• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제43권1호
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• pp.1-22
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• 2017

'The worstest environment disaster', 'World's first biocide massacre', 'Home-based Sewol ferry disaster' are all phrases attached to the recent humidifier disinfectant disaster. In the spring of 2011, four of 8 pregnant women including 1 adult man passed away at a university hospital in Seoul due to breathing failure. Epidemiologic investigation conducted by the Korean CDC soon revealed the inhalation of humidifier disinfectant, which had been widely used in Korea during the winter, to be responsible for the disease. As well as lung fibrosis hardening of the lungs, other diseases including asthma, rhinitis, skin disease, liver disease, fetal disease or cancers have been researched for their relation with exposure to the products. By February 9, 2017, 5,342 cases had registered for health problems and 1,131 of them were already dead (20.8% mortality rate). Based on studies by government agencies and a telephone survey of the general population by Seoul National University and civic groups, around 20% of the general public of Korea has used these products. Since the market release of the first product by SK Chemical in 1994, over 7.1 million items from around 20 brands were sold up to 2011. Most of the products were manufactured by well-known large conglomerates such as SK, Lotte, Samsung, Shinsegye, LG, and GS, as well as some European companies including UK-based Reckitt Benckiser and TESCO, the German firm Henkel, the Danish firm KeTox, and an Irish company. Even though this disaster was unveiled in 2011 by the Korean government, the issue of the victims was neglected for over five years. In 2016, an unexpected but intensive investigation by prosecutors found that Reckitt Benckiser manipulated and concealed animal tests for its own brand and brought several university experts and company employees to court. The matter was an intense social issue in Korea from May to June with a surge in media coverage. The prosecutor's investigation and a nationwide boycott campaign organized by victims and environmental groups against Reckitt Benckiser, whose product had been used by more than 70% of victims, led to the producer's official apology and a compensation scheme. A legislative investigation organized after the April 2016 national election revealed the producers' faults and the government's responsibility, but failed to meet expectations. A special law for the victims passed the National Assembly in January 2017 and a punitive system together with a massive environmental epidemiology investigation are expected to be the only solutions for this tragedy. Sciences of medicine, toxicology and environmental health have provided decisive evidence so far, but for the remaining problems the perspectives of social sciences such as sociology and jurisprudence are highly necessary, similar to with the Minamata disease and Wonjin Rayon events. It may not be easy to follow this issue using unfamiliar terminology from medical and chemical science and the long, complicated history of the event. For these reasons the author has attempted to write this article in a question and answer format to render it easier to follow. The 17 questions are: Q1 What is humidifier disinfectant? Q2 What kind of health problems are caused by humidifier disinfectant? Q3 How many victims are there? Q4 What is the analysis of the 1,112 cases of death? Q5 What is the problem with the government's diagnostic criteria and the solution? Q6 Who made what brands? Q7 Has there been a recall? What is still on sale? Q8 Was safety not checked by any producers? Q9 What are the government's responsibilities? Q10 Is it true that these products were sold only in Korea? Q11 Why and how was it unveiled only in 2011 after 17 years of sales? Q12 What delayed the resolution of the victim issue? Q13 What is the background of the prosecutor's investigation in early 2016? Q14 Is it possible to report new victim cases without evidence of product purchase? Q15 What is happening with the victim issue? Q16 How does it compare with the cases of Minamata disease and Wonjin Rayon? Q17 Are there prevention measures and lessons?

• 지역사회간호학회지
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.143-162
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• 1998

This is a study for the construction of nursing care based upon the Korean attitude toward medicine. Factors which were investigated include the source of nursing care, the reason for choosing care, the type of heath care chosen, the accessability of caregivers, and the desired location of death. The population examined in this study consisted of 517 adults distributed in six large cities and 191 adults from five rural communities. Data was analyzed using frequency, percent, Cronbach alpha, $X^2$ - test, t - test, F - test and scheffe post hoc contrast with an SAS program. The results of this study are summarized as follows: 1. Among sources of nursing care used, first rank rated-pharmacy(54.4), private hospital(18.2), general hospital(8.4), folk remedies in house (5.0), chinese hospital(2.8), prayer(2.8) and others(8.4), and the reasons for choosing nursing care rated 'the easiest method' (63.6), 'the best method'(15.7), 'reliable'(10.8) and 'lower cost burden'(4.6) in order of preference. 2. The type of nursing care chosen rated western medicine(6.80), chinese medicine(6.15), folk remedies(5.46), faith remedies(3.51) and divination remedies (1.41). There were significant differences in the effect recognition degree to various kinds of medicine. 3. The difference of the type of nursing care chosen according to general characteristics showed that urban residents were higher than rural community residents(t=2.15, p=0.0320) in western medicine, and urban residents, women, and singles were higher than rural community residents(t=2.04, p=0.0414), men (t= -2.89, p=0.0039), and married(t=2.50, p= 0.0126) on folk remedies. With repect to age and education those 21-30, under 20 and 31-40, graduated from college and graduate school were higher than above 51, above 61 (F = 7.76, p = 0.0001), graduated from elementary school(F=4.39, p=0.0006) on folk remedies. In other categories, rural community residents, women, younger people. Christians were higher than urban residents ( t = -2.73, p=0.0305), men(t= -4.15, p=0.0001), older people (F=2.48, p=0.0307), Catholic, Buddhist, or atheist (F= 70.18, p=0.0001) on faith remedies. Those graduated from high school and Buddhist were higher than unschooled, graduated from middle school(F=3.18, p= 0.0075), atheist, Catholic or Christian(F=18.32, p=0.0001) on divination redemies. There were significant differences concerning age and education level. 4. The accessibility of caregivers rated 'caregivers should be nearby if the patients need them' (50.0), 'caregivers must be there all day (24 hours)' (39.6), 'caregivers must be there at night only'(5.0), 'caregivers must be there during the day only'(2.6), 'caregivers always should visit during visiting hours' 0.4), 'caregivers don't need to be there at all' (1.2). The frist rank of suitable caregivers were rated as spouse(66.6), mother(24.2), daughter (3.6), daughter-in-law(1.9), and the reasons of thinking thus were rated as 'the most comfortable' (81.5), 'people should correctly with regards to family they'(7.1), 'the easiest' (5.4), 'take good care of the patient' (5.1) and 'lower cost burden' (0.4). 5. The desired location of death rated as the following: his/her house (91. 6) to the hospital(8. 4). A person going to encounter death in the hospital wanted his house(78.5) over the hospital(21.5), and a person dieing in the hospital prefered his house(52.9) over the hospital(47.1) as a funeral ceremony place. The following suggestions are made based on the above results. 1. A sampling method that enhances the re presentativeness should be used in regional and/or national related research and replicated to confirm the result of this study. 2. This study should be used to understand the Korean view of medical centers and to meet the expectations of patients in Korean nursing. 3. Research on the Korean traditional view of humans and expectations of the sick, health and illness, and health behavior, the perception of dying, the decision to heal, and the view of general medicine should continue to be conducted continuosly so that Korean nursing theory can be advanced on these concepts.

• 한국직업건강간호학회지
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.23-43
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• 1997

The work-related diseases due to continuous overwork are mainly cerebro- and cardio-vascular ones, which is commonly called 'Karoshi', death from overwork. Many factors are capable for Karoshi : occupational stress in relation to technological renovation and industrial rationalization, competitive social structure, and accumulated fatigue accured to long time or irregular working. And its occurence is on the rise. The World Labor Report 1993 released by ILO, pointed out the diseases related to overwork and stress as one of the most important occupational health problem. In Korea, social awareness of Karoshi is at an infant stage, and reliable statistics for its occurence are not compiled in a convenient manner. Despite the rising Karoshi, there are no reliable clauses in workmen's compensation enough to settle down the disputes. Therefore, it is not uncommon that the Labour Ministry and Civil Court find difficulties in reaching an agreement. This study was intended to provide proper compensation and prevention program for workers by suggesting reasonable compensation clauses for the death from overwork. This study consists of two comparative reviews on the compensaton clauses for the death from overwork. One is to review legal standards of Karoshi among three countries, such as Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The other is to investigate the cases of Karoshi in Korea, 121 cases identified at the Labor Welfare Corperation and the Labour Ministrial process of examination and reexamination, and 73 leading cases at the High Court of Justice. The main findings of the study are as follows : 1. Comparisons of comperative review on compensation clauses for the death from overwork among three countries. 1) All of three countries have the same kinds of disease for compensation, which were cerebro-and cardiao-vascular diseases, while for cardiac disease group, Korea has the smaller number of diseases for compensation than Japan. 2) As for the definition of overwork, the three countries share equally that overload for one week prior to collapse is considered as an important factor, but accumulated chronic fatigue is disregarded. 3) As the basis of overwork, in Japan, there is a tendency to move from the conditions of an ordinary healthy adult to those of the individual concerned in Japan, whereas there is no such concern yet in Korea. 4) All the three countries use a common standard of medical judgement in demonstrating causal relationship between a job and a disease. However, Korea is progressive in the sense that in the case of CVA at worksite, the worker himself has no obligation to prove the cause. 2. The results of a comparative review on excutive decisions by Labor Ministry and judicial decisions by the Court in Korea : A judicial decision is based on the legalistic probability, but a excutive decision is not. Therefore, excutive decisions have such restrictions that : 1) TIA (transitory ischemic cerebral attack) and myocarditis are excluded from compensation, and there is little consistency of decision in the case of cause-unknown death. 2) There is a tendency not to compensate for the death from overwork since the work terms such as repeated long-time working, shift work or night-shift work are not considered as overloading. 3) There is a tendency to regard the conditions of a ordinary healthy adult rather than those of the individual concerned(age, existing diseases, health state, etc.) as the comparative basis of overload. 4) There remains a tendency not to compensate for the death from overwork in the case of collapse occuring out of workplace, on the ground of 'on the course of working' and 'in the cause of accident'. Through the study, the fact manifests itself that Korea's compensation clauses for work-related diseases due to overwork are very restrictive. So, it is necessary to extend the Labor Ministry's clauses of compensation for the death from overwork following to the recent changes of other countries and internal judicial decisions. This is very important in the perspective of occupational health that aims at health promotion of workers including prevention of the Karoshi.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.253-273
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• 2007

목 적: 본 연구는 연구자로 하여금 [잔여배아보관실적대장]과 [잔여배아제공실적대장]을 명확하게 작성토록 하고 관리자 및 감독자로 하여금 이를 합리적이고 통일된 관리 및 점검을 할 수 있도록 하기 위한 방법을 찾고자 한 것이었다. 연구방법: 1994년부터 2004년까지 44호 기관에 보관되어 있는 자료들을 근거로 연도별 [배아의 생성 및 이용에 관한 해당연도 현황], [연도별 잔여배아의 냉동보관과 해당연도 해동현황], [냉동배아의 해동 및 이용에 관한 해당연도 현황], [냉동배아의 제공 및 인수에 관한 해당연도 현황], [해당연도 냉동배아폐기대장], [냉동배아의 관리 및 이용에 관한 해당연도총괄대장]을 도안하고 작성하였다. 결 과: 1994년부터 2004년까지 연도별 [44호 배아의 생성 및 이용에 관한 해당연도 현황], [44호 연도별 잔여배아의 냉동보관과 해당연도 해동현황], [44호 냉동배아의 해동 및 이용에 관한 해당연도 현황], [44호 냉동배아의 제공 및 인수에 관한 해당연도 현황], [44호 해당연도 냉동배아폐기대장], [44호 냉동배아의 관리 및 이용에 관한 해당연도 총괄대장]을 구축하였던 바 해당항목들이 상호일치하고 있었다. 결 론: 본 연구에서 얻어진 결과들은 연도별 [해당기관 해당연도 잔여배아보관실적대장]과 [해당기관 해당연도 잔여배아제공실적대장]을 작성하는 기초자료로서 뿐만 아니라 [배아생성의료기관에 보관해야 할 참고문서]로도 충분하다고 사료된다.

• 한국재난정보학회 논문집
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• 제13권4호
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• pp.442-454
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• 2017

생물테러에 사용되는 생물무기는 세균과 바이러스, 리켓치아, 곰팡이 등을 가공하여 만들어지며, 화학작용제, 방사능작용제와 함께 대량살상무기(Weapons of Mass Destruction, WMD)로 분류되어진다. 생물무기는 다른 대량살상무기들에 비하여 개발과 생산의 용이성, 저렴한 비용, 은닉살포가 가능하다는 운용상 이점들이 존재한다. 본 논문은 생물무기 개발이 이루어진 역사와 현존하는 생물학적 위협에 대해 분석하고, 생물작용제의 물리적 특성과 인체내 감염기작을 기초로 생물무기 공격으로 인한 사회적 영향을 예측하였다. 스벨드롭스크 탄저균유출사고, 아랄스크 두창발생, 2001년 탄저테러 등 생물무기관련 역사적 사례들에서 사고 인지형태, 작용제 오염확산범위와 피해자의 질병특성을 분석한 결과, 생물테러는 공격 즉시 인지가 어렵고, 광범위한 확산이 가능하여 대규모 노출자를 발생시키며, 호흡기관련 중증질환을 일으켜 보건 의료기관에 막대한 부담을 일으킬 것이라는 사실을 발견하였다. 이를 토대로 생물테러에 효과적으로 대응하기 위해서 요구되는 보건대응역량을 제시하였다. 효과적인 증후군감시체계 및 관련질병 보고체계를 운영하여 신속히 이상징후를 파악해야하며, 실험실진단체계를 통해 병원체의 확진을 실시하여야한다. 또한 보건기관은 역학조사 시 수사기관과의 공조를 통해 잠재적노출자를 명확히 규명하여야 하며, 마지막으로 인적 물적 자원을 효율적으로 운용하여 집단예방조치가 효과적으로 이루어지도록 되어야할 것이다. 이러한 보건대응역량을 지속적으로 강화한다면 생물테러위협에 성공적으로 대응할 수 있을 것이다.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.373-379
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• 2022

비파괴 검사에 사용되는 방사선원은 투과력이 높고 주변 물질과의 충돌을 통해 산란선을 야기하며 이는 주변 공간선량 변화를 발생시킨다. 이에 본 연구는 몬테카를로 모의 모사를 활용하여 비파괴 검사 시 작업환경 내 선원별 공간선량 분포를 평가 및 분석하고자 하였다. 본 연구는 모의 모사 코드인 FLUKA를 활용하여 비파괴 검사에서 사용되는 ⁶⁰Co(3,700 GBq), ¹⁹²Ir(1,850 GBq), ⁷⁵Se(2,960 GBq) 선원을 모의모사하고, 산출된 선량률을 보건물리학회 자료와 비교하여 선원항의 신뢰성을 확보하였다. 이후 방사선안전시설(RT-room) 내 비파괴 검사를 설계하여 선원으로부터 거리에 따른 공간선량률을 평가하였다. 공간선량률 평가 결과, ⁷⁵Se 선원이 정면 위치에서 가장 낮은 선량 분포를 보였으며, ⁶⁰Co는 ⁷⁵Se에 비해 약 15배, ¹⁹²Ir 보다 약 2배 높은 선량을 나타내었다. 또한 거리에 따른 공간선량 분포는 선원과의 거리가 증가할수록 거리 역자승 법칙에 따라 감소되는 경향을 나타내었다. 예외적으로 ⁶⁰Co, ¹⁹²Ir, ⁷⁵Se 선원 모두 2 m 지점 이내에서 선량이 다소 증가하는 것을 확인하였다. 방사성동위원소를 이용한 비파괴 검사 시 작업환경 내 피폭선량 관리를 위해 ⁷⁵Se 선원과 같은 낮은 에너지를 방출하는 선원의 사용과 작업 시 방사선안전시설 내 선원과의 거리를 4 m 이상으로 유지한다면, 방사선작업종사자의 피폭선량 최적화에 도움 될 것으로 판단된다. 추후 본 연구 결과를 토대로 비파괴 검사 시 방사선안전시설 내 종사자의 안전관리를 위한 보조자료로서 활용될 것으로 사료된다.

• 한국과학교육학회지
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• 제44권2호
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• pp.167-178
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• 2024

이 연구에서는 중학교 과학 교사들을 대상으로 과학 관련 직업에 대한 인식과 진로 교육의 인식을 조사하였다. 중학교 1학년 과학과 나의 미래 단원 수업 경험이 있는 과학 교사 64명을 대상으로 온라인 설문을 실시하였다. 연구 결과, 과학 교사들이 제시한 과학 관련 직업에는 과학적 직업뿐만 아니라 과학을 활용한 직업이 차지하는 비율도 상당하였다. 교사가 제시한 과학 관련 직업 중에서 연구직 및 공학기술직이 가장 높은 비율로 나타났으며, 교육·법률·사회복지·경찰·소방직 및 군인, 보건·의료직이 그 뒤를 이었다. 그러나 설치·정비·생산직이 차지하는 비율은 매우 낮았다. 과학 관련 직업에 필요한 능력으로는 일하는 데 필요한 기능, 일하는 방법이 주를 이루었으며, 사회와의 공존은 직업의 종류와 무관하게 대부분 직업에서 가장 낮았다. 과학 관련 진로 교육의 실태를 조사한 결과, 대부분 교사가 과학과 나의 미래 단원을 2~4차시 운영하는 그쳤으며, 일반 과학 수업에서도 과학 관련 진로 교육 운영에 할애하는 시간은 많지 않은 것으로 나타났다. 자유학기제 상황에서는 8시간 이상 과학 관련 진로교육을 운영한다고 응답한 교사가 상당수 나타났다. 과학과 나의 미래 단원이나 일반 과학 교과 수업 상황 모두 강의법이나 토의·토론법, 자율학습법을 주로 활용하는 것으로 나타났다. 한편 자유학기제 상황에서는 자원기반 학습이 다른 수업 상황과 비교했을 때 높은 비율로 나타났다. 이때 교사들은 전반적으로 미디어 자료를 많이 활용하였고, 교과서나 교사용 지도서의 활용은 예상보다 낮은 비율로 나타났으며, 과학관, 전시관 등에서 배포한 자료를 활용하거나 교육부 지원 자료를 활용하는 경우도 나타났다. 교사들은 학생 중심의 과학관련 진로 교육을 실행하고 다양한 교수학습 방법을 활용하는 것을 지향하였다. 이상의 연구 결과를 바탕으로 과학 관련 직업과 진로 교육에 대한 교사들의 인식을 개선하기 위한 방안을 제안하였다.