• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2010

All forms of asbestos are proven human carcinogens. All forms of asbestos cause malignant mesothelioma, lung, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers, and may cause gastrointestinal and other cancers. No exposure to asbestos is without risk, and there is no safe threshold of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos cancer victims die painful lingering deaths. These deaths are almost entirely preventable. When evidence of the carcinogenicity of asbestos became incontrovertible, concerned parties, including the Collegium Ramazzini, called for a universal ban on the mining, manufacture and use of asbestos in all countries around the world. Asbestos is now banned in 52 countries, and safer products have replaced many materials that once were made with asbestos. Nonetheless, a large number of countries still use, import, and export asbestos and asbestos-containing products. And still today in many countries that have banned other forms of asbestos, the so-called "controlled use" of chrysotile asbestos continues to be permitted, an exemption that has no basis in medical science but rather reflects the political and economic influence of the asbestos mining and manufacturing industry. To protect the health of all people in the world, industrial workers, construction workers, women and children, now and in future generations - the Collegium Ramazzini calls again today on all countries of the world, as we have repeatedly in the past, to join in the international endeavor to ban all forms of asbestos. An international ban on asbestos is urgently needed.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.105-115
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• 2017

Background: The goal of this study is to develop a general population job-exposure matrix (GPJEM) on asbestos to estimate occupational asbestos exposure levels in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Three Korean domestic quantitative exposure datasets collected from 1984 to 2008 were used to build the GPJEM. Exposure groups in collected data were reclassified based on the current Korean Standard Industrial Classification ($9^{th}$ edition) and the Korean Standard Classification of Occupations code ($6^{th}$ edition) that is in accordance to international standards. All of the exposure levels were expressed by weighted arithmetic mean (WAM) and minimum and maximum concentrations. Results: Based on the established GPJEM, the 112 exposure groups could be reclassified into 86 industries and 74 occupations. In the 1980s, the highest exposure levels were estimated in "knitting and weaving machine operators" with a WAM concentration of 7.48 fibers/mL (f/mL); in the 1990s, "plastic products production machine operators" with 5.12 f/mL, and in the 2000s "detergents production machine operators" handling talc containing asbestos with 2.45 f/mL. Of the 112 exposure groups, 44 groups had higher WAM concentrations than the Korean occupational exposure limit of 0.1 f/mL. Conclusion: The newly constructed GPJEM which is generated from actual domestic quantitative exposure data could be useful in evaluating historical exposure levels to asbestos and could contribute to improved prediction of asbestos-related diseases among Koreans.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.369-379
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• 2015

Objectives: The lack of reliable information on environmental pollution and health impacts related to asbestos contamination from abandoned mines has drawn attention to the need for a community health study. This study was performed to evaluate asbestos-related health symptoms among residents near abandoned asbestos mines located in the Chungcheong Provinces. In addition, exposure assessment for asbestos is needed although the exposure to asbestos was in the past. Methods: Past exposure to asbestos among inhabitants near abandoned asbestos mines was estimated by using surface sampling of deposited dust in indoor and outdoor residences. A total of 54 participants were divided into two groups with (34 cases) and without (20 controls) diseases related to asbestos. Surface sampling of deposited dust was carried out in indoor and outdoor residences by collecting 105 samples. Deposited dust for sampling was analyzed by polarization microscope (PLM) and scanning electron microscope?energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDX) to detect asbestos. Subsequently, the elements of the deposited dust with asbestos were analyzed by SEM-EDX to assess the contribution of sources such as abandoned mines, slate and soil. Results: Among the 105 samples, asbestos was detected by PLM in 29 (27.6%) sampling points, and detected by SEM in 56 (48.6%) sampling points. Asbestos in indoor residences was detected by PLM in four sampling points, and by SEM in 12 sampling points. Asbestos detection in indoor residences may be due to ventilation between indoors and outdoors, and indicates long-term exposure. The asbestos detection rate for outdoor residences in the case group was higher than that in the control group. This can be explained as the case group having had higher exposure to asbestos, and there has been continuous exposure to asbestos in the control group as well as the case group. Conclusion: Past residential asbestos exposure may be associated with asbestosis among local residents near abandoned asbestos mines. Odds ratios were calculated for asbestos detection in outdoor residence by logistic regression analysis. Odds ratio between asbestos detection and asbestosis pulmonum was 3.36 (95% CI 0.90-12.53) (p=0.072), adjusting for age, sex, smoking status and work history with multi-variable logistic regression by PLM analysis method.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.457-473
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• 2023

Asbestos has been produced, imported and used in various industries in Korea over the past decades. Since asbestos causes fatal diseases such as malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer, the use of asbestos has been generally banned in Korea since 2009. However, there are still many asbestos-containing materials around us, and safe management is urgently needed. This study aims to examine asbestos-related trend changes using major asbestos-related keywords based on the asbestos trend analysis using big data for the past 32 years (1991 to 2022) in Korea. In addition, we reviewed both domestic trends related to the production, import, and use of asbestos before 1990 and asbestos-related policies from 2023 to 2027. From 1991 to 2000, main keywords related to asbestos were research, workers, carcinogens, and the environment because the carcinogenicity of asbestos was highlighted due to domestic production, import, and use of asbestos. From 2001 to 2010, the main keywords related to asbestos were lung cancer, litigation, carcinogens, exposure, and companies because lawsuits were initiated in the US and Japan in relation to carcinogenicity due to asbestos. From 2011 to 2020, the high ranking keywords related to asbestos were carcinogen, baseball field, school, slate, building, and abandoned asbestos mine due to the seriousness of the asbestos problem in Korea. From 2021 to present (2023), the main search keywords related to asbestos such as school, slate (asbestos cement), buildings, landscape stone, environmental impact assessment, apartment, and cement appeared.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.302-307
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• 2022

Background: In Brazil, asbestos was intensively used from the 1960s until its ban in 2017. Mesothelioma, asbestosis, and pleural plaques are typical asbestos-related diseases (ARD-T). To create an ARD-T national database, death records from 1996-2017 were retrieved from several health information systems (HIS). Methods: All national HIS containing coded diagnoses (ICD-10) and death information were obtained. Linkage was performed to create a single database of ARD-T death records, either as underlying or contributory causes, in adults aged 30 years and older. Results: A total of 3,057 ARD-T death records were found, 2,405 (76.4%) of which being malignant mesotheliomas (MM). Pleural MM (n = 1,006; 41.8%) and unspecified MM (n = 792; 32.9%) prevailed. Male to female MM ratio (M:F) was 1.4:1, and higher ratios were found for non-malignant ARD-T: 3.5:1 for asbestosis and 2.4:1 for pleural plaques. Male crude annual mesothelioma mortality (CM_mm ×1,000,000) was 0.98 in 1996 and 2.26 in 2017, a 131.1% increment, while for females it was 1.04 and 1.25, a 20.2% increase, correspondingly. The small number of deaths with asbestosis and pleural plaques records precluded conclusive interpretations. Conclusions: Even with the linkage of several HIS, ARD-T in death records remained in low numbers. MM mortality in men was higher and showed a rapid increase and, along with non-malignant ARD-T, higher M:F ratios suggested a predominant pattern of work-related exposure. The monitoring of workplace and environmental asbestos exposure needs to be improved, as well as the workers surveillance, following the recent Brazilian ban.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.369-379
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• 2012

Objectives: Spatial analysis is useful for understanding complicated causal relationships. This paper focuses trends and appling methods for spatial analysis associated with environmental asbestos exposure. Methods: Literature review and reflection of experience of authors were conducted to know academic background of spatial analysis, appling methods on epidemiology and asbestos exposure. Results: Spatial analysis based on spatial autocorrelation provides a variety of methods through which to conduct mapping, cluster analysis, diffusion, interpolation, and identification. Cause of disease occurrence can be investigated through spatial analysis. Appropriate methods can be applied according to contagiousness and continuity. Spatial analysis for asbestos exposure source is needed to study asbestos related diseases. Although a great amount of research has used spatial analysis to study exposure assessment and distribution of disease occurrence, these studies tend to focus on the construction of a thematic map without different forms of analysis. Recently, spatial analysis has been advanced by merging with web tools, mobile computing, statistical packages, social network analysis, and big data. Conclusions: Because the trend in spatial analysis has evolved from simple marking into a variety of forms of analyses, environmental researchers including asbestos exposure study are required to be aware of recent trends.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.333-340
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• 2013

Objectives: This study was designed to establish an accurate analytical method for asbestos in a biological sample for determining occupational asbestos-related diseases and relief of the health effects of environmental asbestos. Methods: Biological samples were obtained from lungs of rats following intratracheal instillation of asbestos(Chrysotile, anthophyllite) and were prepared according to digestion method(Wet digestion, high temperature ashing, low temperature ashing). The samples were then analyzed for asbestos fibers using a transmission electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer. Results: Low temperature plasma ashing removed more of the organic components and reduced fiber loss compared to the wet digestion method, making specimens so prepared more suitable for transmission electron microsocpy. Conclusions: The low temperature ashing technique is the most accurate method for analyzing asbestos in biological samples.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2023.11a
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• pp.49-50
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• 2023

Asbestos is a building material that has been actively used because of its excellent durability and heat resistance until 2009, when it was found to be a first-class carcinogen and prohibited in Korea. Currently, asbestos dismantling is an essential process in demolition of old buildings. Workers are likely to be exposed to asbestos in the process of dismantling and removing them, which causes various occupational diseases, suggesting related laws and work standards to ensure the safety of asbestos dismantling process. Accordingly, prior studies have been conducted to analyze the level of asbestos exposure and influencing factors occurring during work, but most of them are mainly concerning health issue while research on process risks considering field characteristics and safety aspects of the work processes is still insufficient. Therefore, this study aims to derive the process risks affecting the safety of workers based on the survey results of asbestos dismantling companies, and further proposed a cost calculation model taking those risks into account.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.234-237
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• 2014

Background: Inhalation of asbestos fibers can lead to adverse health effects on the lungs. This study describes lung function profiles among individuals with nonmalignant asbestos-related disorders (ARDs). Methods: The study population was from the Workers' Compensation (Dust Diseases) Board of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Lung function measurements were conducted in males with asbestosis (n = 26), diffuse pleural thickening (DPT; n = 129), asbestosis and DPT (n = 14), pleural plaques only (n = 160) and also apparently healthy individuals with a history of asbestos exposure (n = 248). Standardized spirometric and single-breath diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide ($DL_{CO}$) measurements were used. Results: Mean age [standard deviation (SD)] was 66.7 (10.3) years for all participants. Current and ex-smokers among all participants comprised about 9.0% and 54.8%, respectively. Median pack-years (SD) of smoking for ex- and current-smokers were 22.7 (19.9). Overall 222 participants (38.6%) and 139 participants (24.2%) had forced expiratory volume in 1 second ($FEV_1$) and forced vital capacity (FVC) measurements < 80% predicted, and 217 participants (37.7%) had $FEV_1/FVC$ results < 70%. A total of 249 individuals (43.8%) had DLCO values < 80% predicted and only 75 (13.2%) had DLCO/VA results < 80% predicted. A total of 147 participants (25.6%) had peak expiratory flow (PEF) measurements < 80% predicted. The presence of ARDs lowered the lung function measurements compared to those of healthy individuals exposed to asbestos. Conclusion: Lung function measurement differs in individuals with different ARDs. Monitoring of lung function among asbestos-exposed populations is a simple means of facilitating earlier interventions.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.158-168
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• 2017

There is a more urgent call for educational methods of machine learning in medical education, and therefore, new approaches of teaching and researching machine learning in medicine are needed. This paper presents a case using machine learning through text analysis. Topic modeling of news articles with the keyword 'asbestos' were examined. Two hypotheses were tested using this method, and the process of machine learning of texts is illustrated through this example. Using an automated text analysis method, all the news articles published from January 1, 1990 to November 15, 2016 in South Korea which included 'asbestos' in the title and the body were collected by web scraping. Differences in topics were analyzed by structured topic modelling (STM) and compared by press companies and periods. More articles were found in liberal media outlets. Differences were found in the number and types of topics in the articles according to the partisanship and period. STM showed that the conservative press views asbestos as a personal problem, while the progressive press views asbestos as a social problem. A divergence in the perspective for emphasizing the issues of asbestos between the conservative press and progressive press was also found. Social perspective influences the main topics of news stories. Thus, the patients' uneasiness and pain are not presented by both sources of media. In addition, topics differ between news media sources based on partisanship, and therefore cause divergence in readers' framing. The method of text analysis and its strengths and weaknesses are explained, and an application for the teaching and researching of machine learning in medical education using the methodology of text analysis is considered. An educational method of machine learning in medical education is urgent for future generations.