• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.273-279
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• 2015

Effects of passive film quality by chemical passivation and solution flow on the corrosion behavior of 304 stainless steel in HCl solution were investigated using a coloration indicator, and by corrosion weight loss, electrochemical polarization and element dissolution measurements. A high redness degree suggests a low passive-film integrity for 304 stainless steel following air exposure, while the minimum redness degree for the samples after chemical passivation suggests a high passive-film integrity. In the static condition, samples subjected to air exposure exhibited a high corrosion rate and preferential dissolution of Fe. Chemical passivation inhibited the corrosion rate due to the intrinsically high structural integrity of the passive film and high concentrations of Cr-rich oxides and hydroxide. Solution flow accelerated corrosion by promoting both the anodic dissolution reaction and the cathodic reaction. Solution flow also altered the preferential dissolution to fast uniform dissolution of metal elements.

• International Journal of Safety
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.18-23
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• 2009

Due to dermal exposure to hazardous chemicals causing potential adverse health symptoms through skin absorption, dermal monitoring has had an important role in assessing such exposure. This paper overviews comparatively a number of studies of dermal monitoring with different methodologies such as surface monitoring, skin wiping, skin washing, adhesive methods and tape stripping, fluorescence and infrared spectroscopy, skin patches, pads and clothing, video exposure monitoring and dermal exposure assessment toolkits and models. However, there is a lack of information on the relationship between exposure levels and adverse health symptoms. Therefore, more specific strategies for dermal exposure monitoring should be developed and standardized with further development of biological and ocular monitoring.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 2010

Tobacco smoking and secondhand smoke exposure are linked to a number of adverse health outcomes. There is a new concept of thirdhand smoke that is residual tobacco smoke contamination remained after the cigarette is extinguished. This paper reviews published studies examining the residual tobacco smoke. Tobacco smoke can be attached to various surfaces and reemitted to air for long period of time. The dynamic process can allow thirdhand smoke exposure to tobacco smoke without direct exposure to secondhand smoke. One critical evidence of the thirdhand smoke exposure was significantly high urinary cotinine level of infant who did not have direct secondhand smoke exposure. Potential exposure to new and more potent chemicals generated from chemical reactions between residual tobacco smoke and ambient air pollutants can get more attention. Considering toxicity and exposure route, children are uniquely susceptible to thirdhand smoke exposure. The review provides strong background information for thirdhand smoke but warrant more researches on this issue.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.249-256
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• 2018

This article aims to provide a systematic review of the exposure assessment methods used to assign wafer fabrication (fab) workers in epidemiologic cohort studies of mortality from all causes and various cancers. Epidemiologic and exposure-assessment studies of silicon wafer fab operations in the semiconductor industry were collected through an extensive literature review of articles reported until 2017. The studies found various outcomes possibly linked to fab operations, but a clear association with the chemicals in the process was not found, possibly because of exposure assessment methodology. No study used a tiered assessment approach to identify similar exposure groups that incorporated manufacturing era, facility, fab environment, operation, job and level of exposure to individual hazardous agents. Further epidemiologic studies of fab workers are warranted with more refined exposure assessment methods incorporating both operation and job title and hazardous agents to examine the associations with cancer risk or mortality.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.3-5
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• 2023

Objective: This study introduces exposure concentrations of time-weighted average standard (TWA) evaluation and short-time exposure standard (STEL) evaluation for trichloroethylene in the cleaning process. Methods: Trichloroethylene measurement was conducted according to the KOSHA Guide (A-24-2019) method. It was carried out twice. Results: As a result of the first measurement, TWA concentration exceeded 4 times the exposure standard and STEL concentration exceeded 16 times, but the inaccuracy and breakthrough of the collection time could not be considered, so the second measurement was conducted. The second measurement result was lower than the first measurement result, but exceeded the exposure standards (TWA, STEL). Conclusions: We were able to confirm that the exposure level of workers in the cleaning process using trichloroethylene exceeded the exposure standard. And it is also considered necessary to grasp the approximate concentration using a detector tube in the preliminary survey.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.206-211
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• 2017

Background: Self-reported low back pain (LBP) has been evaluated in relation to material handling lifting tasks, but little research has focused on relating quantifiable stressors to LBP at the individual level. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Composite Lifting Index (CLI) has been used to quantify stressors for lifting tasks. A chemical exposure can be readily used as an exposure metric or stressor for chemical risk assessment (RA). Defining and quantifying lifting nonchemical stressors and related adverse responses is more difficult. Stressor-response models appropriate for CLI and LBP associations do not easily fit in common chemical RA modeling techniques (e.g., Benchmark Dose methods), so different approaches were tried. Methods: This work used prospective data from 138 manufacturing workers to consider the linkage of the occupational stressor of material lifting to LBP. The final model used a Bayesian random threshold approach to estimate the probability of an increase in LBP as a threshold step function. Results: Using maximal and mean CLI values, a significant increase in the probability of LBP for values above 1.5 was found. Conclusion: A risk of LBP associated with CLI values > 1.5 existed in this worker population. The relevance for other populations requires further study.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.73-81
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to obtain scientific information regarding classification and health hazards that may result from a 13 weeks inhalation exposure of isoprene in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The testing method was conducted in accordance with OECD guidelines for the testing of chemicals No. 413. The Rats were divided into 4 groups (10 male and 10 female rats in each group) and exposed to 0, 360, 1,620, 7,300 ppm isoprene in each exposure chamber for 6 h/day, 5 days/week, for 13 weeks. As a result, there were no mortality or abnormality during the period of study and did not show any significant changes of body weight. There were no dose response changes in urinalysis, hematological and serum biochemical value examination. Relative organ weight was increased significantly the right kidney in 7,300 ppm group of male rats. In female rats, relative organ weight of the left kidney and the both lungs in 1,620 ppm group and the left lung and the both kidneys in 7,300 ppm group were increased significantly. But the histopathological findings did not reveal any exposure-related changes. According to the above results, the no observable adverse effect level (NOAEL) of isoprene was 7,300 ppm (20.3 mg/L) in both male and female rats. In conclusion, Isoprene was not classified specific target organ toxicity of the 'Standard for Classification and Labeling of Chemical Substance and Material Safety Data Sheet' (Ministry of Employment and Labor, 2009).

• Toxicological Research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.97-104
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• 1989

A new exposure system was developed to generate p-dinitrobenzene (p-DNB) containing atmosphere. A glass column was filled with small glass beads coated with the chemical. The p-DNB containing medium was heated to a temperature beyond the boiling point of p-DNB. A stream of air flow was forced to pass through the column and let it mixed with fresh air before introducing into an inhalation chamber. The concentration of p-DNB in the chamber air was measured by direct assaying the air directly and by sampling the chemical using a microfilter installed in the chamber.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1207-1212
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• 2001

A new photochemically bifunctional epoxy and dimethacrylate compounds were synthesized for investigating the photosensitivity under UV irradiation. Photosensitivity of the synthesized chalcone-based compounds was investigated by using UV-visible absorption and Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopies. The result of spectroscopic analysis substantiated that the two chalcone-based compounds have functions of both photocrosslinking and photopolymerization by UV exposure in the presence of photoinitiator. Two kinds of photochemical reactions proceeded competitively during UV exposure. Particularly, we studied the effect of photopolymerization on the rate of photocrosslink due to cycloaddition in the two oligomeric compounds.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.441-455
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• 2010

Researchers who work in science and engineering R&D laboratories are commonly exposed to a wide range of chemical, biological and physical hazards. They also may adopt ergonomically poor postures for long periods of time. These factors may increase the risk of adverse health outcomes in laboratory workers. Recently, there were several fatal accidents in the laboratories in universities and research institutes in Korea. Consequently, the 'Laboratory Safety Act' was enacted in 2006. However, there are concerns about the health risk associated with chronic exposures to hazards, as the management measures provided in this Act are very limited, focusing primarily on accident prevention and compensation for lab work-related accidents. In this article, the methods for assessing exposure to chemicals in laboratory environments are discussed. Also, epidemiological studies examining the association between laboratory exposure and health effects, including cancer and reproductive toxicity are extensively reviewed. Finally, the possible roles of environmental health professionals in this area are suggested, along with a list of critical research needs for properly assessing laboratory workers' exposure and risk.