• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.135-144
• /
• 2001

This study was performed to measure airborne dimethylformamide(DMF), methyl ethyl ketone(MEK) and toluene and their urinary metabolites concentrations and to determine the relationship between airborne and urinary concentration. Airborne samples and their urinary metabolites were measured 98 male workers who work for 8 synthetic leather factories in a portion of Kyoung-In area. Urine samples were collected at end-of-shift to estimate the exposure levels. 1. The concentration of airborne DMF by process was 8.81 ppm for wet-mixing, 15.05 ppm for wet-coating, 6.03 ppm for dry-mixing, 5.58 ppm for dry-coating, 5.37 ppm for printing, and 9.03 ppm for total. There was statistically significant difference by process. Urinary NMF concentrations of wet-mixing, wet-coating, dry-mixing, dry-coating and printing were $90.55mg/{\ell}$, $79.80mg/{\ell}$, $39.86mg/{\ell}$, $25.23mg/{\ell}$, and $38.15mg/{\ell}$, respectively, and total geometric mean was $56.24mg/{\ell}$. There was significant difference by process. 2. The concentration of airborne MEK by process was 1.89 ppm for wet-mixing, 1.96 ppm for wet-coating, 10.33 ppm for dry-mixing, 29.24 ppm for dry-coating, 14.98 ppm for printing, and 4.87 ppm for total. There was statistically significant difference by process. Urinary MEK concentrations of wetmixing, wet-coating, dry-mixing, dry-coating and printing were $0.93mg/{\ell}$, $0.70mg/{\ell}$, $3.29mg/{\ell}$, $3.29mg/{\ell}$, and $1.06mg/{\ell}$, respectively, and total geometric mean was $1.25mg/{\ell}$. There was statistically significant difference by process. Urinary MEK 3. The concentration of airborne toluene by process was 0.35ppm for wet-mixing, 0.42ppm for wet-coating, 2.95ppm for dry-mixing, 11.67ppm for dry-coating, 4.88ppm for printing, 1.24ppm for total. There was statistically significant difference by process. Urinary hippuric acid concentrations of wet-mixing, wet-coating, dry-mixing, dry-coating and printing were 0.24g/g creatinine, 0.21g/g creatinine, 0.34g/g creatinine, 0.52g/g creatinine, and 0.29g/g creatinine, respctively and total geometric mean was 0.28g/g creatinine. There was statistically significant difference by process. 4. No. of exceeded KPEL was 40 workers(40.8%) for DMF(10ppm), 1 worker(1.0%) for MEK(200ppm), and no worker for toluene(100ppm). No. of exceeded KBEI was 62 workers(63.3%) for urinary NMF($40mg/{\ell}$), 29 workers(29.6%) for urinary MEK, 1 worker(1.0%) for urinary hippuric acid. 5. The regression equations were Log(NMF)=0.4094*Log(DMF)+1.3587(r=0.4516) for DMF, Log(MEKU)=0.1859*Log(MEK)-0.0324(r=0.3303) for MEK, Log(HA)=0.2106*Log(Toluene)-0.5685(r=0.4497) for toluene. Synthetic leather factory workers expose to 3 kinds of organic solvents which are DMF, MEK and toluene. Their urinary NMF and MEK levels were higher than their concentration levels through respiratory. It seems that the urinary levels were affected skin absorption for working habit and alcohol intake.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.31 no.4 s.63
• /
• pp.692-707
• /
• 1998

Aim. A neurobehavioral test for workers exposed to organic solvents in the workplace can be affected by many factors : age, education, motivation, ethnicity, etc. To apply more suitable neurobehavioral test for Korean workers, we evaluated the validity of several items of computerized and traditional neurobehavioral tests. Methods. We have applied eleven tests : four items of computerized neurobehavioral test(Swedish Performance Evaluation System) including Addition, Symbol-Digit, Dig-it Span, and Finger tapping speed, and seven items of traditional neurobehavioral test consisting of Addition, Digit-Symbol, Digit Span, Benton visual retention test, Pursuit aiming, Pegboard, and Tapping. These tests were performed on 96 workers exposed to solvents, and 100 reference workers. The concurrent and construct validities were evaluated by group difference, correlation with age, educational level, hippuric acid level, neurotoxic symptom, current exposure level, multitrait-multimethod matrix, fator analysis, and discriminant analysis. Results. Statistically significant differences were observed between the workers exposed to solvents and referents in computerized Symbol-Digit, Finger tapping speed, traditional Digit-Symbol and Pegboard. The computerized Symbol-Digit, traditional Digit-Symbol, Addition, Benton visual retention test, and Pegboard were found to be related to the age. The performance of computerized Symbol-Digit, Addition, and traditional Digit-Symbol were found to be related to the educational level significantly. The computerized Symbol-Digit, Finger tapping speed, and traditional Digit-Symbol were found to be related to hippuric acid, and neurotoxic symptom. The discriminability of Finger tapping speed, and Pegboard was better than the other tests. In discriminant analysis, the model with two variables, the computerized Symbol-Digit and Pegboard, classified almost 70 percent of the workers correctly. Conclusions. These results suggest that the computerized Symbol-Digit, Finger tapping speed, and Pegboard are more satisfactory for our purpose, and the Addition, Tapping, Benton visual retention test, and Pursuit aiming are less valid than other items. These may allow the reasonable selection of core neurobehavioral tests for workers exposed to solvents in Korea.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
• /
• 2003.06a
• /
• pp.187-191
• /
• 2003

In this study, biomonitoring methods were developed to measure BTEXs exposure level in the air, metabolites of benzene and toluene in human urine, individual susceptibility markers in human blood for evaluation of the health effects about environmental pollution. We have also performed a small-scaled molecular epidemiology study on residents in Chuncheon and workers in workplace for these method applications. The workers in workplace were surveyed as study areas, and the residents in Chuncheon which is in the suburban area were surveyed as comparative areas in this study. Actually, 31 workers in as target group and 33 residences in as control group this epidemiological study. The results obtained from this study were as follows: 1. Benzene is a well-known carcinogen, it's median concentrations were 0.00024∼0.02057ppm at suburban area and 0.002∼00.654ppm at work place, These benzene concentrations were not exceed the OSHA(Occupational Safety and Health Administration) threshold benzene level of 1ppm in the states. 2. Metabolites product of benzene(t,t-Muconic Acid) and toluene(Hippuric Acid) were not significant both in suburban and workplace area. The median concentration of t,t-MA and HA were 0.0122, 1.44277g/g creatinine, respectively. 3. In the case of individual susceptibility markers as CYPlAl, 41.8% of them has homozygous wild type(W) and who has heterozygous variant type(H) was 35.4% and 22.8% of homozygous variant type(M) genetic type. In the case of CYP2E1, 62.82% of them has homozygous wild type(D) type, 34.62% of each has heterozygous variant type (DC) and 2.56% of them has homozygous variant type (CC). Who doesn't have GSTM1 gene was 46.25% and who has GSTM1 gene was 53.75％. Who doesn't have GSTT1 gene was 40.0％ in study groups and who has GSTT1 gene was 60.0%. Who has W genetic type, which is homozygous wild type of GSTP1, was 69.18% and H genetic type, which is heterozygous variant type was 28.4%. M genetic type which is homozygous variant type was 2.4%. 4. Concentration differences of metabolites such as t,t-MA and HA in urine, which is generated by individual susceptibility marker of GSTM1, GSTT1, GSTP1 gene of Phase I and CYP1A1, CYP2E1 gene of Phase II, was examined. As a result, GSTP1 and GSTM1 indicate slight differences depend on the amount of metabolites in urine, it was not statistically significant.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.17 no.6 s.86
• /
• pp.811-815
• /
• 2007

ln this study we isolated 27 isolates of Campylobacter jejuni from stool samples of 882 diarrheal patients. The seasonal distribution of patients was highest at July (11.7%). All the isolates of C. jejuni hydrolyzing sodium hippurate were serotyped on basis of heat-stable antigens, and identified with the use of passive hemagglutination assay. A total of 59.3% among 27 C. jejuni isolates were identified into 6 different serotypes, which serotype HS2, HSl/44, and HS2l were dominant. Antibiotics resistant rates of C. jejuni isolates were shown to be 100%, 63.0%, 51.9%, 37.0%, 33.3%, 25.9% and 7.4% to cephalothin, trimethoprim- sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, ampicillin, gentamycin and clindamycin, respectively. All isolates were sensitive to the erythromycin and imipenem.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.363-375
• /
• 1989

It has been well known that peripheral infusion of angiotensin II results in an increase of blood pressure, and an elevation of aldosterone secretion, and an inhibition of renin relase. However, the direct effect of angiotensin II on renal function has not been clearly established. In the present study, to investigate the effect of angiotensin II on renal function and renin release, angiotensin II (0.3, 3 and 10 ng/kg/min) was infused into a unilateral renal artery of the unanesthetized rabbit and changes in renal function and active and inactive renin secretion rate (ARSR, IRSR) were measured. In addition, to determine the relationship between the renal effect of angiotensin II and adenosine, the angiotensin II effect was evaluated in the presence of simultaneously infused 8-phenyltheophylline (8-PT, 30 nmole/min), adenosine A 1 receptor antagonist. Angiotensin II infusion at dose less than 10 ng/kg/min decreased urine flow, clearances of para-amino-hippuric acid and creatinine, and urinary excretion of electrolytes in dose-dependent manner. The changes in urine flow and sodium excretion were significantly correlated with the change in renal hemodynamics. Infusion of angiotensin II at 10 ng/kg/min also decreased ARSR, but it has no significant effect on IRSR. The change in ARSR was inversely correlated with the change in IRSR. The plasma concentration of catecholamine was not altered by an intarenal infusion of angiotensin II. In the presence of 8-PT in the infusate, the effect of angiotensin II on renal function was significantly attenuated, but that on renin secretion was not modified. These results suggest that the reduction in urine flow and Na excretion during intrarenal infusion of angiotensin II was not due to direct inhibitions of renal tubular transport systems, but to alterations of renal hemodynamics which may partly be mediated by the adenosine receptor.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.258-267
• /
• 2000

The result of five year's experience on Inter-laboratory Comparison for Analyses of Heavy Metals and Organic Solvent Metabolites in Biological Samples was described. Since 1995, around a hundred laboratories in the Occupational Health have participated this program twice per year by the Industrial Safety and Health Law. Four metals in blood and five organic solvent metabolites in urine were examined. Reference samples were made by spiking standard materials to human blood or urine pools treated previously to give homogeneity and stability for a specific time periods. Some reference samples for organic solvent metabolites were made from workers' urine who were exposed to the organic solvents. Some items such as Lead in blood and Hippuric acid in urine showed good accordance between participants while the other items such as Mercury and N-methylformamide in urine showed poor proficient rate. The results were published in the internet or newspaper to help the consumer of the laboratory's service to get the information on them and to make competition between them. The inter-laboratory's comparison program have done greate role to improve the ability of analysis and reliability of analytical data produced from each laboratory.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.26 no.1 s.41
• /
• pp.147-164
• /
• 1993

A study has been conducted on developing questionnaires to serve as on site diagnostic tools for the early detection of neuropsychiatric impairment among workers chronically exposed to low-level organic solvents. Two drafts of tentative questionnaires have been developed as follows; several question items were selected from questionnaires which were administered to workers exposed to organic solvents in previous studios and were grouped into each symptom category based on the presence of its association using Guttman scaling method, then these selected items were reviewed by neuropsychiatry specialists. The final draft of the questionnaire (total symptom score=36) was developed by selecting 33 question items which had more than a 0.88 Guttman coefficient of reproducibility in each symptom category from a pilot study in which these tentative questionnaires were administered to workers manufacturing soles. Three plants using organic solvents and one plant never using organic solvents as a control group were selected to test the reliability and validity of the developed questionnaires. The major organic solvent in the workplace environment detected by a personal air sampler and GC/MSD nab toluene. The concentration of toluene in air from the department using organic solvent was statistically different from that of the department never using organic solvent. The concentration of toluene from almost all of the workplace did not exceed the allowable level. There was no statistically significant difference between the concentration of urinary hippuric acid from the workers of the department using organic solvent and that of the department never using it. Total symptom score of the plant never using organic solvents was 9.8 and those of the three plants using organic solvents were 15.6, 14.7, and 13,7 respectively. In order to evaluate the validity of the questionnaires, the workers from two different departments of the plant in which usage of organic solvents are totally dofferemt were compared. The total symptom score was 17.8 for workers of the department using organic solvent and 13.5 for the department never using organic solvent and scores of each symptom group between exposure and non-exposure group also showed statistically significant difference. The finding that total symptom score of the exposure group increased as the duration of employment increased indirectly suggests the usefulness of the developed questionnaire to assess the health effects of chronic exposure to organic solvents. The correlation coefficient, which was calculated to evaluate the test-retest reliability, was 0.581 (p=0.001). The coefficient of Crohnbach which reflects the internal consistency of the questionnaire was 0.91. In conclusion, the reliabilty of the questionnaire was well maintained over the time lapse between the two administrations of the questionnaire and despite the seasonal difference.