• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.349-360
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• 2023

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) (Weight 23.05 ± 6.98 g, Length 12.65 ± 1.38 cm) were exposed to waterborne nitrite at 0, 50, 100, 200, 400 and 800 mg NO₂ ^-/L for 96 hours. The lethal concentration 50 (LC₅₀) of C. carpio exposed to waterborne nitrite was 398.6 mg NO₂ ^-/L. Hemoglobin, hematocrit and RBC count were significantly decreased by waterborne nitrite exposure. The MCV (mean mean corpuscular volume) (µl), MCH (mean corpuscular hemoglobin) (pg) and MCHC (mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration) (%) were significantly increased. The inorganic component, plasma calcium, was significantly increased, and the organic components such as plasma cholesterol and total protein were significantly increased showing a similar tendency with calcium. In enzymatic components, the AST and ALT were also significantly increased by nitrite exposure. The results of this study indicate that exposure to nitrite can affect the survival and hematological physiology of C. carpio.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.125-133
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• 2002

Volatile disinfection by-products (DBPs) contained in chlorinated tap water are released into household air during indoor activities (showering, cooking, dish -washing, etc.) associated with tap water uses and may cause adverse health effects on humans. Twenty seven subjects were recruited and their homes were visited during the winter of 2002. Tap water, household air, and exhaled breath samples were collected and analyzed for five volatile DBPs (chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dichloroacetonitrile, 1,1 -dichloropropanone and 1,1,1 trichloropropanone). Chloroform was a major DBP found in most samples. Tap water chloroform concentrations were not statistically correlated with its household air concentrations, probably due to individual variability in indoor activities such as showering, cooking, and dish - washing as well as household ventilation. Correlation of breath chloroform concentration with household air chloroform concentration showed its possible use as a biomarker of exposure to household air chloroform. Exposure estimates suggested that inhalation during household stay be a major route of exposure to volatile DBPs and that ingestion of tap water be a trivial contributor to the total exposure in Koreans.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.69-76
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• 2003

Effects of ambient nitrite, NO$_2$$\^$-/, at 1, 3, 10 and 30 mg/1, on the changes of plasma nitrite/nitrate and on hepatic drug - metabolizing enzyme activity were examined in the juvenile Israeli carp, Cyprinus carpio. When the fish were exposed to 1 and 3 mg/1 NO$_2$$\^$-/, there was an exposure duration-dependent increase in plasma NO$_2$$\^$-/ over the 96-hr period reaching 6∼7 fold excess the ambient concentration. In the fish exposed to 10 mg/1, a plateau concentration of less than 2-fold of the environment was attained in 12 hr. With 30 mg/1, however, the maximal plasma NO$_2$$\^$-/ was 41.25 mg/1 at 12 hr followed by a gradual decline. There was a concentration-dependent increase in methemoglobin (metHb) level in all NO$_2$$\^$-/ -exposed groups and a significant decrease in hematocrit value in 30 mg/l group after 96-hr exposure. Apart from the blunted increase in plasma NO$_2$$\^$-/ with higher NO$_2$$\^$-/ (10 and 30 mg/1) exposure, the ratio of plasma NO$_3$$\^$-/ to NO$_2$$\^$-/ was signifirantly higher in these groups compared to 1 and 3 mg/1. The imbalance in the plasma NO$_3$$\^$-//NO$_2$$\^$-/ at higher NO$_2$$\^$-/ exposure suggests a possible accelerated conversion of NO$_2$$\^$-/ to NO$_3$$\^$-/. Nitrite exposure did not affect the hepatic drug-metabolic activities in juvenile Israeli carp. All these data indicate that disposition of NO$_2$- differ depending upon exposed concentration and that metHb production may not be the exclusive toxic mechanism in carp.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.627-635
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• 2004

Evaluated were household THMs exposure associated with the use of municipal tap water treated with chlorine and with ozone-chlorine. The current study measured the THMs concentrations in the tap water and indoor and outdoor air in the two types of household, along with an estimation of THMs exposure from water ingestion, showering, and the inhalation of indoor air. Chloroform was the most abundant THMs in all three media, yet no bromoform was detected in any sample. Contrary to previous findings, the fall water THMs concentrations exhibited no significant difference between the chlorine and ozone-chlorine treated water. However, the spring median chloroform concentration in the tap water treated with chlorine (17.6 ppb) was 1.3 times higher than that in the tap water treated with ozone-chlorine (13.4 ppb). It is suggested that the effects of the water parameters should be considered when evaluating the advantage of ozone-chlorine disinfection for THMs formation over chlorine disinfection. The indoor air THMs concentration trend was also consistent with the water concentration trend, yet the outdoor air THMs concentrations did not differ significantly between the two types of household. The indoor to outdoor air concentration ratios were comparable with previous studies. The THMs exposure estimates from water ingestion, showering, and the inhalation of indoor air suggested that, for the residents living in the surveyed households, their exposure to THMs in the home was mostly associated with their household water use, rather than the indoor air. The THMs exposure estimates from tap water ingestion were similar to those from showering.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.311-317
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate Rn concentration and annual radiation exposure level in the basement and first floor. The Rn Cup monitors were placed in different environments such as shopping stage, office building, Apartment, Hospital, house in Seoul from Match 1996 to April 1997 and CR-39 films were collected every two months. The mean radon concentration in the basement of house($88.6\;Bq/m^3$) showed the highest level among the areas, while radon concentration on the first floor of house($50.5\;Bq/m^3$) showed the higher than other areas. The annual radiation exposure dose that person on the floor / in the basement of differential place in the seoul can be exposed during living was estimated from 24.11 to 87.64 mRem/yr. This radiation dose is significantly lower than 130mRem maximum radiation dosage from the radon nuclide prescribed by the ICRP, with respect to the overall average exposure of the working adult. this study indicated that possible radon sources on the first floor / in the basement areas are radon intrusion from soil gas, construction materials, or ground water leaking. Further study is needed to quantitatively assess major contributions of radon-222 and health effect to radon exposure.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.11-16
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• 2019

In this study, a reliable number of soil samples for TPH fractionation was investigated in order to perform risk assessment. TPH was fractionated into volatile petroleum hydrocarbons (VPH) with three subgroups and extractable petroleum hydrocarbons (EPH) with four subgroups. At the study site, concentrations of each fraction were determined at 18 sampling points, and the 95% upper confidence limit (UCL) value was used as an exposure concentration of each fraction. And then, 5 sampling points were randomly selected out of the 18 points, and an exposure concentration was calculated. This process was repeated 30 times, and the results were compared statistically. Exposure concentrations of EPH obtained from 18 points were 99.9, 339.1, 27.3, and 85.9 mg/kg for aliphatic $C_9-C_{18}$, $C_{19}-C_{36}$, $C_{37}-C_{40}$, and aromatic $C_{11}-C_{22}$, respectively. The corresponding exposure concentrations obtained from 5 points were 139.8, 462.8, 35.1 and 119.4 mg/kg, which were significantly higher than those from 18 points results (p <0.05). Our results suggest that limited number of samples for TPH fractionation may bias estimation of exposure concentration of TPH fractions. Also, it is recommended that more than 30 samples need to be analyzed for TPH fractionation in performing risk assessment.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to assess respirable crystalline silica (RCS) exposure levels in workers who collect and dispose used coal briquette ash (CBA) in sanitation companies that are subcontracted by one medium-sized local government on the collection of municipal household waste (MHW), and to analyze the quartz content in CBA. When the CBA powder that undergone specialized pretreatment in several steps were subjected to mineral identification and quantitative analysis using X-ray diffraction (XRD), it was found that quartz represented 18%, and in addition, mullite, and plagioclase were included. For two CBA collectors, samples were collected by the personal sampling evaluation method. After respirable dust was collected in accordance with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 7500 method, the concentration of quartz was analyzed using XRD. Meanwhile, a portable real-time dust monitor (Sidepak AM520, TSI Inc., USA) was also used to observe the dust exposure level for each time zone and job task. The RCS exposure level of one worker was as high as 0.024 mg/㎥, which was the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Values (TLV) level. The other worker also exhibited a concentration of 0.013 mg/㎥, which was more than half of TLV. The Sidepak results revealed that the work of collecting CBA and loading it onto a vehicle was hardly exposed to the dust of a significant level. It was found, however, that the work of transferring the collected CBA to a container through a conveyor belt was exposed to a very high average respirable dust concentration of 2.238 mg/㎥. The results of this study confirmed that quartz, which is crystalline silica and a carcinogen, is contained in CBA, one of municipal household waste (MHW), in high concentration. It was also confirmed that workers are exposed to high RCS concentrations while transferring collected CBA into a container. Although each local government in South Korea handles CBA in different ways, it is imperative to investigate the CBA exposure level of sanitation workers and improve their working conditions.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.143-152
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• 2005

To investigate the exposure effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), we analyzed the relationship between urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) concentration and PAHs exposure. The study population contained 44 workers in steel-pipe coating and paint manufacture industries. We measured airborne total PAHs as an external dose, urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OHP) as an internal dose of PAHs exposure, and urinary 8-OHdG as an effective dose of oxidative DNA damage. There was significant correlation between the urinary concentration of l-OHP and the environmental concentration of PAHs, pyrene, urinary cotinine, AST, and GGT. The mean of urinary 8-OHdG was $17.07\pm1.706{\mu}g/g$ creatinine in workers exposed to airborne PAHs. There was significant correlation between the urinary concentration of 8-0HdG and the airborne concentration of PAHs. From the results of stepwise multiple regression analysis about 8-OHdG, significant independents was total PAHs. In this study, there were significant correlation between the urinary concentration of 8-OHdG and the airborne concentration of PAHs. The urinary 1-OHP was effective index as a biomarker of airborne PAHs in workplace. But it was influenced by non-occupational PAHs source, smoking and biomarkers of liver function test.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.185-193
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• 2004

The effects of membrane lipid peroxidation and retinyl palmitate on rat liver microsomal functions were investigated in vitro. Rat liver homogenates exposed to oxygen tension for 0, 3, 6, 9 or12 hours and lipid peroxidation levels were evaluated by the measurements of fluorescence intensity, malondialdehyde (MDA) and retinyl palmitate. The fluorescence intensity of homogenates and microsomes were elevated and retinyl palmitate concentrations were decreased. But the concentration of MDA was not affected to exposure time. Therefore, fluorescence intensity and retinyl palmitate concentration were used to analyze the correlation between lipid peroxidation and microsomal functions. To investigate the liver microsomal functions, the microsome was isolated from rat liver homogenates exposed to oxygen. The concentration of cytochrome P450 and the activity of NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase in liver microsomes were gradually decreased with increasing the exposure time. The correlation between fluorescence intensity of microsomes showed a very high inverse correlation of -0.97 and -0.93, respectively. The decrease of cytochrome P450 concentration was due to the regeneration of cytochrome P450 to cytochrome P420. Also, the activities of cytochrome P450-dependent aminopyrine demethylase and benzpyrene hydroxylase of liver microsomes were gradually decreased with increasing the exposure time. The correlation with fluorescence intensity of microsome showed a high inverse correlation of -0.97 and -0.91, respectively. The retinyl palmitate concentrations of rat liver homogenates were decreased with increasing the exposure time. The decrease of retinyl palmitate concentration was followed by a low concentration of cytochrome P450 and activity of NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase. The correlation indicated high direct correlation of 0.92 and 0.93, respectively. The decrease of retinyl palmitate concentration was also accompanied by the reduction of aminopyrine demethylase and benzpyrene hydroxylase activities. The correlation was analyzed a high direct correlation of 0.90 and 0.85, respectively. In conclusion, these studies have shown that the membrane lipid peroxidation of rat liver microsome proportionally decreased microsomal enzyme activities in vitro experiments.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.154-162
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• 2015

Correlation between occupational exposure levels to toluene and urinary hippuric acid (HA) concentrations were studied for 124 workers at 54 work places. The highest indoor toluene concentration measured at printing process was 81.116 ppm, and their geometric average concentration was as high as 12.304 ppm. The geometric average concentration of hippuric acid in urine samples from workers who are exposed to toluene was 0.714 g/g creatinine. This is almost five times higher than the average HA concentration from non-exposure workers. Printing workers showed the average HA concentration of 1.145 g/g creatinine from their urine samples. It is the highest concentration among the workers exposed to toluene. The correlation coefficient between HA concentrations in urine and indoor toluene concentration at work places was relatively high as r=0.624 (P<0.01). But the correlations of HA with sex, smoking, drinking, age and employment history was relatively low. We can express the regression equation for the urinary HA concentration which is Y = 0.037X + 0.562 as exposure toluene concentration is X. The urinary HA concentrations showed significantly increase depend on indoor toluene concentration at work place.