• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2182-2189
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• 2024

The high-purity germanium gamma-ray spectrometer was used to measure the radioisotope in surface water of lakes in a Chinee petroleum industrial area. 92 samples were collected from surface water of three lakes. Activity concentrations of ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra and ⁴⁰K in three lakes were measured, distributed in the range of 101.8-209.4, 192.1-224.9 and 335.0-548.9 mBq/L, respectively. Results were all within the limits of WHO and China. Potential environmental and health risks were assessed by calculating some radiation hazard indicators, radium equivalent index, annual effective dose, excess lifetime cancer risk, absorbed dose rate, external hazard index, internal hazard index, annual gonadal dose equivalent, activity utilization index and representative gamma index, which ranged 0.38-0.54 Bq/L, 0.06-0.08 mSv/y, 0.23 × 10^-3-0.31 × 10^-3, 0.17-0.24 nGy/h, 1.01 × 10^-3-1.46 × 10^-3, 1.55 × 10^-3-2.02 × 10^-3, 1.16-1.66 μSv/y, 3.13 × 10^-3-4.45 × 10^-3 and 2.60 × 10^-3-3.77 × 10^-3. The results were all at acceptable levels, meaning no impact on human health. The relationship between the electrical conductivity of surface water and the activity concentration of ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra and ⁴⁰K was evaluated. The electrical conductivity value was 0.241-0.369 mS/cm, showing a significant correlation coefficient between ²²⁶Ra and ⁴⁰K and electrical conductivity. Multivariate statistical methods were used to determine the relationship between the activity concentrations of ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra, and ⁴⁰K, radiation hazard indicators and electrical conductivity.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.301-311
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• 1985

Even though the anticarcinogenic effect of dietary factors especially beta - carotene has been reported by various investigators, the mechanism of the action of ${\beta}-carotene$ has not yet been identified. We carried out the present study to determine the possibilities of relative cancer risk related to dietary intake of vitamin A ( both ${\beta}-carotene$ and retinol ) and blood levels of vitamin A among Koreans. The subjects were divided into two groups; cancer patients and controls. Blood levels for ${\beta}-carotene$ and retinol were analyzed by alumina column chromatography and colorimetry. Dietary intake was examined by food profile and convenient method for evaluating nutritional status through recalling 10 years of food habits. The results obtained are as follows : 1 ) Calorie, protein, fat, and carbohydrate intakes of cancer patient were lower than those of control. Calorie and carbohydrate intakes showed no significant difference but protein and fat intakes were significantly lower in cancer patients. According to cancer sites, in stomach cancer only fat intake was significantly lower than that of control. In lung and larynx cancer calorie, protein, fat and carbohydrate intakes showed similar trend as in control. 2 ) Vitamin A intake of cancer patient was significantly lower than that of control. It was estimated that 83.6% of total Vitamin A intake were provided by ${\beta}-carotene$ for control and cancer patient respectively. 3 ) The mean intake of dietary ${\beta}-carotene$ in cancer patient was significantly lower than that in control ( $7002\;\mu}g/day$ versus $10326\;{\mu}g/day$ ) According to cancer sites in mean intake of dietary ${\beta}-carotene$ was significantly lower in all but stomach cancer compared with that of control. Lung and larynx cancer showed lowest ${\beta}-carotene$ intake with mean value of $5855{\mu}g/day$ and $5492{\mu}g/day$ respectively. 4 ) The mean intake of dietary retinol in cancer patient was significantly lower than that in control ( $245{\mu}g/day$ versus $338{\mu}g/day$ ), but the difference was not significant. 5 ) The relative risk of all cancers in the first (lowest) to the forth quartile level of ${\beta}-carotene$ consumption such as $0-5999{\mu}g/day$. $6000-8999{\mu}g/day$, $9000-11999{\mu}g/day$/ day and $12000-20000{\mu}g/day$ was 85 : 1.7 : 20 : 1.0. The relative risk of all cancers in the first (lowest) to the forth quartile level of retinol consumption, such as $0-299{\mu}g/day$, $300-599{\mu}g/day$, 600-899${\mu}g/day$, and $900-1200{\mu}g/day$, was 1.14 : 067 : 0.21 : 1.0. 6 ) The various food group consumption of cancer patient were significantly lower than those of control in green leafy vegetables, fruits, sea weeds, milk and cheese and eggs. But the Kimchie consumption in cancer patient was three fold higher than that of control ( $1840\;{\mu}g/day$ versus $562\;{\mu}g/day$ ) and in the stomach cancer, Kimchie consumption was the highest, ( $1890\;{\mu}g/day$) According to cancer sites, the consumption of green leafy vegetables was significantly lower in all but stomach cancer compared to control and other vegetables showed no difference between two. In lung and larynx cancer, green leafy vegetables consumption was lowest ( $6094{\mu}g/day$ $5921{\mu}g/day$) and milk and cheese consumption was also( $5\;{\mu}g/day$ and $11{\mu}g/day$) 7 ) The recovery of ${\beta}-carotene$ from human serum by alumina column chromatography was $94.4{\pm}2.3%$. 8 ) Cancer patients showed significantly lower serum retinol ($56.4{\pm}18.1\:{\mu}g/100ml$ versus $72.2{\pm}21.8\:{\mu}g/100ml$) and ${\beta}-carotene$ ($48.9{\pm}33.8\:{\mu}g/100ml$ versus $72.2{\pm}42.6\:{\mu}g/100ml$) concentrations than in controls. 9 ) But breast cancer patients were not significantly different from controls in their serum retinol and ${\beta}-carotene$ concentrations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.672-678
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• 2015

The types of hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) being transported by sea in Korea are at about 6,000, HNS transport volume accounts for 19% of total tonnage shipped in Korea, and the increase rate of seaborne HNS trade in Korea is 2.5 times higher than the average increase rate of the world seaborne HNS trade. Reflecting this trend, HNS spill incidents have been frequently reported in Korean waters, and there are increasing social demands to develop HNS management technology for the preparedness, response, post-treatment and restoration in relation to HNS spill incidents at sea. In this study, a risk-based HNS prioritization system was developed and an HNS risk database was built with evaluation indices such as sea transport volume, physicochemical properties, toxicities, persistency, and bioaccumulation. Risk scores for human health and marine environments were calculated by multiplying scores for toxicity and exposure. The top-20 substances in the list of HNS were tabulated, and Aniline was ranked first place, but it needs to be managed not by individuals but by HNS groups with similar score levels. Limitations were identified in obtaining data of chronic toxicity and marine ecotoxicity due to lack of testing data. It is necessary to study on marine ecotoxicological test in the near future. Moreover, the priority list of HNS is expected to be utilized in the development of HNS management technology and the relevant technologies, after the expert's review process and making up for the lack of test data in the current research results.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.143-174
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• 2019

Our Constitution obliges the state to protect the health of the people, and the Medical Law, which embodied Constitution, sets out in detail the matters related to open the medical institution, and one of them is to prohibit the operation of multiple medical institutions. By the way, virtually multiple medical institutions could be opened and operated because the Supreme Court had interpreted that several medical institutions could be opened if medical activities were not performed directly at the additional medical institution which was opened under the another doctor's license. However, some health care providers opened the several medical institutions with another doctor's license for the purpose of the maximization of profit, and did illegal medical cares like the unfair luring of patients, over-treatment, and commission treatment. Also, realistic problems such as the infringed health rights have arisen. Accordingly, lawmakers had come to amend the Medical Law to readjust the system of opening for medical institution so that medical personnel could not open or operate more than one medical institution for any reason. For this reason, the Constitutional Court recently declared a constitutional decision through a long period of in-depth deliberation because the constitutional petition and the adjudication on the constitutionality of statutes had been filed on whether Article 33 paragraph 8 of the revised medical law is unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court acknowledged the "justice of purpose" in view of the importance of public medical institutions, of the prevention from seduction of for-profit patients and from over-treatment, and of the fact that health care should not be the object of commercial transactions. Given the risk that medical personnel might be subject to outside capital, the concern that the holder of the medical institution's opening certificate and the actual operator may be separated, the principle that the human body and life should not be just a means, and the current system's inability to identify over-treatment, it also acknowledged the 'minimum infringement'. Furthermore, The Constitutional Court judged it is constitutional in compliance with the principle of restricting fundamental rights, such as 'balance of legal interests'. In this regard, legislative complements are needed in order to effectively prevent the for-profit management and the over-treatment the Constitutional Court is concerned about. In this regard, consumer groups actively support the need for legislation, and health care providers groups also agree on the need for legislation. Therefore, the legislators should respect the recent Constitutional Court's decision and in the near future complete the complementary legislation to reflect the people's interests.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.279-292
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• 2005

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze agricultural accident and disease using statistical data and materials about National Survey for Health & Nutrition in 2001 and to provide fundamental materials for studies about farmers' health and safety, decision of priority about research and policy. Results: Diagnosed chronic disease prevalence is 72.4% in farmer/fisher group, 49.8% in non farmer/fisher group. The chronic disease prevalence of musculoskeletal disease, circulatory disease, and gastroenteric disease is 46.5%, 18.2%, and 17.9% in farmer/fisher group respectively. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disease in farmer/fisher is 2.4 times higher than non farmer/fisher. This result shows that it need to evaluation for risk factors of musculoskeletal disease preferentially. Lifetime accident/poisoning rate is 18.2% In farmer/fisher group and 13.3% in non farmer/fisher group. The types of accidents were fracture>sprain>contusion and the reasons of accidents were traffic accident>falling/sliding. Conclusions: "Bad or very bad" response of farmer/fisher is almost 2 times higher than non farmer/fisher group. The rate of smoking and no exercising in farmer/fisher group is higher than non farmer/fisher group.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.24 no.3 s.35
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• pp.428-440
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• 1991

This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence rate of cervical cancer and to investigate its risk factors. 5,417 asymptomatic married women were screened from March, 1984 to December, 1990 in Taegu city. Of 5,417 examinees, 3,817 (70.46%) were normal, 1,542 (28.7%) showed inflammatory change, 51 (0.94%) were dysplasia and 7 (0.13%) were carcinoma in situ or invasive carcinomas. The prevalence of abnormal finding (dysplasia, carcinoma in situ or invasive carcinoma) was 1,070 per 100,000 population. The prevalence of dysplasia was 940 per 100,000 and that of carcinoma in situ or invasive carcinoma was 130 per 100,000. Age-adjusted prevalence rate for abnormal finding adjusted with standard population of Taegu city was estimated to be 850 per 100,000. The prevalence of cervical cancer was significantly increased with age (P<0.05). The prevalence of cervical cancer was significantly decreased with age at marriage and educational level (P<0.05). The history of induced abortion and the number of pregnancies were significantly associated with the prevalence of cervical cancer (p<0.05), whereas, the number of parity was not. Age at marriage was significantly associated with the prevalence of cervical cancer after stratification by age (p<0.05). However, the level of education, parity, induced abortion, number of pregnancies were not significant. Inflammation and human papiloma virus infection were associated with cervical cancer with odds ratio of 13.48 (95% confidence interval $7.80{\sim}23.40$) and 474.29 (95% confidence interval $196.80{\sim}1143.10$), respectively. In conclusion, for early detection of cervical cancer it should be recommended to perform mass cytological screening. In particular, regular and periodic cytologic screening, starting at age 25, for cervical cancer should be recommended for those women who have frequent cervical inflammation and for those women married before age of 20.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.24-25
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• 2003

Lead is ubiquitous in the human environment as a result of industrialization. China's rapid industrialization and traffic growth have increased the potential for lead emissions. Lead poisoning in children is one of the most common public health problems today, and it is entirely preventable. Children are more vulnerable to lead pollution and lead in their bodies can affect their nervous, circulatory, and digestive systems. Children are exposed to lead from different sources (such as paint, gasoline, and solder) and through different pathways (such as air, food, water, dust, and soil). Although all children are exposed to some lead from food, air, dust, and soil, some children are exposed to high dose sources of lead. Significant sources of lead for China's children include industrial emissions (often close to housing and schools), leaded gasoline, and occupational exposure that occurs when parents wear lead-contaminated clothing home from work, burning of coal for home heat and cooking, contaminated food, and some traditional medicines. To assess the blood lead level in children in China, a large-scale study was conducted in 19 cities among 9 provinces during 1997 to 2000. There were 6502 children, aged 3-5 years, were recruited in the study The result indicates that the mean blood lead level was 8.83ug/dl 3-5 year old living in city area. The mean blood lead level of boys was higher than that of girls (9.1l ug/dl vs 8.73ug/dl). Almost 30 percent childrens blood lead level exceeded 10ug/dl. The average blood lead level was higher than that of in 1985 (8.83ug/dl vs 8.lug/dl). An epidemiological study was carried on the children living around the cottage industries recycling the lead from battery. Nine hundreds fifty nine children, aged 5-12 years, living in lead polluted villages where the lead smelters located near the residential area and 207 control children live in unpolluted area were recruited in the study. The lead levels in air, soil, drinking water and crops were measured. The blood lead and ZnPP level were tested for all subjects. The results show that the local environment was polluted. The lead levels both in the air and crops were much higher than that of in control area. In the polluted area, the average blood level was 49.6ug/dl (rang 19.5-89.3ug/dl). Whereas, in the unpolluted area, the average blood level was 12.4ug/dl (rang 4.6-24.8ug/dl). This study indicates that in some countryside area, some cottage industries induce seriously lead pollution and cause children health problem. For the introducing of unleaded gasoline in some large cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, the blood lead level showed a declined trend since 1997. By 2000, the use of leaded gasoline in motor vehicles has been prohibited in China. The most recent data available show that levels of lead in blood among children in Shanghai decreased from 8.3ug/dl in 1997 to 7.6ug/dl in 1999. The prevalence rate of children lead poisoning (blood lead >10ug/dl) was also decreased from 37.8% to 24.8%. In children living in downtown area, the blood lead level reduced dramatically. To explore the relationship between gene polymorphisms and individual susceptibility of lead poisoning, a molecular epidemiological study was conducted among children living in lead polluted environment. The result showed that the subjects with ALAD2 allele has higher ZPP level, and the subjects with VDR B allele has larger head circumference than only with b allele. In the present study, we demonstrated that ALAD genotypes modify lead effects on heme metabolism and VDR gene variants influence the skull development in highly exposed children. The polymorphism of ALAD and VDR genes might be the molecular inherited factor modifying the susceptibility of lead poisoning. Recently, Chinese government pays more attention to lead pollution and lead poisoning in children problem. The leaded gasoline was prohibited used in motor vehicles since 2000. The government has decided to have a clampdown on the high-polluted lead smelters for recycling the lead from battery in countryside. It is hopeful that the risk of lead poisoning in children will be decreased in the further

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.222-229
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• 2014

Objectives: Pig farmers are known as the high risk group for the zoonoses, but the study for pig farmers to zoonoses has been rare in Korea. So we surveyed the awareness on zoonoses among pig farmers to suggest directions for education. Methods: We visited four regional spots (Gyeongsangnam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Jeollanam-do, and Chungcheongnam-do) where the self education programs of Korea pork producers were convened. We conducted a questionnaire survey of the general, work-related characteristics and the awareness on zoonoses among 278 pig farmers. Results: The awareness rate of zoonoses itself, brucellosis, tuberculosis and salmonellosis were 52.9%, 85.6%, 87.8%, 89.6%, respectively. The awareness rate of the content related to zoonoses, "Human can be infected by the disease of pig", was 46.9%. Awareness rate of zoonoses tended to increase as the school career, and awareness rate of salmonellosis tended to increase as working duration of pig raising. Conclusions: The pig is the principal reservoir of zoonoses. Therefore, effective working guidelines to prevent zoonoses for pig farmers must be developed and an educational program on zoonoses is needed for pig farmers. Furthermore, publicity activities about the prevention of zoonoses are needed for high-risk groups.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.776-785
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• 2008

Maternal stress was one of the common symptoms that pregnant women could have experienced during pregnant period. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation of maternal stress with maternal nutrients intake and pregnancy outcome. Subjects were 248 pregnant women and were recruited at two hospitals in Seoul area. Individual stress levels were divided by the stress scores (total 41 scores), as low stressed group (< 12) and high stressed group (${\geqq}12$). The social characteristics, nutrient intake, anthropometric measurements and pregnancy outcome were compared between low stressed group (LSG) and high stressed group (HSG) to recognize risk factor of maternal stress. We found that subjects experience stress by various factors which were concern about newborn (40.4%), concern about health (28.8%), economic difficulties (13.2%), depress (10.1%), family relationship (2.9%), concern of house work (2.5%), human relationship (2%). In HSG, unemployed rate (p < 0.05) and pre-pregnancy BMI (p < 0.05) were higher than in LSG. Family size in HSG was larger than that in LSG (p < 0.01). Doing regular exercise with the light activity level was significantly higher in LSG (p < 0.05). The nutrient intake in LSG was slightly higher than that in HSG, but not statistically significant. Pregnancy outcome was not significantly affected by the maternal stress. In conclusion, the risk of maternal stress may be related with a life style during pregnancy. Therefore, life style for maternal stress control, such as weight control and regular exercise is recommended to prevent maternal stress.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: Miscellaneous cereal have been largely consumed in Korea as due to their physiological functions beneficial to human health. The cereals are currently a social concern because they have been found to contain heavy metals. Thus, monitoring heavy metals in the cereals is an important requirement for food safety analysis. In this study, we determined arsenic concentration in the cereals randomly harvested from different markets. METHODS AND RESULTS: Inorganic arsenic was determined by ICP-MS coupled with HPLC system. The HPLC-ICP-MS analysis was optimized based on the limit of detection and recover test to reach $0.13-1.24{\mu}g/kg$ and 94.3-102.1%, respectively. The concentrations of inorganic arsenic equivalent to daily exposure were levels of $19.91{\mu}g/day$ in mixed grain, $1.07{\mu}g/day$ in glutinous rice, $0.77{\mu}g/day$ in black brown rice, $0.13{\mu}g/day$ in barley and $0.11{\mu}g/day$ in soybeans. CONCLUSION: The levels of arsenic in miscellaneous cereals were found lower than the recommended The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) levels, suggesting that the cereals marketed in Korea are not potential concern in risk assessment.