Behind the Myth: Fan Death
Behind the Myth: Exploring Korean Tradition
This series of articles will shed light on some Korean myths, folklore, traditions, and superstitions. Every country has their own share of beliefs, fact or fiction, and many foreigners living in Korea have not yet heard or do not yet understand the basis of various Korean beliefs that may be different from their own.
“Fan Death”
Article by Stephen Redeker
The topic of ‘death’ continues this month, but not in the numerical form (as it did in January’s issue). In February we explore death in the form of a handy little appliance used to cool us off in the summer: the electric fan. How is it that such a seemingly benign device could cause a nation to change its sleeping habits? Why do most of our fans in Korea have timers on them? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, reading further could save your life (or at least enlighten you about one of Korea’s most infamous modern-day myths).
“Fan death” is the name given to the belief that going to sleep in an enclosed room with an electric fan blowing directly on you could be fatal. According to the Korea Consumer Protection Board (KCPB), which is funded by the government, “asphyxiation from electric fans and air conditioners” was one of the leading causes of summer accidents and injuries. They also mention how direct, prolonged contact with a blowing fan could cause hypothermia (a dangerous drop in body temperature) or lead to death from too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen. The KCPB also reported 20 cases of asphyxiation (lack of oxygen) from 2003-2005 that were caused by the reasons above. Therefore, doors should be left open when going to sleep, fans should be oscillating, and timers should be set to turn them off automatically (that explains the timers).
South Korea is the only country in the world with the common belief that fans can cause someone to die in such a situation. Perhaps the reason why no other countries promote this phenomenon is: there’s no substantial evidence to support it as being true. There are more than a few reasons why “fan death” could occur but none of them are likely to kill someone. For example, a fan is not strong enough to create a vacuum in a room, making it difficult to breathe. Nor can a fan severely affect the ratio of oxygen to carbon dioxide because its blades cannot chop up the molecules, and its electric motor hardly uses oxygen to operate. There are no fatal amounts of ozone emitted from an electric fan. When it comes to hypothermia, the room would already have to be really cold to cause that, and a blowing fan cannot cause the temperature in an enclosed room to drop that dramatically. If any of these scenarios came even close to occurring, the person would most likely wake up from the discomfort.
A number of medical professionals have said that fan death is impossible. One such man is Dr. Lee Yoon-Song, a professor at Seoul National University’s medical school. He has performed autopsies on some media-reported “fan death victims”. He found that the main cause of death was not the fan itself (although it might have sped things up). Most of the victims were elderly people who were already afflicted with severe health issues such as heart or lung disease and alcoholism. He says the media does not do a good job in reporting these facts when they publish stories about deaths where electric fans are present.
Due to publicity and rumor, a number of Koreans believe fan death is possible. Those who believe heed all the warnings, and why shouldn’t they? They heard about it once or a few times in their early life and just go on believing it because nobody brings it up again. Every so often, a news report mentions fan death, thus strengthening its case. There are a few theories as to why it’s publicized: some think the government wants to blame the many suicides, and/or other unexplained deaths, on the electric fan. Or perhaps it’s the government’s way to try and keep electricity use down during hot summers. Regardless of whether or not you believe in fan death, we should respect others and avoid arguments no matter how much we think we’re right. Hearing about this cause of death for most of your life might lead you to think similarly. Besides, who wants to willfully test this theory out? Any volunteers?
Source: Wikipedia.org
This article also appeared in Gwangju News, February 2012 print version.