• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.193-198
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• 2020

Background: Medical laboratory workers are frequently exposed to a wide range of chemicals. This exposure can have adverse effects on their health. Furthermore, a knowledge lack of the chemical risk increases the likelihood of exposure. The chemical risk assessment reduces the risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals and therefore, guarantees health and safety of the workers. Method: The chemical risk assessment was conducted using a modified INRS method, according to the new CLP Regulation, of 11 unit laboratories in a Moroccan medical laboratory. Observation of each workstation and analysis of safety data sheets are key tools in this study. Results: A total of 144 substances and reagents that could affect the health of the analytical technicians were identified. Among these products, 17% are concerned by the low priority risk score, with 55% concerned by the average priority risk score and 28% concerned by the high priority risk score. This study also enabled to better identify the chemical agents that have restrictive occupational exposure limit value and controls were conducted to this effect. On the basis of the results obtained, several corrective and preventive measures have been proposed and implemented. Conclusion: Risk assessment is essential to ensure the health and safety of workers and to meet regulatory requirements. It enables to identify all the risky manipulations and to adopt appropriate preventive measures. However, it is not a one-time activity but it must be continuous in order to master the changes and thus ensure the best safety of all.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.25-32
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• 1996

The Bioconcentration factor(BCF) is used as an important criterion in the risk assessment of environmental contaminants. Also it can be used as indicator of biomagnification of environmentally hazardous chemicals through food-chain as well as a tool for ranking the bioconcentration potential of the chemicals in the environment. This paper reports the measured BCF value on carbofuran in Carassius auratus(goldfish), under steady state, and examined corelation between the BCF value and the depuration rate constant. Carassius auratus(goldfish) was chosen as test organism and test periods were 1-day, 3-day and 5-day. Experimental concentrations were 0.05, 0.10 and 0.50 ppm. Carbofuran in fish tissue and in test water was extracted with n-hexane and acetonitril. GC-ECD was used to detect and quantitate carbofuran. The depuration rate of carbofuran from the whole body of goldfish is determined over the 24-h period after treatment. The obtained results were as follows: 1. It was possible to determine short term BCFs of carbofuran through relatively simple procedure in environmental concentrations. 2. $BCF_1$ of carbofuran in concentration of 0.05, 0.10 and 0.50 ppm were 1.66, 1.64 0.61, $BCF_3$ were 2.08, 2.14, 0.66 and $BCF_5$ were 2.21, 2.57, 0.86, respectively. 3. Carbofuran concentration in fish extract was increased as increasing test concentration and prolonging test period, but $BCF_s$ in concentration of 0.50 ppm was greately decreased. 4. Determined deputation rate constants of carbofuran in concentration of 0.05, 0.10, 0.50 ppm were 0.076, 0.082 and 0.089, respectively. 5. It is considered that great decrease of $BCF_s$ in concentration of 0.50 ppm is due to high water solubility and stability of carbofuran in testwater. 6. It is suggested that low BCF of carbofuran is due to its relatively high water solubility and depuration rate, compared to BPMC, carbaryl and chlorothalonil.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.257-265
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• 2008

Nanotechnology is emerging as one of the key technologies of the 21 st century and is expected to enable one to broaden the applicability across a wide range of sectors that can benefit public and improve industrial competitiveness. Already, consumer products containing nanomaterials are available in markets including coatings, computers, clothing, cosmetics, sports equipment and medical devices. Recently, Institute of Occupational Medicine in UK reported an occupational hygiene review for nanoparticles in the viewpoint of nanotoxicity. They reported that the exposure control is very important issues in workplace for exposure assessment, but no proper methods are available to measure the extent of exposures to nanoparticles in the workplace. Therefore, for the estimation of exposure of nanomaterials, we have to approach the material-balance methodology, which similarly carried out in TRI (toxic release inventory) for hazardous chemicals. In order to use this methodology, the exposure source of nanomaterials should be determined firstly. Therefore, herein we investigated the main sources and processes for the exposure to nanomaterals by conducting the survey. The results could be used to define and assess nanohazard sources.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.191-199
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• 2012

Objectives: The study aim was to evaluate the application of a chemical exposure assessment tool for the Korean workplace. The Ministry of Employment and Labor in Korea (KMOEL) introduced the need for workplace risk assessments in 2011, requiring the Korean chemical industry to consider both domestic and international chemical regulation policies (e.g., estimations of exposure scenarios). Exposure scenarios are required in the European Union as part of material safety data sheets (MSDS) under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) system. Methods: Although many programs for the estimation of exposure have been developed worldwide, to date there is no standard for the Korean workplace. To develop programs suitable for the Korean workplace, we examined the applicability of the European Center for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals target risk assessment (ECETOC TRA), which is recommended by the European Chemical Agency (ECHA). Results: To investigate the applicability of the ECETOC TRA to Korean industry, this study simulated 15 industrial processes. The predicted respiratory exposures for four processes using origin input parameters were underestimated compared to the measured respiratory exposure. Using calibrated input parameters, results for two processes were underestimated compared to the measured respiratory exposure. This result suggests that the use of calibrated input parameters reduces the differences between predicted and measured respiratory exposure. Conclusions: we developed applicable exposure estimating method by modifying the ECETOC TRA program; one suggested the development of exposure estimating program that explains Korea domestic workplace exposure scenario.This study will support the introduction of exposure scenario in MSDS system and protect health of worker from hazardous chemical.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2014

Objective: The use of chemicals for building prosthetic sockets present the possibility of being hazardous and unsafe due to off-gassing. The purpose of the present study was to investigate if freshly made materials used in prosthetic sockets causes off-gassing that would penetrate the skin and cause damage to the kidneys or blood. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: In this research, the off-gassing effects during the initial curing process of styrene monomer, vinyl ester resin, epoxy methacrylate resin, benzene-1, 3-dimethaneamine, trimethylhexanedlamine, and paratertiarybutylphenol were analyzed. Acid detection strips were placed inside newly fabricated mock-prosthetic sockets and left overnight in a closed environment to find out if acid was present in the invisible fumes. The plastic was worn by 9 subjects and urinalysis was made after 48 hours to test for any kidney or blood toxicity of the resins. Results: After wearing the plastic cuff for 48 hours, the ratio of protein to creatinine in the urine was raised to an abnormal level in five out of nine subjects. Four out of the nine subjects showed normal protein to creatinine ratios after wearing the device. The results showed that damage to the kidney occurred from wearing the resins after curing in half of the subjects. Conclusions: It is very important to conduct patient intakes which includes the assessment of renal function. Off-gassing in vented chambers may be needed to protect both prosthetists and patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2022

Most factories deal with toxic or flammable chemicals in their industrial processes. These hazardous substances pose a risk of leakage due to accidents, such as fire and explosion. In the event of chemical release, massive casualties and property damage can result; hence, quantitative risk prediction and assessment are necessary. Several methods are available for evaluating chemical dispersion in the atmosphere, and most analyses are considered neutral in dispersion models and under far-field wind condition. The foregoing assumption renders a model valid only after a considerable time has elapsed from the moment chemicals are released or dispersed from a source. Hence, an initial dispersion model is required to assess risk quantitatively and predict the extent of damage because the most dangerous locations are those near a leak source. In this study, the dispersion model for initial consequence analysis was developed with three-dimensional unsteady advective diffusion equation. In this expression, instantaneous leakage is assumed as a puff, and wind velocity is considered as a coordinate transform in the solution. To minimize the buoyant force, ethane is used as leaked fuel, and two different diffusion coefficients are introduced. The calculated concentration field with a molecular diffusion coefficient shows a moving circular iso-line in the horizontal plane. The maximum concentration decreases as time progresses and distance increases. In the case of using a coefficient for turbulent diffusion, the dispersion along the wind velocity direction is enhanced, and an elliptic iso-contour line is found. The result yielded by a widely used commercial program, ALOHA, was compared with the end point of the lower explosion limit. In the future, we plan to build a more accurate and general initial risk assessment model by considering the turbulence diffusion and buoyancy effect on dispersion.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.86-92
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• 2022

Background: A laboratory where chemicals are handled can be considered a hazardous environment, and hence, prudent practices should be strictly enforced. If not, deadly accidents and incidents could occur due to a lack of safety practices and poor safety culture. The purpose of this study is to analyze the existing safety culture and propose potential recommendations to enhance the level of safety education in the chemical laboratories in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Methods: A survey questionnaire was administered among the laboratory supervisors of the chemical laboratories in the Western Province of Sri Lanka in 2019. Results: Even though 80 surveys were distributed among prospective participants, only 46 surveys were submitted, which is 58% of the response rate. Most of the individuals who participated in the survey were females below 35 years old, and approximately 96% of the participants had at least one year of working experience in the same laboratory setting. The majority considered safety as an important factor that requires further improvements with third-party safety inspections; however, 54% of the respondents mentioned that those inspections were conducted by the employees from their laboratory. Conclusion: From the study, it has been discovered that employees have knowledge of safety culture to a certain extent. A significant percentage (83%) of participants believed that further safety measures are required for a safer laboratory. However, the study revealed that the attitudes of some employees should be changed to have a better safety culture. Hence the authors would like to suggest having annual training sessions and well-formulated safety policies to improve the safety culture.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.506-511
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• 2022

In the Chemicals Control Act, a system was implemented to unify off-site risk assessment and risk management plan into the prevention and management system for chemical accidents. Among the hazardous chemicals which have been covered in system, the accident preparation substances are designated as chemical substances that are likely to occur and of which damage scale are likely to be large in the event of chemical accidents. In this study, risks were compared by selecting accident preparation substances with similar regulated quantities. In addition, risk assessment studies were conducted applying the accident scenarios. Four types of materials such as ammonia, hydrogen chloride, carbon disulfide and benzene were selected for the study, and risks were finally analyzed using Safeti 8.0, a quantitative risk assessment program by DNV. As a result, some materials are identified to have high risks comparing to other substances having similar regulated quantities.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.781-789
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• 2019

There are frequent accidents by chemicals during laboratory experiments and pilot plant and reactor operations. It is necessary to find and comprehend relevant information to prevent accidents before starting synthesis experiments. In the process design stage, reaction information is also necessary to prevent runaway reactions. Although there are various sources available for synthesis information, including the Internet, it takes long time to search and is difficult to choose the right path because the substances used in each synthesis method are different. In order to solve these problems, we propose an intelligent synthetic path search system to help researchers shorten the search time for synthetic paths and identify hazardous intermediates that may exist on paths. The system proposed in this study automatically updates the database by collecting information existing on the Internet through Web scraping and crawling using Selenium, a Python package. Based on the depth-first search, the path search performs searches based on the target substance, distinguishes hazardous chemical grades and yields, etc., and suggests all synthetic paths within a defined limit of path steps. For the benefit of each research institution, researchers can register their private data and expand the database according to the format type. The system is being released as open source for free use. The system is expected to find a safer way and help prevent accidents by supporting researchers referring to the suggested paths.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.62-67
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• 2023

Due to the prolonged impact of COVID-19, the demand for Information Technology (IT) products is increasing, and their production facilities are expanded. Consequently, the use of harmful and dangerous chemicals are increased, the risk of fire(s) and explosion(s) is also elevated. In order to mitigate these risks, the government sets standards, such as KS C IEC 60079-10-1, and manages explosion-prone hazardous facilities where flammable substances are manufactured, used, and handled. However, using the standards of KS, it is difficult to predict the actual possibility of an explosion in a facility, because ventilation (an important factor) is not considered when setting up a hazardous work environment. In this study, the SEMI S6, Tracer Gas Test was applied to the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) facility, a major part of the display industry, to evaluate ventilation performance and to confirm the possibility of creating a less explosive environment. Based on the results, it was confirmed that the ventilation performance in the assumed scenarios met the standards stipulated in SEMI S6, along with supporting the possibility of creating a less explosive working condition. Therefore, it is recommended to use the prediction tool using engineering techniques, as well as KS standards, in such hazardous environments to prevent accidents and/or reduce economic burden following accidents.