• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.21 no.1 s.52
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2006

Arsenic is a ubiquitous element found in several forms in environment. Although certain foods, such as marine fish, contain substantial levels of organic arsenic forms, they are relatively low in toxicity compared to inorganic forms. In contrast, arsenic in drinking water is predominantly inorganic and very toxic. Chronic ingestion of arsenic-contaminated drinking water is therefore the major pathway posing potential risk to human health. World populations are exposed to low to moderate levels of arsenic of parts per billion (ppb) to thousands of ppb. When exposed to human, it could metabolize into monomethylarsonous acid ($MMA^{III}$) and dimethylarsinous acid ($DMA^{III}$) which are highly toxic. Lots of stuides have been recently focused how $MMA^{III}\;and\;DMA^{III}$ induce toxic insults in various target tissues. Epidemiological studies revealed that chronic arsenic exposure caused cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes etc. In this review, the current understanding of arsenic on health effects will be discussed.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.85-92
• /
• 1994

EIA has been developed as a tool for environmental protection into promulgation of the Environment Preservation Act in 1977, with the introduction of EIA concept in the Pollution Control Act amended in 1971. EIA system has been improved with the enlargement of project type, public participation, guiderline improvement, and amendment of Act and presidential decree. Also, this system has been developed to reduce adverse effects affecting environment and human beings for environmentally sound and sustainable development. This study is to analyze contents of Acts and regulations relative to Environmental Impact Assessment from 1971 to recently.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.240-246
• /
• 2017

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the vulnerability of the human health sector to $PM_{10}$ due to climate change in Incheon over the period of 2005-2014. Methods: Vulnerability to $PM_{10}$ consists of the three categories of climate exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The indexes for climate exposure and sensitivity indicate positive effects, while adaptive capacity shows a negative effect on vulnerability to $PM_{10}$. The variables in each category were standardized by the rescaling method, and respective relative regional vulnerability was analyzed through the vulnerability index calculation formula of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Results: Regions with a high exposure index were the western and northern urban areas with industrial complexes adjacent to a highway, including Bupyong-gu and Seo-gu. Major factors determining the climate exposure index were the $PM_{10}$ concentration, days of $PM_{10}$ >= $100{\mu}g/m^3$, and $PM_{10}$ emissions. The regions showing a high sensitivity index were urban regions with high populations; these commonly had a high mortality rate for related diseases and vulnerable populations. Conclusions: This study is able to support regionally adjusted adaptation policies and the quantitative background of policy priority since it provides information on the regional health vulnerability to $PM_{10}$ due to climate change in Incheon.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
• /
• v.19 no.4 s.54
• /
• pp.34-47
• /
• 2004

Although Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) in Korea has been improved markedly over the past two decades, by enlarging the range of projects for assessment, instituting pub lic participation and environmental monitoring, and similar measures, it remains deficient in its coverage of human health in Environmental Impact Statements(EISs). Health Impact Assessment(HIA) can supply the necessary correctives. HIA is a combination of procedures, methods and tools by which a policy, programme, projects or legislative procedure may be judged for its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of these effects within it. The principle of health protection is, however, established as a primary concern in EIA processes, in practice health is scarcely mentioned or the discussion is limited to a description of effects through the biophysical environment. The whole range of possible effects on health, including those mediated by socio-economic factors is often ignored, and no effective mechanism are in place to successfully incorporating health criteria and expertise into environmental, assessment(EA) that include ElA, SEA. These are foremost among the current issues facing EIA in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.75-86
• /
• 2016

Objectives : This study empirically verified the effects of service provided by medical service providers on customer satisfaction and favorable word-of-mouth intention. Moreover, it measured the mediation effects of customer satisfaction in the relationship between medical service quality factors and favorable word-of-mouth intention and proposed implications in terms of marketing. Methods : The research hypothesis was verified with a structural equation, and the Sobel test was used to analyze of customer satisfaction in the relationship between medical service quality factors and word-of-mouth intention. Results : From the hypothesis verification results, physical and human factors among the quality factors of medical service affected customer satisfaction.Additionally,customer satisfaction interacted as a factor influencing favorable word-of-mouth intention. Conclusions : Medical service providers should work to enhance the satisfaction of customers in terms of human and physical factors by providing quality medical service that is different from other providers and by improving the quality of medical service and the environment which could lead to effective word-of-mouth intention.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.175-185
• /
• 2014

This study analyzed individual happiness exponent according to local residents' perception degree of Health-Cities. The data, which is accumulated by the survey on relationship between happiness and perception degree of Health-Cities targeting 662 of local residents living in Y-gu in Busan, were analyzed using PASW 18.0. The results are as follows. To begin with, the results of Correlation Analysis on the relation between happiness index and cognition degree of Health-Cites indicate that the higher perception of Health-Cities'facilities, administrations, services, education, health environment and transportation the local residents have, the lower individual happiness index they acquired. The cognition degree of transportation has effects on local society and daily life; the cognition degree of facilities and businesses has impact on financial stability. The cognition degree of administrations has influence on psychological relaxation, services have meaningful effects on psychological stability, work and residence, education have statistically meaningful effects on psychological stability, families and marriage, individual human relationships in respect.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.347-355
• /
• 2002

As concerns on the effects of soil contamination on human health have grown, more efforts have been made to quantify the effects. One of such efforts is the development of risk assessment methodology. The fundamental objectives of this approach is to investigate the alternative options that reduce the risk of hazardous chemicals results from environmental pollution, which will eventually lead to an accomplishment of removement of identified toxicants in polluted environment. The U.S. EPA Risk Assessment guidance for the superfund (RAGS) provides a methods for assessing the health risk of contaminated soils and determining the preliminary remediation goals (PRGs). Using this approach, we assessed the health risk and preliminary remediation goals of petroleum contaminated site in Kyounggi province.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.657-665
• /
• 1999

Particulate matter produced by diesel engines is of concern to cngine manufactures because of its environmental impact. The majority of diesel particles are in the range of smaller than 1 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$. Because of their tiny volume, ultrafine diesel particles contribute very little to the total mass concentration which is currently regulated for automobile emissions. Ultrafinc particles are known to have deleterious effects upon human health cspecially because they penetrate deeply human respiratory tract and have negative effects on the health. In this study, the engine exhaust gas was diluted in a dilution tunnel and the particle size distribution was measured using the scanning mobility particel sizer system. Measurements of the number and the mass concentrations of the diesel exhaust were made under different engine ooperating conditions. The dilution sampling system provided a common basis for collection of the exhaust by cooling and diluting the source emission prior to the measurement. The measurement results showed that the particle size distributions of the exhaust from the diesel vehicles equipment with either heavy-duty or lignt-duty diesel engines, were similar in the particle size range of 0.08~0.2${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.731-737
• /
• 2013

Seventy-four Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) isolates belonging to the serotype O91:H21 were isolated from 1,643 asymptomatic human carriers in a STEC outbreak at Gwangju in Korea. Although the isolates did not cause any symptoms, all of them produced Shiga toxins 1 (Stx1) and 2 (Stx2). In order to determine why these strains cause no symptoms, we explored the differences in virulence potential between the asymptomatic STEC O91:H21 isolates and symptomatic STEC O91:H21 strains (ATCC 51435 and ATCC 51434). The asymptomatic STEC O91:H21 isolates showed strongly reduced cytopathic effects compared with the symptomatic strains when intact bacterial cells were used as an inoculant. Moreover, we found a reduced adherence phenotype when testing asymptomatic strains on HeLa cells. Real-time quantitative PCR results suggest that transcriptional repression of the genes encoding type-1 fimbriae occurs in the asymptomatic isolates but not in the symptomatic strains.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.19-26
• /
• 1986

The degree of air pollution is usually presented in terms of concentration. But, in evaluating the environmental impacts or air pollution control policies, the concentration values need to be interpreted in terms of damage effects on property and human health. The damage effect varies with the types of pollution, subjects and land use pattern of an affected area. Therefore, this study is aimed at developing a method of analyzing effects of various types of air pollutions on surrounding environmental setting with the EIMS (Environmental Information Management System) developed for land suitability analysis. Using the method formulated in this study, the long- term effects of such pollutants as $SO_2$ and HF on types of vegetation and residents, and potential, short-term effects of HCl leak accidents from manufacturing facilities in Ulsan and Onsan Industrial complex are analyzed. The presentation of the damage effects of air pollution rather than the concentration of pollutants will be useful for the preparation of environmental impact statements, the formulation of environmental policies, and the development of land use plans in heavily industrialized areas.