• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권14호
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• pp.5917-5921
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• 2015

Background: Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men in the entire world. Reported standardized incidence rates are 12.6, 61.7, 11.9 and 27.9 in Iran, developed countries, developing countries and the entire world, respectively. The present study investigated the relative risk of PC in Iran at the province level and also explored the impact of some factors by the use of Bayesian models. Materials and Methods: Our study population was all men with PC in Iran from 2005 to 2008. Considered risk factors were smoking, fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, obesity and human development index. We used empirical and full Bayesian models to study the relative risk in Iran at province level to estimate the risk of PC more accurately. Results: In Iran from 2005 to 2008 the total number of known PC cases was 10,361 with most cases found in Fars and Tehran and the least in Ilam. In all models just human development index was found to be significantly related to PC risk Conclusions: In the unadjusted model, Fars, Semnam, Isfahan and Tehran provinces have the highest and Sistan-and-Baluchestan has the least risk of PC. In general, central provinces have high risk. After adjusting for covariates, Fars and Zanjan provinces have the highest relative risk and Kerman, Northern Khorasan, Kohgiluyeh Boyer Ahmad, Ghazvin and Kermanshah have the lowest relative risk. According to the results, the incidence of PC in provinces with higher human development index is higher.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.175-187
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• 1999

To investigate the risk perception of environmental issues, two consequtive surveys were conducted to environmental professionals using a standardized questionnaire from September to October in 1999. The number of subjects were 72 for the first survey and 68 for the second one. The questionnaire was consisted of items such as the degree of environmental pollution in Korea, risk perception of some issues on human health and ecosystem, and seriousness of the problems in the real situation in Korea. For the degree of environmental pollution in Korea, the average risk rating in the second test (7.4 point) was significantly higher than that in the first test (7.2 point). The risk perception on the general human health and ecosystem, and the seriousness in Korea situation were analyzed in the order of ′air pollution′, ′water pollution′,′soil contamination′,′waste′,′toxic chemical pollutants′,′food contamination′,′ocean contamination′, ′odor pollution′, and ′noise pollution′. Also ′toxic chemical pollutants′ problem was perceived to be the highest risk on general human health or ecosystem, and on present situation in Korea. ′Automotive vehicle exhaust′ problem was perceived to be the most severe environmental problems among specific 30 items. ′Industrial source air pollution′,′toxic air pollutants′, and ′domestic and industrial source pollutants to surface water′ were relatively severe environmental problems comparing to other problems. The pollution issues were classified into four categories by two aspects of perception; risk in general setting and seriousness in Korea situation. If the issues were highly serious in Korea and low risk perception in general setting then it is named "the Korea-specific group". Those that were all high score in two aspects, named "the Common group". Those that were all low in two aspects, named "the Nonsignificant group". And the issues were high risk perception in general setting and low seriousness in Korean situation, named "the Latent group".

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.413-427
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• 2006

It is necessary to study and develop guidelines for providing comfort and health indoor air quality for office workers since air-tight envelope system of current office building may cause poor indoor air quality. The purpose of this study is to propose guideline for volatile organic compounds in office base on the field study, human health risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis. The field study was conducted to survey the concentrations of volatile organic compounds in indoor air of 69 offices from June to September, 2005 in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. The rate of excess to guideline of volatile organic compounds in indoor air of new apartment on the Ministry of Environment in Korea(MOE) was surveyed 37.6% for benzene, 6.8% for toluene, and 1.5% for ethylbenzene. As the result of human health risk assessment, mean cancer risk did not exceed 10-6 which is guideline of US.EPA. Also, total hazard index did not exceed 1 which is guideline of US.EPA. Through the cost-benefit analysis of angle on the social-economics to verify the necessary to establish the standards of volatile organic compounds for improvement and development of indoor air quality in office, the present value of benefit was higher than the present value of cost. With the above considerations in mind, it is suggested that the field study for indoor air quality in offices should be expanded and human health risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis be performed th offer scientific data for decision-making of policy for improvement and management of indoor air quality in office.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.373-383
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• 2016

Cheonsu Bay, one of the most important in Korea as a coastal fishery is a semi-enclosed bay that is surrounded by large farmlands and industrial areas. This coastal environment has been affected by anthropogenic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). The objectives of this study were to investigate the distribution of PCBs and OCPs in sediment, Manila clams, and mussels from Cheonsu Bay; the accumulation pattern of these chemicals in these bivalves in relation to seasonal changes; and the ecological risk from sediments and the risk to the Korean population from the consumption of these bivalves. The levels of ${\Sigma}PCBs$, ${\Sigma}DDT$, and ${\Sigma}HCHs$ were 69.3-109, 40.3-49.3 and 6.25-17.8 ng/g lipid in Manila clams, and 70.6-159, 38.6-102 and 9.00-13.5 ng/g lipid in Mussels. Significant seasonal variations in PCBs and OCPs concentrations were observed in the two bivalves, suggesting that the accumulation of PCBs and OCPs in these species is related to their spawning times. The dietary intake of these two bivalves and the resulting lifetime cancer risk (LCR) and non-cancer risk were calculated for the human population. The consumption of these bivalves seemed to be safe in relation to human health with negligible LCR and non-cancer risk.

• 한국물환경학회지
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• 제24권5호
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• pp.592-597
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• 2008

Current water quality standard (WQS) in Korea is based on the protection of human health, not considering the protection of aquatic organisms. Most of chemicals can be toxic to ecological biota as well as human. Health of aquatic biota is closely related to the human health via food chain, therefore ecological risk based-WQS needs to be developed to protect the aquatic ecosystem. In this study, we selected the 31 chemicals in the Project entitled 'Development of integrated methodology for evaluation of water environment'. The methodology for calculating water quality criteria was derived from the Australian and New Zealand processes for deriving guideline trigger value for aquatic ecosystem. The available ecotoxicity data were collected from US EPA's ECOTOXicology Database (ECOTOX), TOX-2000 Database, European Chemicals Bureau (ECB)'s International Uniform Chemical Information Database (IUCLID) and Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)'s report 'Ambient Water Quality Criteria (AWQC)'. The aquatic toxicity data for the Korean species were selected for risk assessment to reflect the Korean water environment. The monitoring values were calculated from the water quality monitoring data four main Korean rivers. We suggested the order of priorities of chemicals based on ecological risk assessment. We expect that these results can be useful information for establishing the WQS for the protection of aquatic ecosystem.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제22권2호
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• pp.256-263
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• 2012

A strain of bacterium producing antifungal antibiotic was isolated and identification of the strain was attempted. We could identify the bacterium as being a Bacillus sp., based on morphological observation, physiological characteristics, and 16S rDNA sequence analysis, thus leading us to designate the strain as Bacillus sp. AH-E-1. The strain showed potent antibiotic activity against phytopathogenic and human pathogenic fungi by inducing mycelial distortion and swelling and inhibiting spore germination. The antibiotic metabolite produced by the strain demonstrated excellent thermal and pH (2-11) stability, but was labile to autoclaving. From these results, we could find a broader antifungal activity of Bacillus genus. Isolation and characterization of the active agent produced by the strain are under progress.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.347-355
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• 2002

As concerns on the effects of soil contamination on human health have grown, more efforts have been made to quantify the effects. One of such efforts is the development of risk assessment methodology. The fundamental objectives of this approach is to investigate the alternative options that reduce the risk of hazardous chemicals results from environmental pollution, which will eventually lead to an accomplishment of removement of identified toxicants in polluted environment. The U.S. EPA Risk Assessment guidance for the superfund (RAGS) provides a methods for assessing the health risk of contaminated soils and determining the preliminary remediation goals (PRGs). Using this approach, we assessed the health risk and preliminary remediation goals of petroleum contaminated site in Kyounggi province.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.126-128
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• 2022

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.129-130
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• 2022

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.1-4
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• 2013

Background: The age-adjusted incidence rate of prostate cancer (PCa) has been reported to be lower among Asians than Western populations. A traditional Japanese meal, high in soybean products or isoflavones, may be associated with a decreased risk of PCa. Equol, which is converted from daidzein by human intestinal flora, is biologically more active than any other isoflavone aglycone. Materials and Methods: We reviewed not only recent epidemiological studies on association of isoflavones with PCa risk, but also recent research on human intestinal bacteria responsible for converting daidzein into equol. Studies were systematically searched from the database published within the last 5 years of from 2008-2012. Results: Five out of 6 articles showed significant association of isoflavones with a decreased risk of PCa, and two of them consistently showed that equol-producers carry a significantly reduced risk of PCa. Furthermore, 5 human intestinal bacteria that can convert daidzein into equol were identified in the last 5 years. Conclusions: If equol can reduce risk of PCa, a possible strategy for reducing the risk of PCa may be to increase the proportion of equol-producers by changing the intestinal flora to carrying an equol-producing bacterium with dietary alteration or probiotic technology.