A group of South Korean researchers says a toxic material contained in disinfectants for humidifiers is the cause of a mysterious lung disease.
 
A team of 34 doctors at Seoul Asan Medical Center made the claim in an article published in the January edition of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
 
The doctors said 138 children suffered from the mysterious lung infection between 2006 and 2011 but not a single case has been reported since the sale of humidifier disinfectants was banned in November 2011. 
 
They also said biopsies of 60 patients showed all of them had bronchiole damage and lung lesions.
 
The doctors said the biopsy results suggest the damage was caused by fine toxic particles sprayed out from humidifiers.
 
The team said it has taken more than two years for the international academic circle to accept humidifier disinfectants as the cause for the deadly disease, since no similar cases have been reported in other countries.