FAN DEATH

'Fan death' is a South Korean urban legend which states that an electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can result in the death (by suffocation, poisoning, or hypothermia) of those inside. This belief also extends to air conditioners. Fans manufactured and sold in Korea are equipped with a timer switch that turns them off after a set number of minutes, which users are frequently urged to set when going to sleep with a fan on.

Contents

Beliefs

South Korean government position

Fan-related hyperthermia research

Media coverage

Published professional opinion

References

See also

External links

Beliefs

The belief in the myth of fan-death often offers several explanations for the precise mechanism by which the fan kills. However, as explained below, these beliefs do not stand up to logical and scientific scrutiny. Examples for possible justifications of belief in fan death are as follows:

★ That an electric fan creates a vortex, which sucks the oxygen from the enclosed and sealed room and creates a partial vacuum inside. In reality, the air pressure at any point in the room varies less than it does during a storm.

★ That the fan uses up the oxygen in the room and creates fatal levels of carbon dioxide. There is no actual conversion of oxygen to carbon dioxide happening; unlike a candle, the electric motor in a fan does not alter the chemical composition of the air (apart from creating some ozone if the motor uses brushes, and outgassing from the materials).

★ That if the fan is put directly in front of the face of the sleeping person, it will suck all the air away, preventing one from breathing.

★ That fans contribute to hypothermia, or abnormally low body temperature.^[1] As the metabolism slows down at night, one becomes more sensitive to temperature, and thus supposedly more prone to hypothermia. If the fan is left on all night in a sealed and enclosed room, believers in fan death suppose that it will lower the temperature of the room to the point that it can cause hypothermia. Empirical measurements will show, however, that the temperature in the room does not fall, at least not due to the fan; if at all, it should rise slightly because of friction and the heat output of the fan motor, but even this is generally not significant. Fans actually make one cooler by increasing the convection around a person's body so that heat flows from them to the air more easily, and by the latent heat of vapourisation as perspiration evaporates from the body. Furthermore, hypothermia occurs only when the body's core temperature drops below normal, and will not generally be caused simply by cooling of the skin or decrease in the body's surface temperature.


★ That fans contribute to hyperthermia, commonly known as heatstroke.^[2] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that during excessive heat events, people should not "use a portable electric fan in a closed room without windows or doors open to the outside."^[3]

★ That fans contribute to prolonged asphyxiation due to environmental oxygen displacement or carbon dioxide intoxication.²yos, while others prefer western-style beds, and floor vents may be absent when ondol radiant underfloor heating is employed.^[9] According to ''The Straight Dope'' website run by the ''Chicago Reader'' newspaper, asphyxiation is an unlikely cause of fan death because "few rooms are totally sealed, and the fan would tend to keep CO₂ and other gases well mixed."²

South Korean government position

The Korea Consumer Protection Board (KCPB), a South Korean government-funded public agency, issued a consumer safety alert in 2006 warning that "asphyxiation from electric fans and air conditioners" was among South Korea's five most common seasonal summer accidents or injuries, according to data they collected.^[10] Also included among the five hazards were air conditioner explosions, and sanitation issues comprised of food poisoning and opportunistic pathogens harbored in air conditioners. According to the KCPB:
:"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."

Fan-related hyperthermia research

Research suggests that fan use may be a contributing factor in heat-related deaths such as fatal cases of hyperthermia.^[11] A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association advises that "although the use of fans may increase comfort at temperatures less than 90° F (less than 32.2° C), fans are not protective against heatstroke when temperatures reach greater than or equal to 90° F (greater than or equal to 32.2° C) and humidity exceeds 35%,"¹¹ and provides a similar but simpler warning to the public on their website.^[12] These temperature and humidity conditions are consistent with a death cited in an earlier article critical of fan death, which suggested that fan use was irrelevant.²
A 2007 meta-analysis of studies on heat wave-related deaths explains that "a fan induces air movement that increases evaporation and lowers skin temperature, but in warm environments increased wind speeds of hot air can actually raise the skin temperature and thus produce opposite results by increasing core body temperature."^[13] The study concludes that definitive recommendations on fan use require further study.
An analysis of risk factors contributing to 700 "excess deaths" during a 1995 Chicago, Illinois heat wave found no evidence that fans either increased or decreased mortality, but noted that "interpretation of the data on the use of fans is complicated by the need to take into account specific environmental factors (for example, whether the fan is used in a room with an open or a closed window) and the health status of individual subjects."^[14] Fear of crime was cited as a factor in people keeping windows and doors locked shut.

Media coverage

The explanation of fan death is accepted by many Korean medical professionals. In summer, mainstream Korean news sources regularly report on cases of fan death.
A typical example is this excerpt from the July 28, 1997, edition of the ''Korea Herald'', an English-language newspaper:
According to ''The Straight Dope'' website, when informed that the phenomenon is virtually unheard of outside of their country, "some locals claim Koreans are uniquely vulnerable due to a peculiarity either of their own physiology or of Korean fans."²

Published professional opinion

Dr. Yeon Dong-su, dean of Kwandong University's medical school in South Korea:
It is likely that the symptoms discussed by this doctor are actually due to excessive alcohol consumption, which can decrease body temperature.^[15]
Gord Giesbrecht, a professor of thermophysiology at the University of Manitoba in Canada,^[16] is a leading expert on hypothermia:
Dr. John Linton at Yonsei's Severance Hospital, who attended medical school at Yonsei University, is licensed to practice medicine in South Korea:¹
Dr. Lee Yoon-song is a professor at Seoul National University's medical school and works with the school's Institute of Scientific Investigation. He has conducted autopsies on some of the people who have been described in Korean media as having succumbed to fan death:
He blames the Korean media for the persistence of the urban legend:

References

1. Surridge, Grant. (2004-09-22). "Newspapers fan belief in urban myth." ''JoongAng Daily'', via joongangdaily.joins.com and archive.org. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
2. "Will sleeping in a closed room with an electric fan cause death?"
3. Perrin A., J. Samenow, J. Ferrel, et al. June 2006. ''Excessive Heat Events Guidebook''. United States Environmental Protection Agency, publication EPA 430-B-06-005. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
4. Watanabe, Toshifumi, and Masahiko Morita. (1998-08-31). "Asphyxia due to oxygen deficiency by gaseous substances." ''Forensic Science International'', Volume 96, Issue 1, Pages 47-59. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
5. Gill, James R., Susan F. Ely, and Zhongxue Hua. (2002). "Environmental Gas Displacement: Three Accidental Deaths in the Workplace." ''The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology'', 23(1):26 –30, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
6. "Concentrated Carbon Dioxide in Western Pennsylvania." The Pittsburgh Geological Society. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
7. (2005-11-25). "Chemical Fact Sheets: Carbon Dioxide (CO2)." Wisconsin Department of Health & Family Services. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
8. (April 1999). "Safety & Health Bulletin: Protecting Workers From the Acute Effects of Carbon Dioxide Fire Extinguishing Systems Introduction." DOE/EH-0196, Issue 99-1, Office of Occupational Safety and Health Policy, U.S. Department of Energy. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
9. "Chapter 3: Housing" ''Everyday Korean Life'', Korea Local Authorities Foundation for International Relations (KLAFIR). Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
10.
11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Heat-related illnesses, deaths, and risk factors—Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, 1999, and United States, 1979-1997." The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2000;284(1):34-35, via jama.ama-assn.org. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
12. "Tips for Preventing Heat-Related Illness." (Website). "Emergency Preparedness & Response," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2006-08-15. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
13. Bouchama, Abderrezak, Mohammed Dehbi, Gamal Mohamed, Franziska Matthies, Mohamed Shoukri, Bettina Menne. 2007. "Prognostic Factors in Heat Wave–Related Deaths: A Meta-analysis." ''Archives of Internal Medicine'' 2007;167:(doi:10.1001/archinte.167.20.ira70009), early release article (2007-08-13) via ama-assn.org. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
14. Semenza, J.C., C.H. Rubin, K.H. Falter, et al. 1996. "Heat-related deaths during the July 1995 heat wave in Chicago". New England Journal of Medicine, 1996;335(2):84-90. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
15. 2005-09-23. "Facts About Alcohol Poisoning". ''College Drinking, Changing the Culture.'' Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
16. 2005-09-07. "Fall 2005 Curriculum (Archive), Learning Series Session (Sept. 21, 2005): Keep Your Head Up: A Primer on Cold Water Immersion and Near-Drowning." (Website). Smartrisk Navigator. Retrieved on 2007-09-01.

See also

★ Contemporary culture of South Korea

★ Urban legends

External links

★ http://www.fandeath.net

★ Fan Death (short film on YouTube)

★ Korean news clip on fan death