• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.153-159
• /
• 2018

Objectives: This study was carried out to determine $LD_{50}$ of benzo[a]pyrene to decide the possibility to designate them as toxic substance on the Act on the Registration and Evaluation, etc. of Chemical Substances, and to suggest that they should be managed in what level on the Chemical Control Act. Methods: Based on the result of a preliminary study, 300 mg/kg was set as the middle dose. A highest dose of 2,000 mg/kg and a lowest dose of 50 mg/kg were selected based on the OECD TG 423. Benzo[a]pyrene was orally administered once to female and male SD rats at dose levels of 50, 300, 2,000 mg/kg (body weight). All animals were monitored daily for clinical signs and mortality over 14 days. Also testicular spermatid count, motility and etc. were examined as well. Results: Under the condition of this experiment, $LD_{50}$ of benzo[a]pyrene was assumed to be >2,000 mg/kg. In the lesion according to autopsy, there were no specific symptoms in the control and experimental groups. At 2,000 mg/kg, a decrease in the sperm motility was observed. Benzo[a]pyrene should be designated to be toxic substance as the material assumed to be reproduction-toxicity on the Act on the Registration and Evaluation, etc. of Chemicals. Therefore we should abide by legal procedures determined by Chemicals Control Act in treating it. Conclusion: Considering the significant result that sperm motility in the experimental group was inferior to that in the reference group, we suggest that benzo[a]pyrene be designated as a toxic substance.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.39 no.11
• /
• pp.650-654
• /
• 2017

As the amount of chemicals increases, there is a global movement to reorganize the chemical management system. Korea has also reorganized its chemical management system to enact the act on Chemical Control and Registration and Evaluation etc. of chemical substance. However, it is true that there are not enough explanations in domestic workplaces. Therefore, deepening understanding of chemical control act and searched for a complementary point and future development direction. Through the proposed method, chemical control act should be widely adopted and studied both inside and outside the country as a safe chemical management system.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.216-223
• /
• 2017

Chemicals are an indispensable element of modern society to the extent that more than 15 million species are commercially available worldwide. However, among them are chemicals whose toxicityposes a threat to public health and the environment, as illustrated by past cases of chemical accidents, which revealed their danger to human life. Chemical accidents can spread and cause huge damage in a short time because of their characteristics. Therefore, it is important to do as much as possible to prevent them in advance and to respond promptly after an accident. The legal system pertaining to domestic chemical substances is the "Toxic Chemical Control Act", which is made up of the "Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals" and the "Chemical Control Act" since 2015. Under this law, the Comprehensive Chemical Information System and Chemical Substance Data Processing system were established and are still operating;however, chemical accidents are still occurring. These systems are comprehensive information systems aimed at providing chemical information rather than acting as chemical response systems, which has limited the effectiveness of accident response. This study is intended to analyze the information management systems, response management systems and the basis of chemical substance management support for hazardous chemicals and suggest ways to improve the legal system for developing and operating chemical response systemswithin a municipality.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.257-268
• /
• 2017

Objectives: This study was conducted to review the Toxic UseReduction Act of Massachusetts, USA, which has been evaluated as a successfulcase of a chemical reduction policy, and to search for ways to introduce it inKorea. Methods: We analyzed the implementation of the TURA by attending TUR Planning Course of the Toxic Use Reduction Institute in Massachusetts and researching the related literature. Results: As TURA took effect, the use of chemicals in Massachusetts was reduced, and cost savings were achieved in workplaces. The success factors for the legislation are considered to be support form the federal and state governments and the active participation of business and civic group. Domestic efforts to reduce toxic substances have already begun, so if the process of TURA is appropriately applied to domestic legislation of chemicals control, it would be expected to produce visible results. Therefore, we reviewed the 'Act on Chemicals Registration and Assessment', 'Act on Chemical Control' and 'Act on the Integrated Control of Pollutant-Discharging Facilities' and sought solution for applying TURA to each piece of legislation. For the first case, 'Toxic or Hazardous Substance List' and 'Establishment of Toxic Use Fee' is applicable. For the second case, 'Annual Toxic or Hazardous Substance Reports' is applicable. For the third case, 'Toxic Reduction Plans' and 'Toxics Use Reduction Institute and 'Toxic Use Reduction Planners' is applicable. Conclusions: The government should take notice appropriateness for the reduction of toxic chemicals and provide financial support. Businesses should invest in technologies that build trust with local communities, improve productivity, and reduce costs. Finally, civic group should cooperate with government and businesses.

• Korean Journal of Hazardous Materials
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.12-17
• /
• 2014

With a rapid growth of domestic industry in korea, now about 25,000 kinds of chemicals are being distributed, and it has been known that just about 15% of them has toxic substances. Recently, South Koreans have an anxiety about the stability and accidents of chemicals because chemical accidents like Gumi hydrofluoric acid accident have occurred. The U.S. has adopted the systems like EPCRA (Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act), TRI (Toxic Release Inventory) and TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act), and is also managing the hazardous chemicals by providing the information about them to its people and site workers. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare also has adopted J-CHECK system and is implementing it to let Japanese people know the information of safety of chemicals about REACH. However, the Korean government has a difficult situation to mediate the different idea with the Korean industry to make lower statute of Pre-legislation registration & evaluation of chemicals that will be implemented and Chemical Material Control Association that is being implemented. Especially city and country areas located in the industrial areas need political improvement focusing on vulnerable area through the check about current situation of hazardous chemicals of jurisdiction and management method, but the information about the management situation of small scale work places is insufficient. Therefore this study set up the urgent management area in Ansan Smart Hub through NFPA code according to the types of accident and dander characteristics of each chemical being used in the companies that have less than 50 workers and deal with chemicals located in Ansan Smart Hub in Gyeonggi-do.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.62-69
• /
• 2017

Chemical accidents are systematically managed by the Chemicals Control Act. However, the definition and case studies of violent incidents by hazardous chemical substances need to be adequately organized. In this study, we focused on suggesting improvement directions of the legal and institutional system to prevent the violent incidents of hazardous chemical substances by studying the problems of current legislation and drawing up implications through domestic and foreign cases. The suggestions for improvement are as follows: 1) Strengthening prevention through amendment of laws (1) Selection of the competent department; 2) Enforcing regulations on online and offline commerce (1) Setting personal purchase amount; and 3) Increasing public awareness and public education (1) Improvement of the continuous system through the Chemical Evaluation Committee.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.47-52
• /
• 2017

Chemical accidents occur by a variety of causes and aspects. Accident preparedness substances (APS) are defined by toxic chemicals highly likely to cause accidents due to their high acute toxicity, explosiveness or likely to cause severe damage where a chemical accident occurs among the chemicals. APS is designated and announced by Presidential Decree. However, chemical accidents occurred for recent 7 years were arisen mainly from non-accident preparedness substances, and only 24 species were included as chemical accident trigger among total 69 APS. In addition, APS were designated in 2014 and the list has not been updated since then although it needs to be amended in several aspects. Accordingly, this study analyzes the necessity of modification of APS management, and presents improved plans.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.10-17
• /
• 2022

Currently, in Korea, lower and upper tier qualifying quantities of the 97 substances requiring preparation for accidents have been designated. The information on the submission of chemical accident prevention management plan varies depending on whether the handling volume is above or below the lower or upper qualifying quantity. Because the criteria of the lower and upper qualifying quantities of substance requiring preparation for accidents are not stipulated in the Chemical Substances Control Act, this study attempted to establish a criterion through significance verification. In addition, the study investigated whether these qualifying quantities are related to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), toxic concentration endpoint, and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Finally, by comparing the risk categorization of the GHS, endpoint, and NFPA, it was evaluated whether the circulation-volume-based risk categorization of the substance requiring preparation for accidents that are in the top 13 is appropriate. The qualifying quantities of benzene, toluene, and sulfuric acid needed to be adjusted upward, while those of methyl alcohol and ammonia were adjusted downward from the current qualifying quantities. It is required to establish a quantified criterion that fully reflects the domestic situations in Korea and various indicators such as toxicity, physicochemical properties, and circulation volume for the qualified criterion of hazardous chemical substances. The study is expected to be helpful in establishing an efficient system by systematizing the criterion for qualifying quantity.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.446-464
• /
• 2015

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the task-specific hazards of chemicals used by nail technicians in Daegu Metropolitan City. Materials: A total of 30 nail shops located in Daegu City were surveyed to investigate the major tasks and practices performed by nail technicians and the ingredients listed in nail care products used in shops. We also collected instructions for use and material safety data sheets(MSDSs) of nail care products and compared CAS Nos. of ingredients with the lists of chemicals regulated by the Industrial Safety and Health Act(ISHA) and Chemical Substances Control Act(CSCA). Results: A total of 125 chemical ingredients were found in 468 nail care products used at the 30 nail shops. The most frequently found ingredients were ethyl acetate(72%), followed by n-butyl acetate(71.8%), isopropanol(56%), benzophenone(51.1%), nitrocellulose(46.4%) and ethanol(45.3%). Comparing six tasks, the task of manicuring used the most products at 222 products containing 91 ingredients. Among the 125 ingredients, there are 31 chemicals with occupational exposure limits(OEL) designated by the Ministry of Employment and Labor(MoEL), eight categorized as carcinogens, one mutagen and two reproductive toxic chemicals. In terms of carcinogens, formaldehyde was identified as the only confirmed human carcinogen(1A). We found that there was one chemical with a permissible limit, one special management substance, 18 workplace monitoring substances and ten special health diagnosis substances regulated by ISHA. For CSCA, nine poisonous substances, six substances requiring preparation for accidents and one restricted substance were identified. Conclusions: Based on these findings, formaldehyde was identified as one of the chemicals that should most strictly be controlled for the protection of the health of nail technicians and customers. At the same time, it is necessary to distribute materials with detailed hazardous information of nail care products for nail shop technicians.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.48 no.3
• /
• pp.183-194
• /
• 2022

Background: No study has examined the regulatory factors associated with fatal health problems due to the use of humidified disinfectants (HD) in South Korea. Objectives: This study aimed to identify and discuss the deficiencies and limitations found in the Toxic Chemical Control Acts (TCCA) that failed to prevent the health risk of chemicals in HD products. Methods: The South Korean TCCA was reviewed focusing on acts in operation from 1994 through the end of 2011, the period when HD was allowed in manufacturing and marketing. Results: The TCCA was the act intended to regulate the toxicity of chemicals in HD products. We found the TCCA to lack three key legal clauses which would have been essential to controlling the health risk of HD. First, there was the exemption of toxic and hazard testing for existing chemicals, including chloromethylisothiazolinone (CMIT), methylisothiazolinone (MIT), and benzalkonium chloride (BKC). Secondly, there were no articles requiring industry to provide animal inhalation test result for polymers such as polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG) and Oligo(2-)ethoxyethoxyethyl guanidine chloride (PGH). Finally, there was a lack of articles on examining the risk of products as well as on addressing changes in the usage of products. These articles were found to be generally provided in the US Toxic Substance Chemical Act (TSCA) and the EU Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH). Conclusions: In conclusion, the Ministry of Environment of South Korea had not updated key articles for regulating hazardous chemicals, causing large-scale health problems due to HD which had been fundamentally addressed in chemical-related acts in other countries.