• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.619-630
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• 2015

This study was conducted to propose the methodology of human risk assessment specialized to domestic mine areas and to quantify the human risk of heavy metal (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) contamination around two abandoned metal mines. To attain the goals, we established a relevant exposure scenario, including 7 exposure pathways and extracted a variety of exposure factors reflecting the characteristics of inhabitants around abandoned metal mine areas. Finally, carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks were compared between two areas, exposure pathways, heavy metal contaminants, and receptors. The total excess carcinogenic risks of two mine areas of concern were calculated to be larger than the acceptable carcinogenic risk ($1{\times}10^{-6}$), indicating those two areas are not safe for carcinogenic hazard. In addition, the hazard indices of two areas were computed to be higher than unit risk (1), suggesting that the areas of concern have non-carcinogenic risk. Ingestion of crop and intake of groundwater were evaluated to be main exposure pathways contributing to carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks within the areas. Also, the results show that carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic hazards were mostly attributed to As and As, Cd, and Pb, respectively.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.309-323
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• 2015

This study was initiated to propose the method for human risk assessment suitable to metal mine area. Using a variety of exposure parameters extracted from the investigation of abandoned metal mines, the proposed method was applied to assess the risk of As and heavy metal contamination for inhabitants (male and female adults and child) within an abandoned mine area. Based on the results of risk assessment, in addition, target remediation concentrations of each media (soil, groundwater, and surface water) were estimated. The results indicate that total carcinogenic risk (TCR) and hazard index (HI) representing carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks, respectively, were calculated to exceed the tolerable levels (1.00E-6 and 1) with regard to two exposure pathways (groundwater and crop intakes) and As. Thus, the human risk of study area was evaluated to be significant. Based on the target risk (TR) for carcinogens, the remediation concentrations of soil were computed to be 6.83~6.85 mg/kg and 18.41~18.46 mg/kg for As and Pb, respectively. In terms of target hazard index (THI) for non-carcinogens, the remediation concentrations of soil were calculated to be 17.38 mg/kg for Cu and 9.13 mg/kg for As.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.414-431
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• 2016

There are numerous closed and abandoned mines in Korea, from which diverse heavy metals (e.g., As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) are released into the surrounding soil, groundwater, surface water, and crops, potentially resulting in detrimental effects on the health of nearby residents. Therefore, we performed human risk assessments of two abandoned metal mines, Yanggok (YG) and Samsanjeil (SJ). The exposure parameters used in this assessment were specific to residents near mines and the included exposure pathways were relevant to areas around metal mines. The computed total excess carcinogenic risks for both areas exceeded the acceptable carcinogenic risk ($1{\times}10^{-6}$), indicating that these areas are likely unsafe due to a carcinogenic hazard. In contrast, the non-carcinogenic risks of the two areas differed among the studied receptors. The hazard indices were higher than the unit risk (=1.0) for male and female adults in YG and male adults in SJ, suggesting that there are non-carcinogenic risks for these groups in the study areas. However, the hazard indices for children in YG and female adults and children in SJ were lower than the unit risk. Consumption of groundwater and crops grown in the area were identified as major exposure pathways for carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic hazards in both areas. Finally, the dominant metals contributing to carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks were As and As, Cu, and Pb, respectively. In addition, the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks of YG were evaluated to be 10 and 4 times higher than those of SJ, respectively, resulted from the relatively higher exposure concentration of As in groundwater within SJ area. Because of lacking of several exposure parameters, some of average daily dose (ADD) could not be computed in this study. Furthermore, it is likely that the ADDs of crop-intake pathway included some errors because they were calculated using soil exposure concentrations and bioconcentration factor (BCF) rather than using crop exposure concentrations.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.152-168
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• 2019

The element arsenic, which is abundant in the Earth's crust, is used for various industrial purposes including materials for disease treatment and household goods. Various human activities, such as the disposal of soil waste, metal mining and smelting, and combustion of fossil fuels, have caused the pollution of the environment with arsenic. Recently, guidelines for arsenic in rice have been adopted by the Korean ministry of food and drug safety to prevent health risks based on rice consumption. Because of the exposure to arsenic and its accumulation in the human body through various channels, such as air inhalation, skin contact, ingestion of drinking water, and food consumption, integrated multimedia risk assessment is required to adopt appropriate risk management policies. Therefore, integrated human health risk assessment was carried out in this study using integrated exposure assessment based on multimedia (e.g., air, water, and soil) and multi-route (e.g., oral, inhalation, and dermal) scenarios. The results show that oral uptake via drinking water is the most common pathway of arsenic into the human body, accounting for 57%-96% of the total arsenic exposure. Among various age groups, the highest exposures to arsenic were observed in infants because the body weight of infants is low and the surface areas of infant bodies are large. Based on the results of the exposure assessment, the cancer and non-cancer risks were calculated. The cancer risk for CTE and RME is in the range of 2.3E-05 to 6.7E-05 and thus is negligible because it does not exceed the cancer probability of 1.0E-04 for all age groups. On the other hand, the cancer risk for RME varies from 6.4E-05 to 1.8E-04 and from 1.3E-04 to 1.8E-04 for infants and preschool children, exceeding the excess cancer risk of 1.0E-04. The non-cancer risks range from 5.4E-02 to 1.9E-01 and from 1.5E-01 to 6.8E-01, respectively. They do not exceed the hazard index 1 for all scenarios and all ages.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.4B
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• pp.261-266
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• 2012

In this study, soil environmental impact assessment using risk-based approach was compared with that using concentration-based approach. For this, heavy metal contaminant exposure was characterized in an abandoned mine area. According to the estimated carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks, soil ingestion was identified as the most dominant exposure pathway. When contaminant concentrations exceeded the Korean Soil Contamination Warning Standards, their corresponding risk values also exceeded the Total Soil Risk Standard. Even the cases of satisfying the Korean Soil Contamination Warning Standards mostly showed higher risk levels than the Total Soil Risk Standard, re-confirming a more sensitivity of the risk-based assessment than concentration-based assessment. However, the in-depth analysis of the estimated non-carcinogenic risk values revealed a few cases for soil contact pathway showing contaminant concentrations higher than the Korean Soil Contamination Warning Standards although their non-carcinogenic risk values satisfied the level of Hazard Index Standard. The findings from this study support a necessity of shifting policy paradigm from concentration-based approach into risk-based approach for reliable risk assessment in abandoned mine areas, and also suggest a necessity of further fundamental studies regarding risk factors and standards.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.27-40
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• 1991

;ABSTRACT-The effects of gastric ulcer induced by restraint and water-immersion stress on gastric carcinogenesis in Wistar male rats treated with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) were examined. Rats of group 1 were 2iven stress for 8 hours before they were received MNNG (100 mg/l) in drinking water for 20 weeks. Rats of group 2 were received MNNG first for 2 weeks and then were given stress once a week from 3rd to 12th weeks, with simultaneous MNNG adminitration and followed by MNNG only until 20th weeks. Rats of group 3 were received MNNG only as a positive control and rats of group 4 were not treated with carcinogen. All groups were sacrificed in 20 weeks. Sections of the pyloric mucosa were stained by avidin-biotin peroxidase complex (ABC) immuno-histochemical method. PAPG (pepsinogen isozyme 1 altered pyloric gland), body weight change, gross lesions and histopathological changes were examined. The results obtained from these studies were summarized as follows: 1. The mean body weight gains of the rats fed with carcinogens (group 1, 2, 3) were significantly lower than that of group 4 (control group, without carcinogen. p<0.05). However, the differences of the mean body weight of rats treated with carcinogen were not significant. 2. Stress treatment (group 1 and 2) increased the appearance of the numbers of PAPG (Pepsinogen 1 Altered Pyloric Gland) induced by carcinogen significantly compared with that of group 3 (carcinogen only, p<0.01). 3. The incidence rate of mucosal hyperplasia in pylorus was significantly increased in group 2 compared with group 3 (p<0.05).0.05).

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.33-44
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• 2023

A risk assessment on the heavy metals including arsenic (As), cupper (Cu), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) was investigated by setting exposure routes in agricultural fields. Moreover, the factors requiring improvement in risk assessment were also discussed through a review of the dermal absorption slope factor (SF_abs) and total amount of suspended particles (TSP) in the current risk assessment guidelines. Assessment results show that the total cancer risk (TCR) of As through crop and soil ingestion was 1.51E-03 in adults and 6.37E-4 in children, which indicated a carcinogenic risk (exceeding 1E-05). On the other side, the harzard index (HI) was 3.37 in adults and 1.41 in children, which was evaluated as having a non-carcinogenic risk (>1). The carcinogenic purification targets for As were calculated to be 6.84 mg/kg in adults and 6.86 mg/kg in children, while the non-carcinogenic purification targets were calculated to be 13.43 mg/kg for adults and 22.54 mg/kg for children. When applying SF_abs 61 of the current guidelines, it appears that there is a carcinogenic risk even though the As exposure concentration is below the area of concern 1 standard (25 mg/kg), which suggestes that additional research on this factor is required for the risk assessment. In order to apply the measured suspended particle concentration to risk assessment, TSP should be derived from PM10 using an appropriate correlation equation. As a result, it is suggested to improve the risk assessment guidelines so that the mesured PM10 value measured in the field can be used directly.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.63-74
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• 2019

This study carried out a human risk assessment of Cu, Pb, Zn and Ni contained in soil contaminated by improperly buried heavy metal wastes in railway sites. The purpose of the human risk assessment is to derive the need for soil remediation and factors that should be considered during soil remediation. Risk assessment was performed in accordance with the Environment Ministry's Risk Assessment Guidelines. The results of the human risk assessment of contaminated heavy metal soil contaminated by improperly buried waste in the railway site were presented after the process of determining exposure concentration, calculating exposure, and determining carcinogenic hazards. The heavy metal content of soil is 621.3 Cu mg/kg, 2,824.5 Pb mg/kg, 1,559.1 Zn mg/kg and 45 Ni mg/kg, which is the exposure concentration of the target contaminant. The results of human exposure according to exposure pathways were high in the order of soil outdoor dust >soil ingestion >soil contact, and Pb >Zn >Cu >Ni were higher in order of contaminant. The carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic risks of soil contaminated with heavy metal waste were higher than the allowable carcinogenic risks (TCR> $10^{-6}$) and the risk index (Hi < 1.0) suggested by USEPA. Therefore, the site needs to be remediated.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2007

Levels of ethyl carbamate, a potential carcinogen produced naturally during fermentation, in major Korean fermented foods and some selected alcoholic beverages were determined by GC/MS/SIM, and their average daily intake and excess cancer risk of Korean people were estimated. In GC/MS/SIM analysis average 1.41, 19.44, 3.00 and 170.88 ${\mu}$g/kg of ethyl carbamates were detected in Baechu kimchi, Japanese soy sauces, Soju and fruit brandy, respectively. The average and maximum daily exposures to ethyl carbamate through major Korean fermented foods and alcoholic beverage consumption were 9.42 and 35.75 ng/kg bw/day for Korean female aged 20-64 years, and 12.73 and 48.87 ng/kg bw/day for Korean male respectively, which were mainly contributed by Baechu kimchi, Japanese soy sauces, Soju and fruit brandy. The average and maximum excess cancer risks were $4.7{\times}10^{-7}$ and $1.8{\times}10^{-6}$ for Korean female, and $6.4{\times}10^{-7}$ and $2.4{\times}10^{-6}$ for Korean male. Therefore, the industries related to fermented foods and alcoholic beverages need to make an effort to reduce the amount of ethyl carbamate in their products.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.295-306
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• 2009

The risk assessment of groundwater and soil in Sasang industrial complex in Busan Metropolitan City was carried out in order to estimate risks to human health and the environment. The carcinogenic risk (CR) of receptors to soil and air was not identified. However, the CRs for TCE and PCE were 6.7E-6 and 1.0E-5, respectively. Hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) did not appear through air exposure pathways. Yet the HQ and HI of soil were 3.4E-5 and 5E-5, respectively, and lower than the critical value (1.0). On the contrary, HQ and HI with respect to groundwater were calculated as 0.7 (not hazardous) and 1.4 (hazardous). The constituent reduction factor (CRF) for TCE in the study area was determined as 2.5, and thus remediation work is demanded. As a result of sensitivity analysis for 18 exposure factors, eight exposure factors (life time of carcinogens, age, body weight, exposure duration, exposure frequency, dermal exposure frequency, water ingestion rate, and soil ingestion rate) varied with the variation of risk.