• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.287-294
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• 2023

Background: Fruit and vegetable market is an abundant source of bioaerosols. Exposure to organic and inorganic waste and long-term inhalation of bioaerosols during working hours leads to chronic respiratory symptoms. Hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms and related factors among fruit and vegetable workers compared with the control group in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods and materials: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from 2020 to 2021. Data were entered in EpiData 3.1 and exported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Logistic regressions were computed to depict the data and related factors. The culture method was done to count and compare bacterial and fungal concentrations between fruit and vegetable workers and office workers. Results: In this study, the prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms (PR = 2.87, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.772-4.66) was significantly higher among fruit and vegetable workers (46.7%) than controls (23.4%). Sex (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.12-3.98), educational status (AOR = 1.34, 95% CI = 0.78-2.32), working hours per day (AOR = 3.91, 95% CI = 1.586-9.65), and working department (AOR = 3.20, 95% CI = 0.90-11.40) were associated with chronic respiratory symptoms. Bacterial and fungal concentrations were significantly higher in the air of the vegetable market (276 colony-forming unit) than the air in the workplace of controls (7 colony-forming unit). Conclusion: The fruit and vegetable market workers (greengrocers) had a higher prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms relative to office workers. Respiratory protective devices should be given to deliver preventive measures.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제83권3호
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• pp.195-200
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• 2020

The disease concept of interstitial lung disease with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis at its core has been relied on for many years depending on morphological classification. The separation of non-specific interstitial pneumonia with a relatively good prognosis from usual interstitial pneumonia is also based on the perception that morphology enables predict the prognosis. Beginning with dust-exposed lungs, initially, interstitial pneumonia is classified by anatomical pathology. Diagnostic imaging has dramatically improved the diagnostic technology for surviving patients through the introduction of high-resolution computed tomography scan. And now, with the introduction of therapeutics, the direction of diagnosis is turning. It can be broadly classified into to make known the importance of early diagnosis, and to understand the importance of predicting the speed of progression/deterioration of pathological conditions. For this reason, the insight of "early lesions" has been discussed. There are reports that the presence or absence of interstitial lung abnormalities affects the prognosis. Searching for a biomarker is another prognostic indicator search. However, as is the case with many chronic diseases, pathological conditions that progress linearly are extremely rare. Rather, it progresses while changing in response to environmental factors. In interstitial lung disease, deterioration of respiratory functions most closely reflect prognosis. Treatment is determined by combining dynamic indicators as faithful indicators of restrictive impairments. Reconsidering the history being classified under the disease concept, the need to reorganize treatment targets based on common pathological phenotype is under discussed. What is the disease concept? That aspect changes with the discussion of improving prognosis.

• 한국대기환경학회지
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.105-117
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• 2015

Sources related to road dust is one of the biggest sources, which is responsible for a large portion of emission. In particular, PM2.5 is a potential cause for respiratory diseases, thus it should be managed and a mitigation plan using results of statistical apportionment modeling such as chemical mass balance needs to be established. Recently, identifying sources of PM2.5 and analyzing the contribution of the road dust through a contribution assessment is required. Therefore, this study provides the chemical source profiles of PM2.5 using IC, GC/MS, OCEC, and XRF for both paved sidewalk and paved roadway collected at seven different sampling sites. As a result, for paved sidewalk, $NH{_4}^+$ (70%), $NO{_3}^-$ (12%), $PO{_4}^-$ (9%), and $SO{_4}^{2-}$ (9%) have been analyzed in PM2.5 mass. Major molecular marker such as Si has been indicated as $12.0{\pm}3.4%$ and $13.6{\pm}6.9%$ for paved sidewalk and roadway, respectively. PAHs such as Fluoranthene, Pyrene, Chrysene, and 1,3,5-Triphenylbenzene are suggested as molecular markers for road dust.

• 한국대기환경학회지
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.509-517
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• 2006

We investigated the change of symptoms and preventive behaviors before and after the Asian Dust events among indoor workers (teachers) and outdoor workers (taxi drivers and bus drivers). On February 2004, we recruited 195 taxi drivers, 135 bus drivers and 93 school teachers. Symptoms and behaviors related the Asian Dust events during 1 week were questioned by self administrated questionnaires. We surveyed pre-event and post-event. The symptom were not changed in bus drivers during the events. In taxi drivers and teachers,'Bad or smoky smell on the air' and 'eye congestion' symptoms were increased during the events. The preventive behaviors were decreased or not changed in taxi drivers and bus drivers. In teachers,'close the window','diminishing the outdoor activities', 'diminishing the going out', 'wearing the sunglasses', 'washing the eyes after going out'. This results suggest that the outdoor worker's guideline during the Asian dust eventsneeds to be developed.

• 한국농공학회논문집
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• 제62권1호
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• pp.71-81
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• 2020

Enclosed pig house are creating an environment with high concentrations of gas and dust. Poor conditions in pig farms reduce pig weight and increase disease and accidents for livestock workers. In the pig house, the high concentration of harmful gas may cause asphyxiation accidents to workers and chronic respiratory disease by long-term exposure. As pig farm workers have been aging and feminized, the damage to the health of the harsh environment is getting serious, and real-time monitoring is needed to prevent the damage. However, most of the measuring devices related to humidity, harmful gas, and fine dust except temperature sensors are exposed to high concentrations of gas and dust inside pig house and are difficult to withstand for a long time. The purpose of this study is to develop an wearable based device to monitor the hazardous environment exposed to workers working in pig farms. Based on the field monitoring and previous researches, the measurement range and basic specifications of the equipment were selected, and wearable based device was designed in terms of utilization, economic efficiency, size and communication performance. Selected H₂S and NH₃ sensors showed the average error of 5.3% comparing to standard gas concentrations. The measured data can be used to manage the working environment according to the worker's location and to obtain basic data for work safety warning.

• 한국입자에어로졸학회지
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• 제17권3호
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• pp.71-79
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• 2021

Ultrafine dust, which is emitted from industrial factories or all kinds of vehicles, threatens the human's respiratory system and our environment. In this regard, separating airborne particles is essential to mitigate the severe problem. In this work, an axial cyclone for the effective technology of eliminating harmful dust is investigated by numerical simulation using Ansys 2020, Fluent R2. In addition, the optimized structure of the cyclone is constructed by means of multi objective optimization based on the response surface method which is a representative method to analyze the effect of design parameter on response variables. Among several design parameters, the modified length of the vortex finder and dust collector is a main point in promoting the performance of the axial cyclone. As a result, the optimized cyclone exhibits remarkable performance when compared to the original model, resulting in pressure drop of 307 Pa and separator efficiency of 98.5%.

• 한국건축시공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국건축시공학회 2020년도 봄 학술논문 발표대회
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• pp.138-139
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• 2020

With the rapid progress of industrialization, indoor air quality is a very important factor for modern people who spend most of their day indoors. The recent issue of fine dust and radon on the portal site's popularity search shows that interest in indoor air quality has increased. Fine dust causes respiratory diseases, and radon causes severe lung cancer. The new material was tested using plant activated carbon, palm activated carbon and bamboo activated carbon. Both palm activated carbon and bamboo activated carbon are porous materials and generate smooth physical adsorption. As a result of the experiment, both the activated carbon tends to gradually decrease in strength and fluidity as the replacement ratio increases. The reason for this is that both activated carbons have the property of absorbing moisture, so it is judged that the strength is lowered by absorbing moisture necessary for curing. In the case of fluidity, it is judged that the fluidity is reduced by absorbing the moisture required for the flow. In the future, if the problem of the color of the finished cured body is compensated, it will be possible to manufacture a functional finishing board to replace the existing interior finishing material.

• 한국산업정보학회논문지
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.21-28
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• 2022

미세먼지는 대기를 타고 호흡기를 거쳐 폐 혹은 혈관에 침투한다. 최근 미세먼지 문제 때문에 국내에 공기청정기 수요도 급증하고 있다. 이끼는 가장 오래된 지상식물로 중금속과 미세먼지를 흡착하여 분해하는 성질을 가지고 있는 것으로 알려졌고 본 연구진은 이를 활용하여 화학적 필터를 대체할 수 있는 시스템에 대해 연구하였다. 이끼와 기존 화학적 필터(Hepa)의 미세먼지 감소 효과를 비교하기 위하여 1 m³의 큐브를 제작하고 통제된 환경하에서 미세먼지의 감소량을 비교하였다. 미세먼지 상황 하에서 우산 이끼 필터, 쥐꼬리 이끼 필터, 깃털 이끼 필터, 비단 이끼 필터 등을 삽입한 4가지 상황별로 각각 10회씩 총 40회의 실험을 진행하였으며 각각의 미세먼지 감소량을 비교한 결과 미세먼지 양과 30분후의 감소량의 차이는 모든 필터에서 모두 통계적으로 유의한 차이가 있었다. 하지만 필터별 차이는 확인 결과 미세먼지, 혼합 가스, CO₂, O₂ 모두 필터별 간 통계적으로 유의한 차이가 없음을 확인하였다. 특히 기존에 알려진 이끼의 산소 발생의 효과는 거의 없었음을 확인하였다. 이 결과를 통해 이끼의 종류와 관계없이 미세먼지 감소는 효과가 있는 것을 확인하였고 향후 개선을 통해 기존 공기정화기의 화학 필터를 대체하거나 보조할 것으로 기대된다.

• 대한치과기공학회지
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.93-102
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• 2011

Purpose: The study aimed to evaluate working environment for dental technician by measuring dust level, ventilation conditions and the use of personal protective equipment and to provide basic information required to improve working environment and develop health education programs for dental technician. Methods: A total of 240 dental technician who are registered with the Daegu Association of Dental technician and working at 34 dental laboratories participated in the study. And the dust level was measured at 21 different spots in 16 dental laboratories out of 34. Results: Of 34 dental laboratories, 31 (91.2%) were equipped with a ventilator, but the remaining 3 (8.8%) did not have a ventilator. By the number of ventilator, 1 to 3 ventilators were found in 22 dental laboratories (71.0%), 4 to 6 ventilators were in 7 laboratories (22.5%) and more than 7 ventilators in 2 laboratories(6.5%). According to the frequence of changing filters in dust collector, 20 dental laboratories (58.9%) changed filters every four weeks, 10 laboratories (29.4%) changed them every six weeks and 4 laboratories (11.7%) changed them every eight weeks. Of total respondents, 114 (61.3%) said they wore a mask all the time while working, 56 (29.6%) said they frequently wore a mask, 19 (10.1%) said they did not wear a mask. As for the type of masks, 159 (84.1%) used a disposable mask, 25 (13.2%) used a cotton mask and 5 (2.7%) used an anti-dust mask. For dust sat on their outfits while working, 102 (54.0%) shook their uniforms inside workplace to keep dust off the uniforms, 64 (33.9%) did not anything until they wash their uniforms and 23 (12.1%) shook their uniforms outside workplace to keep dust off the uniforms. Of total respondents, 182 (96.3%) had a particle in their eyes while carrying out grinding work. Based on the measurement of floating dust at workplace, 3 dental laboratories showed dust concentration exceeding the minimum level of 10 mg/$m^3$ allowed under the permit for environment. Of those, 1 laboratory had the dust concentration that was more than 1.5 times higher than the minimum level. Dust concentration was higher in laboratories that used a dust collector with 0.5 horse power and changed filters more than 3 weeks ago. Dust comprised of nickel (more than 70%), chrome (9%) and others. The mean chrome concentration was more than twice higher than the minimum permissible level of 0.5 mg/$m^3$. There were two laboratories that showed chrome concentration exceeding the level of 0.4 mg/$m^3$. Like dust concentration, chrome level was higher in laboratories that used a dust collector with 0.5 horse power and changed filters more than 3 weeks ago. There were six laboratories that had nickel concentration exceeding the minimum permissible level of 1 mg/$m^3$. Of those, one laboratory had nickel concentration that was more than three times higher than the minimum permissible level. Nickel concentration was also higher in laboratories that used a dust collector with 0.5 horse power and changed filters more than 3 weeks ago. Conclusion: It is not likely that heavy metal concentrations found in the study constitute respiratory dust. It is however necessary for health of dental technician to apply the Industrial Safety and Healthy Law to dental laboratories and make recommendations for the use of personal protective equipment, installation of a proper number of ventilators, more frequent change of filters in dust collector and improved ventilation for polishing work. At the same time, dental technician need education on how to use personal protective equipment and how to efficiently remove dust from their uniforms.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.183-191
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• 2010

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the distribution patterns and exposure concentrations of bioaerosols in industries suspected to have high levels of bioaerosol exposure. Methods: We selected 11 plants including 3 livestock feed plants (LF industry), 3 metal working fluids handling plants (MWFs industry), and 5 sawmills and measured total airborne bacteria, fungi, endotoxins, as well as dust. Airborne bacteria and fungi were measured with one stage impactor, six stage cascade impactor, and gelatin filters. Endotoxins were measured with polycarbonate filters. Results: The geometric means (GM) of the airborne concentrations of bacteria, fungi, and endotoxins were 1,864, $2,252\;CFU/m^3$, and $31.5\;EU/m^3$, respectively at the sawmills, followed by the LF industry (535, $585\;CFU/m^3$, and $22.0\;EU/m^3$) and MWFs industry (258, $331\;CFU/m^3$, and $8.7\;EU/m^3$). These concentrations by industry type were significantly statistically different (p < 0.01). The ratio of indoor to outdoor concentration was 6.2, 1.9, 3.2, and 3.2 for bacteria, fungi, endotoxins, and dust in the LF industry, 5.0, 0.9, 2.3, and 12.5 in the MWFs industry, and 3.7, 4.1, 3.3, and 9.7 in sawmills. The respiratory fractions of bioaerosols were differentiated by bioaerosol types and industry types: the respiratory fraction of bacteria in the LF industry, MWF industry, and sawmills was 59.4%, 72.0%, and 57.7%, respectively, and that of fungi was 77.3%, 89.5%, and 83.7% in the same order. Conclusion: We found that bioaerosol concentration was the highest in sawmills, followed by LF industry facilities and MWFs industry facilities. The indoor/outdoor ratio of microorganisms was larger than 1 and respiratory fraction of microorganisms was more than 50% of the total microorganism concentrations which might penetrate respiratory tract easily. All these findings suggest that bioaerosol in the surveyed industries should be controlled to prevent worker respiratory diseases.