as common and just as illogical and unproven in the West. I don’t think it’s necessarily any less wacky. But it does provide some perspective.

More Info:

Wikipedia Entry
The Straight Dope
“Fan Death is Real”?!?!
Fandeath.net
Youtube video on Fan Death

---

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 9:58 am and is filed under Bad Science, Culture, Education, Quackery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

---

View blog reactions