Over 470 Consumers File Lawsuit Against Daejin Bed for 'Radon Bed' Issue, Lose in First Trial

Court: "No Negligence Recognized Regarding Radiation Exposure from Mattress or Awareness of Harm to Human Body"

Consumers filed a class-action lawsuit against mattress manufacturer Daejin Bed, where the carcinogen radon was detected, but lost in the first trial.

The Civil Division 30 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Jeong Chan-woo) ruled on the 19th that 478 plaintiffs, including Mr. Lee, lost the damages lawsuit filed in 2018 against Daejin Bed and CEO Mr. A.

The plaintiffs claimed that using the anion bed mattresses manufactured by Daejin Bed from 2006 to 2015 increased the likelihood of developing thyroid diseases, leukemia, cancer, and other illnesses, and filed a lawsuit demanding 4.8 billion KRW in damages from Daejin Bed and others.

The court stated, "It is difficult to find that the mattresses manufactured and sold by Daejin Bed lacked safety within the expected range given the technological level at that time, or that the manufacturing and selling of each mattress in this case violated relevant laws in force at that time or was illegal against the legal order," adding, "It is also difficult to recognize that there was negligence in failing to fulfill the duty of care by either being aware that exposure from the mattresses could be harmful to the human body or failing to recognize it."

Furthermore, the court did not accept the claim that the government should pay medical expenses and consolation money because the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, which has the duty to protect the health and environment of the public from radiation in daily life, failed to fulfill this obligation.

The ‘Radon Mattress Incident’ refers to the case in May 2018 when a large amount of radon was detected in beds sold by Daejin Bed, a small and medium-sized domestic mattress manufacturer. Radon is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and is known as a major cause of lung cancer through respiratory exposure.

At that time, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission investigated one Daejin Bed mattress and announced that the annual external radiation dose was measured at 0.06 millisieverts, which did not reach the safety standard for processed products (1 millisievert) set by the Act on Safety Control of Radiation in Daily Life.

However, a second investigation measured the annual exposure dose of seven types of Daejin Bed mattresses at 1.59 to 9.35 millisieverts, prompting administrative actions such as product recalls. Subsequently, radon exceeding the standard was detected in products sold by other companies, spreading the controversy.

The damages lawsuits filed by Daejin Bed consumers resulted in consecutive rulings against the plaintiffs in the first trial. In August last year, 69 consumers lost their case, and in October last year, several consumers also lost their lawsuits.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.