• 환경위생공학
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.123-134
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• 1998

The study was performed to investigate the differences among various evaluation criteria for noise-induced hearing loss(NIHL). The subjects were 100 workers who had received detailed audiometric examinations after the periodic annual examination for hearing loss. The evaluation criteria included were as follows: The criterion I was NIHL of 50dB or greater at 4,000Hz in either ear which is one of the legal requirements for determining occupational hearing loss in Korea. The criterion II was NIHL of 40dB or greater by 4-divided classification(a+b+c+d/4 at 500Hz(a), 1,000Hz(b), 2,000Hz(c), 4,000Hz(d)) which is also one of the legal requirements for determining occupational hearing loss in Korea. The criterion III was NIHL of 31dB of greater by 6-divided classification(a+2b+2c+d/6) which is the workers' compensation standard. The criterion IV was NIHL of 40dB or greater by 6-divided classification(a+2b+2c+d/6), the criterion used to prohibite workers to be employed in the noisy workplace. The criterion V was NIHL of 40dB or greater by 3-divided classification(a+b+c/3) which is the guideline of the Japanes Labour Department. The results were as follows; 1. The percentage of workers with NIHL by the criterion I was the highest(96%) and covered all workers with NIHL diagnosed by other criteria. Therefore, this criterion was the most sensitive one for early detection of NIHL among various evaluation criteria. 2. The percentage of workers with NIHL by the criterion II was 29% of the subjects, but all of them could be diagnosed as having NIHL by the criterion I and 33.1% of the NIHL by the criterion III could not be covered by the criterion II. Thus, this criterion was not considered suitable as an initial step for determining occupational hearing loss. 3. The percentage of workers with NIHL by the criterion III was 45% of the subjects. This percentage was 46.9% of the NIHL by the criterion I and was estimated to cover 3.6% of all noise exposed workers. 4. The percentage of workers with NIHL by the criterion IV was 28% of the subjects, but 37.8% of the NIHL by the criterion III and 70.8% of the NIHL by the criterion I were not covered by the criterion. Therefore, these workers could have been employed in the noisy workplaces. 5. Employed relocation which was one of the post management methods was an option in the criterion I in Korea and in the criterion V in Japan. The number of NIHL by the criterion I was 6.7times greater than that by the criterion V. Thus, although employee relocation was not used exclusively, many more workers with NIHL could have been relocated. In conclusion, this study revealed that the criteria being used for managing occupational hearing loss showed a lack uniformity among them. In addition, since these criteria are all relied on the total threshold shifts caused by the noise exposure at the time of hearing test with no consideration given to the past noise exposure history nor age, it can be said that they are not an effective tool for occupational hearing loss management. Since legal requirements are usually followed after being diagnosed as having NIHL, it is recommended that a uniform diagnostic criterion should be used to minimize confusion. Pre-employment hearing tests should also be utilized so as to managing occupational hearing loss after employment rather than being used as a legal roadblock of prohibiting workers with mild hearing loss from being employed. Thus, what is needed is an establishment of a rational criterion for occupational hearing loss management rather than for legal requirements.

• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.81-90
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• 2014

Flexible production system has been expanded to all sectors of economy with the change of labor market and diversification of employment. The unstable employment with irregular work has replaced stable employment with regular work. This study has investigate the impact pathway of the type of employment on health status especially ill-health symptoms experiences. Among the first Korean Working Conditions Survey data, the employee's response data was used to analyze the path way with multiple regression analysis. The result has shown the direct effect of the type of employment on ill-health symptoms experience. Indirect effect of the type of employment was found the pathway via the exposure to noise, high temperature, low temperature, dust, skin contact to chemicals, painful posture, heavy material handling, standing position, repetitive movement of hands. However the exposure to the other hazardous factors such as organic solvent, wholebody vibration, radiation, lifting people, infectious materials were not influenced by the type of employment.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제28권4호
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• pp.382-392
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• 2018

Objective: Allergic diseases such as asthma due to fungal exposure in houses have increased, and proper management is urgent. Mold can grow in the air, floor, walls, and other areas according to environmental conditions, and there are many limitations to the conventional methodology for examining fungal exposure. For this reason, the degree of fungal contamination is being evaluated by ERMI (Environmental Relative Moldiness Index), a quantitative analysis method proposed by the EPA. In this study, we compared ERMI values between water-damaged dwellings and non-damaged ones to evaluate the effectiveness of Korean ERMI values. We also explored the association of ERMI values with the level of airborne mold and characteristics of dwellings. Methods: Floor dust was collected after installing a Dustream collector on the suction port of a vacuum cleaner. The collected samples were filtered to remove only 5 mg of dust, and DNA was extracted using the FastDNA SPIN KIT protocol. Results: The ERMI values were found to be 19.6 (-6.9-58.8) for flooded houses, 7.5 (-29.2-48.3) for leaks/condensation, and 0.8 (-29.2-37.9) for non-damaged dwellings. The airborne concentration of mold for flooded, leakage or condensed, and non-damaged houses were $684CFU/m^3$, $566CFU/m^3$, and $378CFU/m^3$, respectively. The correlation between ERMI values and the levels of airborne mold was low (R = 0.038), but a weakly significant association of the ERMI values with the concentration of particulate matter ($PM_{10}$) was observed as well(R=0.231,P<0.05). Conclusions: Our findings show that the reference value using ERMI can be used to distinguish water-damaged and non-damaged dwellings. It is believed that ERMI values could be a promising tool for assessing long-term fungal exposure in dwellings.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.239-254
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• 1996

Health services on industrial noisy environment have been provided only for noise-induced hearing loss management until now. But gradually, modem diseases and death have come to be related to stress and mental health deeply, therefore noise-induced mental disorder, like a stress became very important. In this point, the purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between noise exposure level in worksite and workers' stress symptoms. This study included a survey of 786 manual workers selected from 89 worksites in 21 factories in Puchon. The results were as follows: 1. For demographic characteristics, most of the workers were males(80.8%), the $20\sim29years$ old were 34.5% and those who graduated from high school were 65.3%. The workers whose monthly income ranged from 100,000 to 800,000 won were 37.5% and who have a religion were 47.9%. 2. For occupational characteristics, workers who had worked $1\sim5$ years in the factories were 33.0%. Those who were much for them workload were 43.9% and who worked more than 8 hours a day were 73.9%. Those who were disatisfied with their job and pay were 31.9% and 50.6%. The workers who responsed ventilation condition of their worksites were bad were 51.9% and the dissatisfed with working environment of their worksites were 45.9%. 3. Workers who were suffering from tinnitus were 53.3% and those who perceived hearing loss were 50.1%. Persons who reported they always wore earplugs at work were 35.4%. Those who felt earplugs bigger than their ears were 30.6% and those who experienced eardiseases caused by earplugs were 25.6%. 4. For the noise exposure level in worksite, workers who were exposed to $80\sim90dB$ were 30.3%, $90\sim100dB$ were 26.4% and $50\sim70dB$ were 19.2%. 5. Workers' stress symptoms were significantly related to marital status and their monthly income(p<0.05). Workers who were single and had lower monthly income showed higher PSI (Psychiatric Symptom Index) scores than those who were married and had higher monthly income. Higher PSI scores were also significantly related to $1\sim2$ days hight-work per week, much for them workload, dissatisfaction with their job, and bad relationship with their bosses and coworkers. 6. Higher PSI scores were significantly related to severe tinnitus and perceived hearing losso(p<0.001). Workers who felt the earplugs they use did not fit their ears showed significantly higher PSI scores(p<0.01). Workers who reported that they did not feel they need earplugs showed. significantly higher PSI scores (p<0.05). Increased experience of eardisease caused by earplugs that did not fit were also significantly related to higher PSI scores(p<0.01). 7. The higher noise exposure level in worksite from 80dB was, the more severe stress symptoms including PSI subparts were reported; Anxiety, Anger, Depression, and Cognitive disorder(p<0.001). 5. According to the results of stepwise multiple regression analysis, factors affecting workers' PSI scores were perceived hearing loss$(R^2=0.160)$, noise exposure level in worksite$(R^2=0.110)$, realtionship with coworkers, amount of workload, monthly income and relationship with bosses orderly and the total $R^2$ of this 6 factors was 0.371. 9. The most significant factors that have impact on manual workers' stress symptoms were perceived hearing loss and noise exposure level in worksite, especially noise exposure level in the worksite was the most affective factor on the depression symptom.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.178-187
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• 2016

Objectives: Diisocyanates are a potent inducer of diseases of the airways, especially asthma. In this study, toluenediamine(TDA) and methylenedianiline(MDA) in urine were evaluated as biomarkers of exposure to tolunenediisocyanate(TDI) and methylenediphenyl diisocyanate(MDI), respectively. Methods: Workers exposed to TDI and MDI, as well as non-occupationally exposed subjects, were studied and pre- and post-shift urine samples were collected from 8 control subjects and 8 workers from a factory which manufactures polyurethane products for reducing noise and vibration in automobiles. Airborne TDI and MDI(n=8) were sampled on solvent-free glass filters impregnated with n-butylamine and detected by liquid chromatography atmospheric pressure ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Urinary TDA and MDA were detected as pentafluoropropionic acid anhydride(PFPA) derivatives by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Results: The median levels of urinary 2,6-TDA(p<0.001), 2,4-TDA(p=0.001), and MDA(p<0.001) of workers in post-shift samples were significantly higher than those of controls. The median levels of urinary 2,6-0TDA($0.63{\mu}g/g$ creatinine vs $0.34{\mu}g/g$ creatinine, p=0.017) and MDA($4.21{\mu}g/g$ creatinine vs $3.18{\mu}g/g$ creatinine, p=0.017) of workers in post-shift samples were significantly higher than those of the pre-shift samples. There were significant correlations between the urinary 2,6-TDA, 2,4-TDA, and MDA of workers in post-shift samples and the airborne 2,6-TDI(rho=0.952, p<0.001), 2,4-TDI(rho=0.833, p=0.001), and MDI(rho=0.952, p<0.001). Conclusions: These urinary diamines, metabolites of diisocyanates, in post-shift samples were useful biomarkers to assess occupational exposure to diisocyanates.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 2024

Objectives: The study was performed to investigate characteristics of hazardous factors regarding chemical(liquid lime) tank dredging workers by case survey. Methods: Field data such as working condition, MSDS and respirators applied to chemical tank dredging work were analyzed and the work environmental factors of noise and indoor air quality were measured to compare existing data with actual work situations. Results: No health hazards to workers due to working conditions were confirmed during dredging work inside the chemical storage tank. All air quality measurement data during dredging work satisfied the management standards, and there were no by-products. During dredging work, there was a significant change in noise depending on the type of work, but considering the noise reduction rate(NRR) of the earplugs worn by workers, there was no actual health hazard due to noise exposure. Conclusions: A fit test for respirator and the expiration date of the safety helmet should be observed to ensure an appropriate level of safety and health for dredging workers in the chemical storage tank.

• 한국소음진동공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국소음진동공학회 2012년도 춘계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.178-185
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• 2012

In Korea, researches on the exposure assessment of the hand-transmitted vibration started from the mid-90, however, they were performed in the limited industries such as auto-assembly plants and the evaluation of the vibration was mostly conducted by ISO 5349(1986). Therefore, it was necessary to assess hand-transmitted vibration levels of workplace such as ship building/repairing industry or mining industry where occupational injuries are largely occurred and to evaluate the vibration levels using revised ISO 5349(2001). The SVAN 949 Four Channels Sound & Vibration Analyser was used for the measurement. The workers using a chain saw were exposed to $1.7{\sim}2.8m/s^2$ of daily vibration level. Workers using a rock drill in a coal mining were exposed to the highest vibration acceleration among workers and the levels were $7.1{\sim}10.8m/s^2$. Vibration levels of grinders were different according to the types of grinders. The hand-transmitted vibration of 3 types of grinders were measured and the levels were $3.3{\sim}11.1m/s^2$. Workers using a impact wrench were exposed to $1.5{\sim}1.6m/s^2$ of vibration. Out of 20 kinds of machines, only 4 tools provided the information of vibration acceleration on the instructions. In addition, the current condition of workplaces to control vibration was not much different from the past because there are no vibration exposure limit.

• 대한소아치과학회지
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• 제47권1호
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• pp.62-69
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• 2020

이 연구는 치과 핸드피스의 소음 수준과 소음 저감 장치의 효과를 평가하기 위한 것이다. 귀 모형은 치과용 핸드피스 작동 중에 내이에 전달되는 소음의 수준을 측정할 수 있도록 설계되었다. 소음의 크기는 귀 모형과 휴대용 소음 측정기를 사용하여 다양한 조건에서 측정되었다. 시판되는 4종의 소음 저감 장치를 귀 모형에 적용한 후 같은 조건에서 소음 수준을 측정한 뒤 비교하였다. 치과 핸드피스의 소음 수준은 조건에 따라 약 82.5 - 84.4 dB이었다. 4종의 소음 저감 장치를 적용했을 때 소음은 67.4 - 73.8 dB로 감소했다. 4종의 장치 모두 핸드피스의 소음을 줄이는데 유의한 효과가 있었다. 강도와 노출 시간을 고려할 때, 치과 소음은 치과 의료진에게 청력 손상을 일으킬 수 있다. 직업적 청력 손상 위험을 예방하기 위해 소음 저감 장치 사용을 고려할 수 있다.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제36권2호
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• pp.137-146
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• 2003

과거 군 복무 기간 동안 청력에 영향을 미치는 사격 및 포격 등 소음에 노출된 군 경력이 현재 소음 노출 근로자에게 어떤 청각학적 영향을 미치며, 소음성 난청의 발생과 관련이 있는지를 평가하고자 하였다. 중소규모 선박수리 및 건조업체 15개 사업체 440명을 대상으로 근로자의 일반 사항, 임상증상, 현재의 청력과 관련한 과거 이과적 병력, 군 복무시 충격소음의 상시적 노출 등의 군 경력, 이명 등의 자각증상에 관한 설문조사와 순음청력검사 및 중이검사를 시행하였다. 현 직종에서의 소음 노출군 중 과거 군에서 소음 노출군이 각 주파수별 청력역치와 평균 청력역치가 가장 컸으며, 특히 2-8kHz의 주파수 역치에서 차이가 크게 나타났다. 청력손실자의 비율 및 중증도의 정도가 현 직종에서의 소음 노출군 중 과거 군에서 소음 노출군이 가장 높은 비율을 보였으며, 특히 감각신경성 난청으로서 소음성 난청자가 통계적으로 유의하게 더 많았다. 이명은 현재 소음 노출 직종에 있는 군에서 높았으며, 그중 군 소음 노출군이 46.2%로 유의하게 더 높았다. 소음성 난청 여부를 종속변수로 한 로지스틱 회귀분석 결과, 연령, 현 직종 근무기간, 군 소음 노출력, 현 직종에서의 소음 노출 여부가 유의한 독립변수로 작용하였다. 우측 귀의 경우, 소음성 난청에 대한 군 소음 노출력의 비차비는 4.5이었고, 현 직종의 소음 노출의 비차비는 7.9이었다. 군 소음 노출 및 현 작업 소음 노출 여부에 따른 각 군별 좌우측 귀의 4 kHz 청력역치와 평균 청력역치는 I군에서 좌우측 귀 모두 나이 및 근무기간이 증가할수록 가장 크게 영향을 미치며 유의하게 증가하였으며 II군, III군, IV군 순으로 청력 역치가 증가하였다. 군에서 노출되는 충격소음은 청력손실과 이명 등 청각학적 영향을 미치며 사업장에서 소음 노출에 따른 소음성 난청의 발생에도 부가적인 영향을 미친다. 따라서 군에서의 소음 노출에 따른 청각학적 영향을 예방하기 위해서뿐만 아니라 소음 노출 근로자에 대한 청력 관리 측면에서도 이의 조기 진단, 치료, 보상 및 재활을 위해서는 군에서의 소음 노출 문제까지 함께 다루어야 함을 시사한다.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.123-130
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• 2006

이 연구에서는 고속도로 신설 공사 건설 현장 근로자들의 소음 노출을 저감할 수 있는 방법들을 제시하며 특히 현장에서 적용할 수 있는 새로운 체계적인 방법인 "소음 주의 구역"을 제안한다. 고속도로 건설 현장에서 소음원이 되는 장비, 기계, 도구와 근로자들의 소음 노출 특성을 알아 보았으며, 개인청력 보호구, 공학적제어수단 (engineering controls), 관리적제어수단 (administrative controls)을 어떻게 적용할 것인가를 제시하였다. 개인청력 보호구만으로는 소음 노출을 효율적으로 저감시킬 수 없음을 보였으며, 공학적제어수단은 기술적 및 경제적 문제로, 관리적제어수단은 공사 기간 단축과 같은 실제적인 이유로 해서 시행 되기가 어렵다. 따라서 이 연구에서는 실제적으로 적용할 수 있는 체계적인 방법으로서 "소음주의구역 (Noise Perimeter Zones)"을 새롭게 제안하였다. 이 "소음주의구역"은 높은 수준의 소음원이 존재하는 고속도로 건설 공사 현장에 지정된다. 이 구역안에서는 근로자들의 출입이 통제되며 또한 개인청력 보호구, 공학적제어수단, 관리적제어수단과 같은 적절한 제어수단이 사용되어야 한다.