• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.4729-4733
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• 2016

Objectives: Lung cancer is a major public health problem and one of the most costly illnesses. The study aimed to estimate the economic burden of lung cancer in Iran in 2014. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the direct and indirect costs for patients with lung cancer using a prevalence-based approach. A human capital approach was employed to estimate the indirect costs. Data were obtained from several sources such as through patient interview using structured questionnaire, medical records, the GLOBOCAN databases, the Iranian Statistical Center, the Iranian Ministry of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Results: The economic burden of lung cancer in Iran in the year 2014 was 3,225,998,555,090 IR. The main components of the cost were associated with mortality (81.9 %) and hospitalization (7.6 %). The costs of direct medical care, non-medical aspects, patient time, and mortality accounted for 10.8%, 2.7%, 4.5%, and 81.5% of the total cost, respectively. Conclusion: Findings from this study indicated that the economic burden of lung cancer is substantial both to Iran's health system and to society as a whole. Early diagnosis, strengthening cancer prevention, implementing new cancer therapy and medical technology, and effective smoking-cessation interventions could offset some of the costs associated with lung cancer in Iran.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.125-125
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• 1995

There has been an increased awareness of the need to confirm the chloroform exposure associated with using chlorinated household water. Ten of a 30-minute tub bath were normally taken by two volunteers in a bathroom of an apartment. Chloroform concentrations were measured in bathing water and bathroom air, and exhaled breath of the subjects prior to and after bathing. Bathing using chlorinated tap water resulted in a chloroform exposure and caused a body burden. Based on the difference of chloroform concentrations between breath samples collected prior to and after bathing, the chloroform body burden from a 30-minute bath was estimated to be about 8 to 26 folds higher than that prior to the bath. The mean water and bathroom air chloroform concentrations measured to evaluate the body burden were $9.4\mu\textrm{g}/l$ and TEX>$14.9\mu\textrm{g}/m^3$, respectively. The chloroform level of the bathroom air was 각 to 130 times higher than that of the living-room air. The relationship between the bathroom air and the corresponding breath chloroform concentrations were significant with p=0.03 and $R^2=0.47$.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2022

The development of the electrical, electronic, and telecommunication industries has increased the share of electricity in total energy consumption. With the enforcement of the Act on the Promotion of the Development, Use, and Diffusion of New and Renewable Energy in 2021, the mandatory supply ratio of new and renewable energy is expected to expand, and the amount of waste cables generated in the stage of replacing and discarding cables used in the industry is also expected to increase. The purpose of this study was to quantify the environmental burden of waste cable recycling through the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The results showed that the higher the amount of glue contained in the waste cable, the greater was the amount of fine dust and greenhouse gases generated. In addition, by assigning weights to 10 environmental burden items, it was confirmed that the marine aquatic eco-toxicity potential (MAETP) and human toxicity potential (HTP) had the greatest environmental burden. The main causes were identified as heptane and ethanol, which were the glue contained in the waste cable and the cleaning solutions used to remove them. Therefore, it is necessary to refrain from using glue in the cable production process and reduce the environmental burden by reducing the use of waste cable cleaning solutions used in the recycling process or using alternative materials.

• Environmental Sciences Bulletin of The Korean Environmental Sciences Society
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2000

The present study evaluated the body burden of aromatic VOCs in roadside and underground storekeepers. The Method Detection Limit(MDL) of the analytical system ranged from 0.2 to 0.4$\mu\textrm{g}$/m3 for the target VOCs. The recovery of the sampling system for the compounds was above 80%. For all the target compounds, the breath concentrations of the smokes were similar to or slightly higher than those of the nonsmokers for both the roadside and underground storekeepers. For Ethylbenzene, p-Xylene, and o-Xylene, the breath concentrations of the underground storekeepers were somewhat higher than those of the roadside storekeepers. In contrast, the breath m-xylene concentration of underground storekeepers was similar to that of roadside storekeepers. For both the roadside and underground storekeepers, the breath concentrations prior to and after work were not significantly different.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2022

In Korea, companies which have work-related musculoskeletal burden works should have conducted legal risk assessments every three years from 2004 onwards. However, due to problems with the legal definition of work-related musculoskeletal burden works, some companies may have been exempted from the risk assessment even though their workers still experience work-related musculoskeletal pain. For example, the manufacturing process used by a particular semiconductor manufacturing company involved a great deal of legal musculoskeletal bueden works. However, this company eliminated the musculoskeletal burden works by continuously introducing automated processes, and finally, in 2016, all work which was legally defined as musculoskeletal burden work were removed from the company's manufacturing process. Nevertheless, in a 2016 survey, 9.6% of the company's workers still complained of musculoskeletal pain, and in a 2019 survey this proportion actually increased to 15.7%. This incident demonstrates the limitations and problems of the current legal risk assessment of work-related musculoskeletal burden work. Therefore, this study proposes two improvements to solve these problems. Firstly, it is necessary to broaden the current legal definition of work-related musculoskeletal burden works. For example, vibration risk factors and push/pull tasks that are currently missing from the definition should be included. Secondly, it is proposed that a survey on musculoskeletal pain should be conducted for all workers, regardless of whether they are engaged in musculoskeletal burden works. The results of this study could be used to improve the legal risk assessment of work-related musculoskeletal burden works.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.375-384
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• 2016

Objectives: This paper analyzes the intersection of tort law and environmental health in a recent court decision. Methods: This paper analyzes Supreme Court Decision 2011Da7437, Decided on September 4, 2014 and related lower court decisions. Results: The plaintiffs sought financial compensation from the defendants, arguing that air pollutants in gases emitted by vehicles produced by the defendants had caused them to acquire respiratory diseases. The district court highlighted the need to mitigate the burden of proof for the plaintiffs, but proceeded to review whether the plaintiffs proved the actual toxicity levels of the air pollutants, whether the defendant's vehicles were the main source of the emissions, the plaintiff's level of exposure to the pollutants, and causation between the emissions and the injury. By doing so, the district court required the plaintiffs to prove both indirect and direct facts of causation, increasing burden of proof for plaintiffs. The appellate court upheld the district court's decision, adding that the defendant's conduct did not constitute an illegal act because it did not violate the emissions standards set by environmental law. The Supreme Court upheld the appellate court's decision, reasoning that the epidemiological evidence cannot establish a direct causation for diseases that lack specificity. Conclusion: This case demonstrates that discussions in environmental health have significance in tort lawsuits. For each fact that the plaintiffs and defendants attempted to prove, environmental health research studies were offered as evidence. In addition, the courts decided the legality of the defendant's conduct based on emission standards set by environmental law.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 1998

This study was carried out to investigate the distribution of PAHs in atmosphere and soil, and their relationship, accumulation tendency in soil, and its contain burden ratio (%) the PM$_{10}$ and soil were sampled adjacent to a roadside and analysed by HPLC from August 25th 1996 to September 22nd 1996 in Seoul and Kunggido area. The main results are summarized below 1. The concentration of PM$_{10}$ in the ambient air was showed in order of industrial region ($142.70\pm 21.77 \mu g/m^3$), commercial region ($136.51\pm 31.62 \mu g/m^3$), residential region ($110.12\pm 14.98 \mu g/m^3$), greenbelt region ($77.44\pm 12.12 \mu g/m^3$), respectively. 2. Distribution of PAHs concentration level in PM$_{10}$ and soil was showed in order of industrial region, commercial region, residential region, greenbelt region, respectively in all components. 3. The contain burden ratio (%) in PM$_{10}$ was attested that BbF was the highest contain burden component (21.7-32%) and An was the lowest contain burden component (0.35-1.95%) in all region. 4. The contain burden ratio (%) in soil was attested that Pb (20.5%) was the highest and An (0.8%) was the lowest contain burden component in industrial region and BbF (21.9%) and An (0.45%) were the same tendency in commercial region and Py (21.6%) and BkF (3.5%) were in residential region, Py (29%) and An (2.6%) were in greenbelt region. 5. The relationship between concentration of PAHs in PM$_{10}$ and soil was attested that the component of BbF (r=0.514) was very highly correlated, and there were significant in Fl and BaA in soil between industrial region and commercial region (P<0.05).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.2131-2136
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• 2016

Background: Cancer is currently one of the main public health problems all over the world and its economic burden is substantial both for health systems and for society as a whole. To inform priorities for cancer control, we here estimated years of potential life lost (YPLL) and productivity losses due to cancer-related premature mortality in Iran from 2006 to 2010. Materials and Methods: The number of cancer deaths by sex and age groups for top ten leading cancers in Iran were obtained from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. To estimate the YPLL and the cost of productivity loss due to cancer-related premature mortality, the life expectancy method and the human capital approach were used, respectively. Results: There were 138,228 cancer-related deaths in Iran (without Tehran province) of which 76 % (106,954) were attributable to the top 10 ranked cancers. Some 63 % of total cancer-related deaths were of males. The top 10 ranked cancers resulted in 106,766,942 YPLL in total, 64,171,529 (60 %) in males and 42,595,412 (40%) in females. The estimated YPPLL due to top 10 ranked cancers was 58,581,737 during the period studied of which 32,214,524 (54%) was accounted for in males. The total cost of lost productivity caused by premature deaths because of top 10 cancers was 1.68 billion dollars (US$) from 2006 to 2010, ranging from 251 million dollars in 2006 to 283 million dollars in 2010. Conclusions: This study showed that the economic burden of premature mortality attributable to cancer is significant for Iranian society. The findings provide useful information about the economic impact of cancer for health system policy/decision makers and should facilitate planning of preventive intervention and effective resource allocation.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.277-284
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• 1995

There has been an increased awareness of the need to confirm the chloroform exposure associated with using chlorinated household water. Ten of a 30-minute tub bath were normally taken by two volunteers in a bathroom of an apartment. Chloroform concentrations were measured in bathing water and bathroom air, and exhaled breath of the subjects prior to and after bathing. Bathing using chlorinated tap water resulted in a chloroform exposure and caused a body burden. Based on the difference of chloroform concentrations between breath samples collected prior to and after bathing, the chloroform body burden from a 30-minute bath was estimated to be about 8 to 26 folds higher than that prior to the bath. The mean water and bathroom air chloroform concentrations measured to evaluate the body burden were $9.4\mu\textrm{g}/l$ and TEX>$14.9\mu\textrm{g}/m^3$, respectively. The chloroform level of the bathroom air was 각 to 130 times higher than that of the living-room air. The relationship between the bathroom air and the corresponding breath chloroform concentrations were significant with p=0.03 and $R^2=0.47$.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.275-286
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• 2013

It is well known that exposure to high level of PM (particulate matter) can adversely affect human health. However, little is known about health burden of PM considering the relationship, exposed level of PM, and health level in local communities. And, there is scarcely methodical assessment of uncertainty for application to policies of these assessment results. The scope of this study is divided into two parts: firstly to estimate the death burden of PM10 (particulate matter less then $10{\mu}m$ in diameter) in Seoul metropolitan region, and secondly to evaluate potential uncertainties in these estimates. To estimate the death burden of PM10 in Seoul metropolitan region from 2005~2010, we firstly assessed the relationship between daily mean PM10 and daily death counts in Seoul from 2000~2010, and calculated the death burden of PM10 using BenMAP (Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program). After that, we identified and characterized uncertainties to substantially influence the results of death burden. The daily mortality risk was increased 1.000227 times (p-value/0.001) associated with $1{\mu}g/m^3$ increase of daily mean PM10 for all ages population, Seoul. And, death burdens of PM10 in Seoul metropolitan region were estimated from 5.51 in 2005 to 5.12 in 2010 per 100,000 people. Finally, we categorized context, model, and input uncertainty and characterized these uncertainties in three dimensions (i.e. location, level, and nature) using uncertainty typology. In our study, we argue that uncertainties need to be identified, assessed, reported and interpreted in order for assessment results to adequately support decision making, such as the establishment of air quality standards based on health burden of air quality.