By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Health authorities were urged to reopen their investigation into the slew of deaths at the factories of Hankook Tire, accused by the families of victims for ducking responsibility for workplace health hazards.

Since 2006, 16 workers from the company's manufacturing plants and research labs in Daejeon and Geumsan have died of a variety of illnesses including heart failures, coronary heart disease and different types of cancer.

The latest victim, a 34-year-old man identified as Jo, died of complications from radiation therapy, shortly after returning to work after completing his treatment for laryngeal cancer.

The Hankook Tire Victims' Committee claims that the deaths were connected to a workplace environment it says exposes workers to high levels of organic solvents such as benzene, toluene and lead.

Company officials have been denying the allegations, citing a report by the state-run Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, released in February last year, that failed to confirm a link between the deaths and exposure to organic solvents.

However, in a news conference in Daejeon Wednesday, the victims' committee demanded that health authorities undertake another probe, saying that the initial test didn't include the detection of airborne particles from factory emissions and the health effect on workers who were exposed to them.

``After studying the health records of the victims with Dr. Lim Jong-han from the Inha University Hospital, we reached the conclusion that particles, of less than one micrometer in diameter and showing high concentration of organic solvents and heavy metal, may have been the cause for the cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases,'' a committee member told The Korea Times.

``Although there hasn't been any confirmed cases in Korea as of yet, studies in the United States and other countries reveal that particles from industrial processes pose serious threats to the health of workers as they can travel directly to the heart and lungs,'' he said, adding that the committee is planning to file for accident compensation.

In a report about the deaths of 93 Hankook Tire employees who died of illnesses or workplace accidents between 1996 and 2007, cancer was found as the most frequent cause, accounting for 30 percent of the fatalities.

Another 14 workers died from cardiovascular disorders, while 12 died of machinery-related deaths and eight committed suicide.

Hankook Tire claims that there is no evidence to conclude that the working environment at its factories puts workers at risk.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr