• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.66-70
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• 2023

Purpose It is intended to improve the management efficiency of personal dosimeters by analyzing and sharing personal dosimeter loss cases and loss prevention measures. Materials and Methods From 2017 to 2021, data on the number of lost personal dosimeters were collected at large hospitals, and the number of personal dosimeters issued and lost were investigated. Results In order to prevent loss by institution, methods such as the use of auxiliary rings, contact stickers and dosimeter necklaces were implemented. Conclusion Hospitals are a business that frequently changes clothes, such as surgical gowns and work clothes, so there is a lot of loss. In addition, it was confirmed that the loss rate increases as the number of personal dosimeters issued increases.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.371-381
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• 2023

Evaluating the effectiveness of the radiation protection measures deployed at the Centralized Radioactive Waste Management Facility in Ghana is pivotal to guaranteeing the safety of personnel, public and the environment, thus the need for this study. Radiagem^TM 2000 was used in measuring the dose rate of the facility whilst the personal radiation exposure of the personnel from 2011 to 2022 was measured from the thermoluminescent dosimeter badges using Harshaw 6600 Plus Automated TLD Reader. The decay store containing scrap metals from dismantled disused sealed radioactive sources (DSRS), and low-level wastes measured the highest dose rate of 1.06 ± 0.92 µSv·h^-1. The range of the mean annual average personnel dose equivalent is 0.41-2.07 mSv. The annual effective doses are below the ICRP limit of 20 mSv. From the multivariate principal component analysis biplot, all the personal dose equivalent formed a cluster, and the cluster is mostly influenced by the radiological data from the outer wall surface of the facility where no DSRS are stored. The personal dose equivalents are not primarily due to the radiation exposures of staff during operations with DSRS at the facility but can be attributed to environmental radiation, thus the current radiation protection measures at the Facility can be deemed as effective.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.108-119
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• 2024

Objectives: Abrupt changes in air pollution levels associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak present a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of air pollution on influenza risk, at a time when emission sources were less active and personal hygiene practices were more rigorous. Methods: This time-series study examined the relationship between influenza cases (n=22 874) and air pollutant concentrations from 2018 to 2021, comparing the timeframes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in and around Thailand's Khon Kaen province. Poisson generalized additive modeling was employed to estimate the relative risk of hospitalization for influenza associated with air pollutant levels. Results: Before the COVID-19 outbreak, both the average daily number of influenza hospitalizations and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 ㎛ or less (PM_2.5) concentration exceeded those later observed during the pandemic (p<0.001). In single-pollutant models, a 10 ㎍/m³ increase in PM_2.5 before COVID-19 was significantly associated with increased influenza risk upon exposure to cumulative-day lags, specifically lags 0-5 and 0-6 (p<0.01). After adjustment for co-pollutants, PM_2.5 demonstrated the strongest effects at lags 0 and 4, with elevated risk found across all cumulative-day lags (0-1, 0-2, 0-3, 0-4, 0-5, and 0-6) and significantly greater risk in the winter and summer at lag 0-5 (p<0.01). However, the PM_2.5 level was not significantly associated with influenza risk during the COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusions: Lockdown measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic could mitigate the risk of PM_2.5-induced influenza. Effective regulatory actions in the context of COVID-19 may decrease PM_2.5 emissions and improve hygiene practices, thereby reducing influenza hospitalizations.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.347-357
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• 2023

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic turned biological hazards in the working environment into a global concern. This systematized review of published reviews aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the specific jobs and categories of workers exposed to biological hazards with the related prevention. Methods: We extracted reviews published in English and French in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. Two authors, working independently, subsequently screened the potentially relevant titles and abstracts recovered (step 1) and then examined relevant full texts (step 2). Disagreements were resolved by consensus. We built tables summarizing populations of exposed workers, types of hazards, types of outcomes (types of health issues, means of prevention), and routes of transmission. Results: Of 1426 studies initially identified, 79 studies by authors from every continent were selected, mostly published after 2010 (n = 63, 79.7%). About half of the reviews dealt with infectious hazards alone (n = 38, 48.1%). The industrial sectors identified involved healthcare alone (n = 16), laboratories (n = 10), agriculture (including the animal, vegetable, and grain sectors, n = 32), waste (n = 10), in addition of 11 studies without specific sectors. The results also highlighted a range of hazards (infectious and noninfectious agents, endotoxins, bioaerosols, organic dust, and emerging agents). Conclusion: This systematized overview allowed to list the populations of workers exposed to biological hazards and underlined how prevention measures in the healthcare and laboratory sectors were usually well defined and controlled, although this was not the case in the agriculture and waste sectors. Further studies are necessary to quantify these risks and implement prevention measures that can be applied in every country.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.15 no.1_2
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• pp.31-37
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• 2000

Acetanilide may be released into the environment through air and wastewater from its production and use sites and exposed to human. Acetanilide is known to produce an analgesic effect and may pose adverse effects on human health by overly exposure. According to the EUSES system, acetanilide showed a high MOS (Margin of safety) value exceeding 6$\times$10$^4$ on a regional exposure, which is safe enough for public health. Whereas the lowest MOS value in dermal exposure was estimated as 3$\times$10$^{-4}$ on a local basis (workplace), the risk could be partly counteracted by taking preventive measures such as using mask and globes and good ventilation in the work places. Acetanilide may pose a potential risk for workers by dust inhalation. For the sake of health protection in the work places, additional data should be accumulated with respect to repeated dose toxicity, reproduction toxicity and developmental toxicity, etc. It is, therefore, recommended that acetanilide should be a candidate for further work to supplement the lacking data until it is proved to be safe in the occupational health aspects.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 1993

Background: The development of the flexible fiberoptic broncoscope by Ikeda was an important technologic advance in the diagnosis and management of patients with pulmonary disease. But, cross contamination related to fiberoptic bronchoscope was reported in cases involving tubercle bacilli, MOTT and other agents. Therefore, cleaning and disinfecting of fiberoptic bronchoscope requires careful attention. Methods: From September 1991 to May 1992, medical records of all patients with positive culture for MOTT in bronchial washing specimens were reviewed. Also to evaluate bactericidal effect of 2% glutaraldehyde, culture was performed after inoculum of MOTT, Serratia marsescens and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the disinfectant solution. Results: In 2% alkaline glutaraldehyde, MOTT was not survived only after 30 minute exposure, but P. aeruginosa and S. marsescens were rapidly inactivated with no survivors after exposure to 2% glutaraldehyde. Since vigorous mechanical cleansing and more than 30 minute of contact time within washing machine, no more outbreak was observed. Conclusions: It is also very important that bronchoscopes must be meticulously cleaned after each procedure and more than 30 minute exposure would be required for eradication of MOTT with 2% glutaraldehyde. However even the most strictly applied infection control measures cannot exclude contamination completly and clinicians have to stay alert to this possibility. Prompt detection of pseudoepidemics is possible if abrupt increase in isolation rates, especially if they involve unusual or generally nonpathogenic organisms, are readily recognized.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.668-674
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• 2019

Objectives: Modern people spend most of their day indoors. As the health impact of radon becomes an issue, public interest also has been growing. The primary route of potential human exposure to radon is inhalation. Long-term exposure to high levels of radon increases the risk of developing lung cancer. Radon exposure is known to be the second-leading cause of lung cancer, following tobacco smoke. This study measures the indoor radon concentrations in detached houses in area A of Chungcheongbuk-do Province considering the construction year, cracks in the houses, the location of installed detectors, and seasonal effects. Methods: The survey was conducted from September 2017 to April 2018 on 1,872 private households located in selected areas in northern Chungcheongbuk-do Province to figure out the year of building construction and the location of detector installed and identify the factors which affect radon concentrations in the air within the building. Radon was measured using a manual alpha track detector (Raduet, Hungary) with a sampling period of longer than 90 days. Results: Indoor radon concentrations in winter within area A was surveyed to be 168.3±193.3 Bq/㎥. There was more than a 2.3 times difference between buildings built before 1979 and those built after 2010. The concentration reached 195.4±221.9 Bq/㎥ for buildings with fractures and 167.2±192.4 Bq/㎥ for buildings without fractures. It was found that detectors installed in household areas with windows exhibited a lower concentration than those installed in concealed spaces. Conclusion: High concentrations of indoor radon were shown when there was a crack in the house. Also, ventilation seems to significantly affect radon concentrations because when the location of the detector in the installed site was near windows compared to an enclosed area, radon concentration variation increased. Therefore, it is considered that radon concentration is lower in summer because natural ventilation occurs more often than in winter.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.585-588
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• 2008

To predict the service life of reinforced concrete structures exposed to chloride environment, quantitative measures of material properties such as the critical chloride content for corrosion in concrete and the diffusion coefficient of chloride ions of concrete and the surface chloride content of the concrete are essential. However, it should be noted that they are influenced by several factors such as concrete mix proportions, cement type, and environmental conditions, etc. Thus, the purpose of this research is to estimate more actually the critical chloride content for corrosion of the reinforcing steel in concrete by field exposure experiment. For this purpose, the prism concrete test specimens were made for water-cement(W/C) ratios of 31%, 42%, 50%, and 70%, and then the field exposure experiment for them were conducted at Youngduk of the east coast for about 3 years. During the test, corrosion monitoring by half cell potential method was carried out to detect the time to initiation of corrosion for test specimens and its chloride content was evaluated by breaking the concrete test specimens when corrosion of the reinforcing steel in concrete was perceived. It was observed from the test results that the critical chloride content for corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete would be dependent on W/C ratio and almost irrespective of concrete cover.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.660-668
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• 2017

In this study, we conducted an assessment of the risks posed by the noxious chemicals often handled at the analysis centers of organizations involved in Work Environment Measurement (WEM) using the Chemical Hazard Risk Management (CHARM) system. For this purpose, six organizations involved in WEM located in Seoul and Gyeonggi, which conducted the risk assessment, were selected and, as a result, 29 materials were selected as chemical substances presenting a risk of exposure. In terms of their physical properties, there were 16 liquid and 10 solid materials, and for the special management materials (CMR), the findings were as follows: 'Carcinogenic' 1A - 11 and 1B - 1 (2 - 8); 'Mutagenic' 1A - 4 and 1B - 3 (2 - 8); and 'Repro-toxic' 1A - 0 and 1B - 1 (2 - 6). In the risk estimation, 30.4%, 66.1% and 3.6% of the materials presented 'low', 'average' and 'high' risks, respectively. In addition, two of these six institutions had materials presenting a 'high' risk. This study is significant in that the risk assessment was conducted using CHARM, a chemical substance assessment tool. It is expected that the results will be utilized as the basic data for safety assessment, the establishment of a plan for emergency measures and drawing up a safety management manual, and the institutional and legal management of accidents and risks in the analysis centers of organizations involved in WEM and the management of chemicals by drawing attention to the risks involved.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.421-435
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• 2022

As natural disasters have been increasing due to climate change, sustainable solutions are in need to alleviate the degree of drought hazard, assess and project the drought influence based on future climate change scenarios. In assessing drought risk, socio-economic factors of the region must be considered along with meteorological factors. This study categorized drought hazard, exposure, and vulnerability as three major components of drought risk according to the Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change (IPCC) risk assessment framework, and selected indices for each component to quantify the drought risk in South Korea according to the mid-size basins. Combinations of climate scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathway; RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5) and socio-economic scenarios (Shared Socio-economic Pathways; SSP 1, SSP2 and SSP3) for the near future (2030-2050) ant the far future (2080-2099) were utilized in drought risk analysis, and results were compared with the historical data (1986-2005). In general, the drought risks for all scenarios shows large increases as time proceeds to the far furture. In addition, we analyzed the rank of drought hazard, exposure, vulnerability for drought risk, and each of their contribution. The results showed that the drought hazard is the most contributing component to the increase of drought risk in future and each basin shows varying contributing components. Finally, we suggested countermeasures for each basin according to future climate change scenarios, and thus this study provides made the basis for establishing drought management measures.