• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.20 no.2 s.22
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• pp.255-260
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• 1987

The digital dust indicator (Sibata P-5), one of the direct·reading instruments was evaluated for the respirable dust in the underground coal mine environments. As a reference, respirable dust was determined using three cyclones and/or impactors. All the tests were performed on aerosol in twenty underground coal mines. The coefficients of mass-relative concentration were $0.067{\pm}0.054$ (Mean$\pm$Standard deviation) (range: 0.006-0.172). The relationship between relative concentration and temperature was not significant statistically. Also, the relationship of relative concentration and relative humidity was not significant. Mass concentration and relative concentration were $5.31{\pm}5.22mg/m^3$ and $162{\pm}163$ CPM ($Mean{\pm}Standard$ deviation) respectively. The range of mass concentration was $1.22-22.69mg/m^3$; relative concentration 16-628 CPM. The relationship of mass concentration and relative concentration was not significant in these ranges.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.25-35
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• 2013

In swine house, dust generation comes from various sources and is known to be harmful both for the animals and the farmers because the dust contains biological and gaseous matters. When farmers are constantly exposed to the dusts, they can suffer chronic or acute respiratory symptoms and have high probability of manifesting various diseases. To address this problem, understanding of the mechanism of dust generation is very important. In this paper, the dust concentration of inhalable, respirable, TSP and $PM_{10}$ were monitored and analyzed according to the pig-activity level, ventilation quantity and feeding method in fattening pig house. From the measured results, in case of the concentration of TSP, an inverse-linear relation with ventilation rate ($R^2=0.88$) and linear relation with the installation height of feed supply pipe ($R^2=0.73$) were determined. However in case of the concentration of $PM_{10}$, no particular relationship with the variables was observed. Using the concentration of inhalable and respirable dust based on the pig-activity level, multi-variate regression analysis was conducted and results have shown that the movement of pigs can contribute to the dust generation (p＜0.05, $R^2=0.71$, 0.61). The relationship determined between dust generation and environmental variables investigated in this study is very significant and useful in conducting dust-reduction researches.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.286-292
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• 2016

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of chronical exposure to high-level dusts on cellular immune function. Methods: The subjects were 110 male workers, among whom 60 were chronically exposed to high-level dusts in mica, limestone and iron mines. The remaining 50 were office workers. Ambient total, respirable dust and crystalline silica in the workplace were sampled using personal air samplers and analyzed according to NIOSH method 0500. Serum levels of hydrogen peroxide, lipid peroxide and superoxide misutase activity were measured using absorption chromatography. The subpopulations of CD4+, CD8+, natural killer cells (CD16+) and CD3+ T-lymphocytes were examined by two-color staining using monoclonal antibodies. Results: The concentration of hydrogen peroxide was significantly higher in exposed workers and superoxide dismutase activity was significantly higher in control workers. No significant difference in numbers of T-lymphocyte subpopulations were observed between exposed and control workers. A significant correlation in exposed workers was observed among total dusts, respirable dusts and crystalline silica. Hydrogen peroxide was significantly correlated with total dust (r=0.720, p<0.01), respirable dust (r=0.770, p<0.01) and crystalline silica (r=0.678, p<0.01). Concentration of hydrogen peroxide showed a significantly negative correlation with numbers of CD8+ cells (r=-0.274, p<0.01), CD3+ cells (r=-0.222, p<0.01) and natural killer cells (r=-0.556, p<0.01). Conclusions: These results suggest that chronical exposure to high-level dust affects cellular immune function and effects might mediate through reactive oxygen species and inflammatory response.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.168-179
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• 1994

In some ceramic industries, worker exposure to dust, crystalline free silica and lead were determined and evaluated. The conclusions are as follows. 1. Crystalline silica in bulk samples was 10.5 % in sanitary ware industry, 9.4 % in tile industry, and 2.1 % in ceramic insulator industry respectively. The free silica content of air filter sample was 8.03 % in table ware industry, 5.59 % in sanitary ware industry, and 1.32 % in ceramic insulator industry. Because silica content in ceramic dust is relatively high, it is should be considered silica as important factor in evaluating for ceramic industry. 2. The silica contents in dust from tile, sanitary ware and table ware industries are above 5%, it should be classified as "Type" 2 dust. 3. The airborne concentration of respirable crystalline silica was $27.9{\mu}g/m^3$ in a sanitary ware factory and $5.8{\mu}g/m^3$ in a ceramic insualtor factory. Three of ten samples sampled the above factories were exceeded the occupational exposure levels, $100{\mu}g/m^3$. 4. Geometric mean(GM) of total dust in 11 factories was $1.00mg/m^3$ and GM of respirable dust concentration in 5 factories was $0.33mg/m^3$. Sanitary ware industry had the highest concentration of total dust, $1.62mg/m^3$ and of respirable dust, $0.88mg/m^3$. 5. Average lead concentration in air was $0.05mg/m^3$ in glazing process of 2 factories manufacturing table ware. Five of ten sample(50%) were exceeded $0.05mg/m^3$. Therefore lead exposure in pottery industry should be considered as important problem.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2005

Although the Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectrophotometric Direct on Filter(FTIR-DOF) method is a useful analytical technique for quantifying quartz content in respirable dust samples, a number of analytical problems must be taken into consideration such as, to name only a few, inhomogeneous deposition of particles, level of environmental humidity, uneven surface of the filter, and interfering minerals in the sample. This study was designed to select the most suitable wavelength and proper filter material for the method, and to investigate effects of humidity and inhomogeneous deposition of particles on the filter. Samples of respirable dust, created in a dust chamber containing standard material of quartz, were collected using a cyclone equipped with a 25mm filter as a collection medium. The results were as follows; 1. Among seven (7) commercially available filters tested for the FTIR-DOF method, the DM 800 filter showed the best analytical performance having the lowest background absorbance bands and no overlapping peaks at 799, 779, and $695cm^{-1}$. 2. The variations of absorbance due to humidity ranged from 1.0% to 3.3% for $799cm^{-1}$, 1.0% to 3.3% for $779cm^{-1}$, and 8.9%~20.9% for $695cm^{-1}$ peaks, respectively. The $699cm^{-1}$ peak was proved to be most vulnerble to environmental humidity for quantitative analysis of quartz. 3. As for effects of inhomogeneous deposition of samples, the highest variation of absorbance of 10.9% ($13.5{\mu}g$) was observed when using the 695cm-1. The variations of absorbance from the other two peaks, 799 and $779cm^{-1}$, ranged from 1.2 to 3.2%, and 1.4 to 4.1%, respectively. Therefore, the $799cm^{-1}$ peak was considered to be most reliable for quantitative analysis of quartz. The results of this study suggest that, for quantitative analysis of quartz in the respirable dust samples, use of the $799cm^{-1}$ peak can minimize the influence of environmental humidity and inhomogeneous deposition of particles on the filter. The FTIR-DOF method, if adopted for routine analysis of quartz in the respirable dust samples, could save sample preparation time and efforts substantially and also could increase analytical throughputs. Since use of the $799cm^{-1}$ peak is prone to be affected by interferences in the sample, further research on minimizing the effects is needed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.99-111
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• 1999

The purpose of this study was to evaluate crystalline silica contents in airborne respirable dusts from various manufacturing industries and to compare analytical ability of two different methods of quantifying crystalline silica, X-ray diffraction(XRD) and Fourie transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR). Various manufacturing industries with a history of having pneumoconiosis cases and also known to generate dusts containing crystalline silica were investigated. These industries include: ceramics, brick, concrete, and abrasive material etc. The personal respirable dust samples were collected using l0mm, Dorr-Oliver nylon cyclone equipped with 37mm, $5{\mu}m$ pore size. polyvinylchloride (PVC) filters as collection media. All samples were weighed before and after sampling and were pretreated according to the NIOSH sampling and analytical methods 7500, and 7602 for dust collection and quartz analysis. A total of 48 samples were collected from these industries. Initial analyses of these samples showed log-normal distributions for dust and quartz concentrations. Some results from ceramics and stone exceeded current Korean Occupational Exposure Limits. The average concentrations of personal respirable dust by cyclone were 0.43, 0.24, 0.26, 0.42, 0.53 and $0.29mg/m^3$ in ceramics, stone, concrete, glass, briquets, and others, respectively. A comparison of performance of two analytical methods for quantifying crystalline silica was performed using data from ceramics. The results showed that no significant difference was found between two methods for ceramics. The mean crystalline silica contents determined by XRD were 3.41 % of samples from briquets and 7.18 % from ceramics and were 2.58 % from concrete and 10.33 % from ceramics by FTIR. For crystalline silica analysis, two analytical techniques were highly correlated with $r^2=0.81$ from ceramics. Both cristobalite and tridymite were not detected by XRD and FTIR.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 1991

Airborne suspended particulate concentration in drilling sites of underground coal mines in Taebaek area was evaluated. And respirable coal dust exposure level was evaluated. Airborne suspended particulate mass include total suspended particle(TSP) and thoracic particle(TPM). TSP (by open-face filter holder) and TPM(by elutriator) concentration were determined by low volume air samplers. Personal air samplers were attached to the coal workers including drillers, coal cutters, and their assistants. Normality and log-normality of TSP, TPM, and respirable dust(RPM) concentration were tested by Kolmogorov-Smirnov one-sample test. Differences of means of TSP, TPM, and RPM concentration were tested by paired t-test. Relation between TSP, TPM, and RPM with pairs were tested by regression test and Pearson's correlation.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.35-46
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• 2015

Improvement in domestic poultry production has a positive effect on the export competitiveness of the poultry industry. However, overproduction and enlargement of facilities to assure a supply increase a stocking density which make a poor environment in the broiler house. In particular, an intensive rearing environment is vulnerable to dust control that causes respiratory diseases, such as asthma, bronchitis, etc., to farmers and broilers. However, monitoring data and research for environment control are not adequate, and there are no air quality regulations in broiler houses in Korea. In this study, TSP, PM10, inhalable dust and respirable dust concentration were monitored according to season, age of broiler and broiler's activities. Air quality assessment was also performed in accordance with the threshold limit value by Donham et al. (2000). The TSP concentrations were 77.5 %, 219.7 % higher and PM10 concentrations were 121.2 %, 303.8 % higher when change of season and winter respectively than summer. There were significantly different concentrations according to season and age of broiler. Inhalable and respirable dust concentration were also clearly different according to the season and age of broiler. A high dust concentration was observed, specifically exceeding the threshold limit by 119 % in the winter. In the case of the broiler's motion was activity according to worker's access into the broiler house, concentration level was 769.6 % higher than broiler's motion was stable and exceeded the threshold limit. These results suggest that the worker should put on protective equipment to protect there's respiratory health in the broiler house.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.291-297
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• 2023

Objectives: An epidemiological investigation was requested for a worker who developed COPD and IPF after long-term molding and firing at a domestic tile manufacturing site. We would like to share the results of the exposure assessment and the estimation of past work. Methods: The content of crystalline silica in four raw materials was analyzed, and the respirable fraction of crystalline silica and dust generated in the air from molding and firing workers and other processes were measured. The measurement and analysis method referred to the NIOSH method. Results: The crystalline silica content of the raw material was 24~47%. The concentration of crystalline silica in the molding and firing process workers and the surrounding area was at the level of the exposure standards set by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and ACGIH, and the respirable and total dust exposure levels were generally low. The crystalline silica concentration of the area samples measured to estimate past work was about twice as high as the exposure standard of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (0.05 mg/m3), and the exposure levels of respirable dust were also quite high at 0.903 and 1.332 mg/m3. Conclusions: It was confirmed that tile molding and firing workers are currently exposed to a fairly high level of crystalline silica, and a high level is also confirmed in area samples to estimate past work. In the past, it is judged that the level of exposure would have been much higher due to differences in production volume, working method, presence/absence of local ventilation facilities, and process layout. When working in such a working environment for a long time, respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, COPD, and IPF can occur.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.1-6
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• 1995

Authors investigated the size distribution and mass fraction of dusts in work environment of Changwon industrial complex. Size distribution of suspended dusts in welding and grinding processes were evaluated using ambient cascade impactors. The mass median diameters of dusts were 0.25 to $0.60 \mu m$ at welding sites and 1.20 to $1.92 \mu m$ at grinding sites. Respirable mass fractions were 63.68 to 73.50% at welding sites and 43.24 to 51.47% at grinding sites. Respirable fractions were calculated from the size distribution data for the ACGIH criteria by the respirable particle mass. In case of dust removal system, electrostatic precipitator and bag filter were appropriate for welding process and grinding process, respectively.