• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.71-82
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• 2018

Objectives: Areca nut is widely consumed in many parts of the world, especially in South and Southeast Asia, where cardiovascular disease (CVD) is also a huge burden. Among the forms of CVD, acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Research has shown areca nut chewing to be associated with diabetes, hypertension, oropharyngeal and esophageal cancers, and CVD, but little is known about mortality and re-hospitalization secondary to ACS among areca nut users and non-users. Methods: A prospective cohort was studied to quantify the effect of areca nut chewing on patients with newly diagnosed ACS by categorizing the study population into exposed and non-exposed groups according to baseline chewing status. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the associations of areca nut chewing with the risk of re-hospitalization and 30-day mortality secondary to ACS. Results: Of the 384 ACS patients, 49.5% (n=190) were areca users. During 1-month of follow-up, 20.3% (n=78) deaths and 25.1% (n=96) re-hospitalizations occurred. A higher risk of re-hospitalization was found (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29 to 3.27; p=0.002) in areca users than in non-users. Moreover, patients with severe disease were at a significantly higher risk of 30-day mortality (aHR, 2.77; 95% CI, 1.67 to 4.59; p<0.001) and re-hospitalization (aHR, 2.72; 95% CI, 1.73 to 4.26; p<0.001). Conclusions: The 30-day re-hospitalization rate among ACS patients was found to be significantly higher in areca users and individuals with severe disease. These findings suggest that screening for a history of areca nut chewing may help to identify patients at a high risk for re-hospitalization due to secondary events.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.30-35
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• 2008

The recent fire incident in an elementary school of Chonan city causes the media focus on the fire safety of residential container buildings. In this study, real fire tests were conducted in this kind of buildings. Combustion products including $O_2$, $CO_2$, CO, $NO_x,$, $SO_x$, HCI, HCN were measured, in order to investigate the hazard-reduction effects of employing gas mask protected with filter during the fire emergency of residential container buildings. According to the test results, whether or not employing the filter showed a sheer difference in the toxicity of the fire-induced gases, and then the importance of wearing a gas mask was evidently demonstrated.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.13 no.21
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• pp.29-41
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• 1990

An assessment of risk in industrial and urban environments is essential in the prevention of accident and in the analysis of situations which are hazardous to public health and safety. The risk imposed by a particular hazard increases with the likelihood of occurence of the event, the exposure and the possible consequence of that event. In a traditional approach, the calculation of a quantitative value of risk is usually based on an assignment of numerical values of each of the risk factors. Then the product of the values of likelihood, exposure and consequences called risk score is derived. However vagueness and imprecision in mathematical quantification of risk are equated with fuzziness rather than randomness. In this paper, a fuzzy set theoretic approach to risk analysis is proposed as an alternative to the techniques currently used in the area of systems safety. Then the concept of risk evaluation using linguistic representation of the likelihood, exposure and consequences is introduced. A risk assessment model using approximate reasoning technique based on fuzzy logic is presented to drive fuzzy values of risk and numerical example for risk analysis is also presented to illustrate the results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.148-154
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• 2003

There are now the plating process that have many hazardous factor cause of the using numerous noxious chemical and bad working environments. The purpose of the study is to make a selection of suitable safety evaluation method that can analyze and righteously find with numerous hazardous factor of the plating process. And another purpose is to systematically adjust the risk of plating process by comprehension of the role of process, equipment, and source material. Therefore, these studies are carried out in the following three investigations of this report. The first research understands the injurious human health and environment by analyzing hazardous material based on the MSDS. To evaluate the safety of process and compartment, the second research is proposed the security secure counterproposal by using the FMEA and the HAZOP. The final research is devoted to systematically analyze the hazard by applying for reasonable guide word and doing the HAZOP for hazardous factor in specific process.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.22-31
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• 2023

As the use of e-liquid cigarettes is rapidly increasing worldwide, it multiplies the potential risk undisclosed to the health of non- and smokers. To reduce the hazard, each country has its own set of regulations for controlling e-liquids. In Korea, the narrow definition of tobacco makes it difficult and have been steadily occurring tax evasion exploiting the difference in natural and artificial nicotine. Therefore, it is very important to distinguish source of nicotine for their regulation. To find biochemical discriminant markers, this study established analysis methods based on high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple Quadrupole mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) for nicotine enantiomers and tobacco alkaloids targeted using the difference in pathways of nicotine biosynthesis and chemical synthesis. The method was validated by experimenting linearity (R² > 0.999), recovery (80.99-108.41 %), accuracy (94.11-109.73 %) and precision (0.04-8.27 %). Then, the results for discrimination of the nicotine obtained from analysis of 65 commercial e-liquid products available in Korean market was evaluated. The method successfully applied to the e-liquids and one sample labelled 'synthetic nicotine' for tax exemption was found to contain a natural nicotine product. This method can be used to determine whether an e-liquid product uses natural or artificial nicotine and monitor non-taxable e-liquid products. The method is more scientific than the existing one, which relies only on field evidence.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2015

In this study, we performed risk assessment of chloroprene by hazard evaluation and workplace investigation. The chemical is used to manufacture of shoes, tires, adhesives, and classified as IARC category 2B (possibly carcinogenic to humans) and target organ systemic toxicity. It is used about 1,300 tons per year in 27 sites. It was calculated the risk of carcinogenesis with chloroprene by Monte-carlo simulation that the averages are 2,199 and 26,404 in each case of working less than 15 minutes per day with local exhaust ventilation and over 4 hours per day without local exhaust ventilation. The risk of target organ systemic toxicity are 4.10 and 169.06 with high correlation with working time to be longer and with ventilation system. Therefore, it is recommended that the local exhaust ventilation and respirators to prevent occupational cancer and target organ systemic toxicity with chloroprene. Especially it is determined that there is a need to strengthen the workplace exposure limit (TWA 10 ppm) in Korea since it is managed with TWA less than 5 ppm ($18mg/m^3$) by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as well as it has carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.30 no.sup
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• pp.4.1-4.7
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• 2015

Objectives Approximately 2000 phase-in substances are subject to registration according to the Act on the Registration and Evaluation, etc. of Chemical Substances (K-REACH), and the expected testing cost is 2.06 trillion Korean won assuming all the test data required for registration are acquired. The extent to which these enormous test costs can be reduced depends on the availability of existing data that can be used to meet the requirements of the K-REACH we examined the current availability of test data that can be used for chemical substance registration. Methods We analyzed the possibility of utilizing the existing test data obtained from 16 reference databases for 369 of 518 kinds of phase-in substances subject to registration that were reported in last October 2014. Results The physical and chemical properties were available for 57.1% of substances, whereas data regarding human hazards and environmental hazards were available at considerably lower rates, 8.5% and 11.8%, respectively. Conclusions Physical and chemical properties were available for a fairly high proportion, whereas human hazards and environmental hazards were reported for considerably fewer substances.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.350-358
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• 2022

Objectives: For chemical risk assessment in workplaces, it is necessary to determine a reference value through hazard assessment. In general, OEL (Occupational Exposure Limit) is used for this value. However, since chemicals with OEL were not enough, the concept of DNEL (Derived No Effect Level) was introduced in chemical safety assessment. In this study, the possibility and approach of applying DNEL for chemical risk assessment in domestic workplaces were investigated. Methods: The characteristics of OEL and DNEL were investigated. In addition, ACGIH TLV and GESTIS DNEL were compared and the corresponding scopes were analyzed among the chemical substances notified in South Korea. Results: OEL and DNEL are similar concepts reflecting reference values that should not be exposed based on health effects. While their evaluation and derivation are determined based on similar information and procedures, they may vary depending on the responsible actor, data availability, principles of judgment, and more. As a result of the comparative analysis of ACGIH TLV and GESTIS DNEL, it was confirmed that there is some correlation between TWA and DNEL. The conservatism of DNEL was around 50%. Additionally, it was found that the available range of DNEL among chemicals in South Korea is considerable. Conclusions: This study showed that DNEL can be applied when assessing the risk of chemical substances in domestic workplaces considering several regards. However, since this is not the same level as OEL, we have proposed a proper approach to carry out risk assessment step by step.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.269-278
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• 1996

Airborne suspended particulates were collected by an Andersen high volume air sampler in a traffic area of Seoul from September 1990 to August 1991. Origanic matter extracted from particulates, their fractions, namely acidic, basic, neutral and carcinogenic subfractions (PAHs, nitroarenes) in neutral fractions were assayed for mutagenicity on TA98, TA100 and TA98NR deficient Salmonella strains, use of the pre-incubation method. The relative contribution to total mutanenicity of organic matters was highest in neutral fraction and was lowest in basic fraction. Among subfractions, that of neutral fraction was higher nitroarenes subfraction compared to PAHs subfraction. While the carcinogenic effect of benzo[a]pyrene was calculated as 0.96 persons/million persons based on unit risk estimates by extrapolation method, life time excess cancer risk estimate of EOM, neutral, PAH fraction based on their mutagenicity was calculated as 52, 42, 3.8 persons/million persons, respectively. These findings indicate that the mutagenic hazard of the partciculate, air organic complex mixture, may be dependent upon the mutagen composition in the particulate and interactions each of them. Therfore, health risk from air organic complex mixtures based on mutagenicity might be useful indicator for evaluation of actual risk.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.84-92
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• 2001

In today's world, rise in the establishment of social infrastructure resulting from population saturation in large cities has led to more extensive and frequent use of chemical materials on facilities. A result, unexpected and serious accidents, hazards, contingencies and disasters are more prevalent than ever. Such phenomenon calls for more devoted and concerted efforts towards finding ways to reduce the safety hazards that are seen to take place more often than before with the increase in the number of facilities that are prone to bring disaster and hazard coupled with the conventional safety problems that continue to exist even today. In developed countries, such challenge is addressed by various appropriate countermeasures drawn up by local professional committees on industrial facilities, whose members conduct offsite and onsite evaluation un the potential industrial disasters and its seriousness and provide their advice thereof. Against this backdrop, this study aims at identifying a comprehensive safety allowance level (safety acceptable level) when imposing limitation on the development of conventional or new facilities, for the fur pose of establishing a safety allowance level of disastrous and dangerous facilities in Korea. This is done by assessing and applying the level of danger each individual is exposed to in a randomly selected region (disastrous and dangerous areas in Seoul) based on probability of quantitative hazards, as well as simulation and calculation methods which include: i) social disaster evaluation method applying Quantified Risk Assessment of Health & Safety Executive of UK and Matrix of Risk of Evaluated Sources of Hazard; ii) Fault Tree or Event Tree Analysis and etc.