Date
Type
Case No
Country
OTH 4/2016
12/02/2016 Other
JAL
Mandate(s)
Business
enterprises;
Hazardous
substances and
wastes; Health;
Summary of the allegation transmitted
Reply
12/04/2016
Alleged violations of the rights of at least 530 individuals who suffered from adverse
03/05/2016
health impacts due to the exposure to hazardous chemicals found in humidifier
sterilizers, including over 140 deaths. According to the information received, since 2011,
several individuals have suffered from respiratory failure, acute pneumonia and other
unknown lung diseases as a result of using humidifiers sterilizers manufactured and sold
by several business entities, namely, Aekyung Co. Ltd., Costco Wholesale Korea, Emart Co. Ltd., GS Retail Co. Ltd., Hanvit Chemical Co. Ltd., Home Plus Co. Ltd., Lotte
Shopping Co. Ltd., Oxy Reckitt Benckiser, and SK Chemicals. It is alleged that two
investigations carried out by the Government to identify victims were based on a
classification scheme which resulted in identifying a limited number of victims and
potentially excluding other victims eligible for financial support, health monitoring and
any other elements of remedy. In addition to the current communication sent to Oxy
Reckitt Benckiser, related communications were sent to the above-mentioned companies
and the Governments of Republic of Korea on 12 February 2016. See below, case nos.
OTH 2/2016, OTH 3/2016, OTH 5/2016, OTH 6/2016, OTH 7/2016, OTH 8/2016, OTH
9/2016, OTH 10/2016, and KOR 1/2016.
A/HRC/33/32
109
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents