• Title/Summary/Keyword: assessment of safety

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Health Effects of Exposure to Indoor Mold and the Levels of Mold in Facilities with Susceptible Populations in Korea (곰팡이 노출에 따른 건강영향 및 민감 시설 내 곰팡이 분포 현황)

  • Seo, SungChul
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.46 no.4
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    • pp.359-367
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    • 2020
  • Objectives: Exposure to mold is strongly associated with adverse health effects (development or exacerbation of allergic diseases). We reviewed the health effects of mold exposure and explored to determine the annual distribution of indoor mold in facilities with susceptible populations. Methods: The health effects of mold exposure were mainly summarized by reviewing related papers and WHO research reports. We selected 10 facilities, including daycare centers, postpartum care centers, medical institutions, and elderly care facilities within the Seoul Metropolitan. Mold sampling was performed once every week or once every quarter from February 2016 to 2017. In addition, fungal species analyses was performed, and distribution status by month and facility was analyzed in the same manner as concentration. Results: Adverse health effects attributed to fungal exposure are largely divided into allergic symptoms, toxic effects, and infectious effects. Monthly mean concentrations of mold indoors and outdoors was 368.8 CFU/㎥ (geometric mean 213.4 CFU/㎥) and 496.0 CFU/㎥ (327.9 CFU/㎥), respectively. The indoor concentration has begun to increase in February, peaked in July, declined in August, increased again until October, and then decreased in November. About 36 genera of indoor fungal species were found in each facility. Cladosporium sp., Penicillium sp., Fusarium sp., Aspergillus sp., Alternaria sp., and Arthrinium sp. were observed as the dominant species. Conclusions: Our findings showed that the overall level of indoor mold was below the 500 CFU/㎥ level recommended by the Ministry of Environment. The development of DNA-based assessment and expanding facilities to be monitored for mold would be necessary for preventive aspects.

Study on the Explosion and Fire Risks of Lithium Batteries Due to High Temperature and Short Circuit Current (고온 및 단락전류에 따른 리튬배터리의 폭발 및 화재 위험성에 관한 연구)

  • Sim, Sang-Bo;Lee, Chun-Ha;Kim, Si-Kuk
    • Fire Science and Engineering
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.114-122
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    • 2016
  • This study is to analyze the explosion and fire risks due to high temperature and short circuit current of Lithium batteries. This study selected the typical types of Li-polymer batteries and Li-ion batteries as the test samples. The result of explosion risk assessment due to the high temperature showed that, while a Li-polymer battery had $170^{\circ}C$ explosion on average, a Li-ion battery had $187^{\circ}C$ explosion. The measurement result of temperature increase due to short circuit current revealed that, in case that protection circuit module (PCM) was normally working, there was little of temperature increase due to over-current limitation. However, in case that PCM was out of order, the temperature of a Li-polymer battery increased up to an average of $115.7^{\circ}C$ and the temperature of a Li-ion battery increased up to an average of $80.5^{\circ}C$, which showed the higher risks of fire and burn.

An Approach to Detect Health Risk of Dioxins

  • Pavittranon, Sumol;Sinhaseni, Palarp
    • Toxicological Research
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    • v.17
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    • pp.323-327
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    • 2001
  • March 19, 1999, the renovation qf the runway of the Bo-Fai ai1field in Hua Hin, Prachubk-erikhan, Thailand, unearthed chemicals which were left over from the project "anch Hand Operation" held during the Vietnam war era. The chemical mixtures were analyzed by the US EPA, the Department oj Medical Sciences (DMSc), Ministry oj Public Health (MoPH) and the Pollution Control Department (PCD), the Ministry oj Science Technology and Environment (MOSTE) of Thailand, The samples were found to contain several defoliants used in the operation. They were 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T, Dicamba, Cocydelic acid, and Dioxins. Due to the complexity of the issue, the multiplicity of possible health effects, and the socio-economic implications for imports and exports, the Thai Society of Toxicology submitted a proposal to request World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva. The assistance is for the area of chemical safety and called for immediate action to explore the magnitude qf risk involved with Dioxins. In this paper we present our approach to health risk assessment which takes into an account the epidemiological studies of high-risk group exposed to the Ranch Hand operation. Dioxins are endocrine disruption chemicals which public concerns are developed due to presumption that a hazard exists (www.eva.gov/dioxins/html) for which current methodologies are deemed insufficient. The recent concepts of how oxidative stress toxicants may affect health end points and biomarkers of exposure of exposed individuals are discussed. While research activities are undergoing, The Thai Society of Toxicology do not anticipate significant risk to local residents and the environment due to our concurrence with opinion from the international experts invited by the World Health Organization proposed to the local experts at a workshop in Bangkok.n Bangkok.

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Development of Drug Utilization Review Guidelines for Therapeutic Duplication of Antipyretics, Analgesics, and Anti-inflammatory Drugs Registered in Korea (국내 허가된 해열.진통.소염제의 치료중복 주의 가이드라인 개발)

  • Lee, Young-Sook;Kim, Nam-Hyo;Sohn, Hyun-Soon;Choi, Kyung-Eob;Shin, Hyun-Taek
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.213-220
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    • 2010
  • Therapeutic duplication (TD) is a serious problem that frequently occurring primarily in the ambulatory setting in Korea. Implementation of concurrent drug utilization review (DUR) is a promising way to reduce inappropriate prescription and dispensing, and improve patient safety. This study was aimed to develop the process of DUR module of TD. Sixty-five drug ingredients classified into the drug category of the antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory drug approved in Korea (The KFDA-dess nated classification codes of 114 or 264) were reviewed for this purpose. The drug ingredients (and products) were reclassified based on WHO's Anatomical, Therapeutic and Chemical (ATC) classification system. The clinical practice guidelines, textbooks and product labels on therapeutic uses of these drugs in Korea and several fores n countries were reviewed. If the drugs were categorized into the same therapeutically duplicable class, they were defined not to be used concurrently because the concurrent use was "therapeutically duplicated (unnecessary or even harmful)". Among the studied drug products, the following 5 drug classes were considto beas "therapeutic duplication": (1), on-t tooid DURnti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, including s Dicylates), (2),Anilidts, (3),Opioids, (4) Ergot Dk Doids and (5) 5-$HT_1$ receptor agonot s. Therefore, concurrent prescribing or dispensing of more than 2 drug ingredients any in the above same classes should be considered as TD and needed to be warrant for careful review by pharmacists before dispensing.

A Study of Breakwater Layout on the Basis of Marine Traffic Flow (해상교통흐름을 고려한 방파제 형상 설계에 관한 연구)

  • Jung Jae-Yong;Park Young-Soo;Ko Jae-Yong
    • Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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    • 2004.11a
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    • pp.57-62
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    • 2004
  • A mariner feels the ship-handling difficulty when the vessel onboard passes through breakwater. Until now, there is no a layout design of breakwater to take into account the ship-handling difficulty for the mariner. 11Us paper reproduced this situation which ship-handling is difficult by using marine traffic flow simulation, and it applied to Environmental Stress Model as the assessment model which is a quantitative model for evaluating the difficulty of ship-handling arising from restriction in maneuvering water areas and arising from traffic congestion The results are as follows. (1) The layout change of breakwater has little influence for reduction of ship-handling difficulty in the areas of vessel traffic volume. (2) In the situation of same breakwater width, difference of ship speed has an effect on decrease of ship-handling difficulty. (3) Expansion of breakwater width decreases ship-handling difficulty quantitatively.

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Study about Prediction Model to Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Fields for the Selected Primary Schoolchildren Nearby High Voltage Power Line (고압 송전선로 주변에 위치한 초등학교 학생들의 극저주파 자기장 노출량 예측 모델에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Yoon-Shin;Hyun, Youn-Joo;Choi, Seong-Ho;Roh, Young-Man;Hong, Seung-Cheol
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.32 no.5 s.92
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    • pp.506-514
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    • 2006
  • The objectives of this study were to evaluate personal exposure estimated using a time activity pattern and microenvironmental model. The study was carried out for 44 children attending a primary school nearby the lines (school A) and 125 children attending a school away from 154 kV power lines (school B). For children attending school A, the estimated personal level was a little weak correlated with the measured level($Pearson\;r\;=0.34{\sim}0.35$). For children attending school B, the correlation was very low ($Pearson\;r\;=\;0.09{\sim}0.16$) using the TW A Model II, otherwise, TWA Model II-I which considered the average residential MF level according to the distance from the power line and home explained $39{\sim}53%$ of the correlation in MF personal exposures. The estimated personal exposure level was very well represented by the measured exposure level using TWA Model II-2 which consisted on spot and 24 h stationary measurements at subject's home ($Pearson\;r\;=\;0.65{\sim}0.85$). In conclusion, personal magnetic field expsoure estimated using a TWA Model II-2 should be provided for a reasonable estimate of measured exposure in schoolchildren living near the power line.

Priority Setting for the Healthy City Program in Busan Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (계층 분석법을 적용한 부산시 건강도시 사업의 우선순위 설정)

  • Yoon, Tae-Ho;Choi, Min-Hyeok;Cheong, Kyu-Seok;Kim, Yun-Hee;Kim, Keon-Yeop;Jung, Baek-Geun
    • Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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    • v.28 no.3
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    • pp.31-42
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    • 2011
  • Objectives: Busan had the highest mortality and the shortest life expectancy at birth among 16 provinces in Korea in 2008 and there were considerable health inequalities within the region. This study was performed to build up a priority setting framework in Healthy City Busan project. Methods: Analytic hierarchy process was used to determine the relative priority weight for different strategic and program dimensions along with the consistency of response. An on-site workshop-based meeting (calculating importance) and online survey (calculating risk) were conducted to obtain data from 8 experts. Results: The results showed that in strategic criteria "active health promotion & diseases prevention" and "building infrastructure for the Health City project" were two most important factors. In program criteria, considering both importance and risk scores, "making a healthy community" and "building community health centers" in disadvantaged areas were a top priority group. In addition, "enacting an ordinance for the Healthy City", "building the infrastructure for health impact assessment" and "making health care safety net for vulnerable population" were also higher priorities group. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the Healthy City project in Busan should be focused on strengthening health equity and building infrastructure for sustainability of the project.

Single Dose Oral Toxicity and Genotoxicological Safety Study of Ssanghwa-tang Fermented with Lactobacillus acidophyllus (유산균 발효 쌍화탕에 대한 단회 투여 경구 독성 및 유전 독성 연구)

  • Chung, Tae-Ho;Shim, Ki-Shuk;Kim, Dong-Seon;Lee, Jae-Hoon;Ma, Jin-Yeul
    • The Journal of Korean Medicine
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    • v.32 no.1
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    • pp.67-83
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    • 2011
  • Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the single dose toxicity with oral administration and genotoxicities of Ssanghwa-tang fermented with Lactobacillus acidophyllus. Materials and Methods: Clinical signs, weight changes, lethal doses$(LD_{50})$, and postmortem evaluation were determined by Globally Harmonized Classification System(GHCS) in a single-dose oral toxicity study. In vitro mammalian chromosomal aberration test was conducted with Ames test by cell proliferation suppression assessment using the cultivated CHO-K1(Chinese hamster ovary fibroblast) origins. Bacterial reversion assay was performed using Salmonella typhimurium (TA98, TA100, TA1535, and TA1537) and Escherichia coli (WP2uvrA). In vivo micronucleus test was performed using ICR mouse bone marrow. Results: No clinical sign was observed and none of the groups with doses up to 2000 mg/kg showed significant acute oral toxicity in the single dose oral administration. None of the sample doses taken during the 6 to 18 hour groups showed significant aberrant metaphases comparing to the negative control group in the in vitro mammalian chromosomal aberration test. No evidence of mutagenicity was seen for Escherichia coli (WP2uvrA) or Salmonella typhimurium (TA98, TA100, TA1535, and TA1537). No significant increase in the frequency of micronuclei was seen in the micronucleus test. Conclusion: These results indicate that the $LD_{50}$ value of Ssanghwa-Tang fermented with Lactobacillus acidophyllus may be over 2000 mg/kg and it have no acute oral toxicity and genotoxicity.

Toxicity Assessment of Phytolaccae Radix Aqueous Extract Orally Administered to F344 Rats for Two Consecutive Weeks (상륙 추출물의 F344 랫드에서 2주 반복 경구투여 독성평가)

  • Han, Hyoung-Yun;Kang, Myung-Gyun;Yoon, Seokjoo;Seok, Ji-Hyeon;Kim, Jeong Ah;Kim, Tae-Won;Min, Byung Sun
    • Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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    • v.49 no.2
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    • pp.124-131
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    • 2018
  • Phytolaccae Radix has long been used as a traditional indigenous medicine to cure edema and rheumatism. However, there is insufficient background information on toxicological evaluation of Phytolaccae Radix extract to support the safe use. Therefore, we conducted a series of standardized, OECD and KFDA guidelines compliant in vivo study, to find a dose levels for the 13 weeks toxicity study. The extract of Phytolaccae Radix was administered orally to F344 rats at dose levels of 0, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks. Each group was composed to five male and five female rats. In the result, there were no test article-related adverse changes in clinical signs, body weight, food consumption, ophthalmology, hematology, clinical chemistry, gross finding at necropsy and organ weight examination. Therefore, we recommend that 2000 mg/kg/day is a highest treatment group in 13-week exposure study.

Assessment of Pipe Wall Loss Using Guided Wave Testing (유도초음파기술을 이용한 배관 감육 평가)

  • Joo, Kyung-Mun;Jin, Seuk-Hong;Moon, Yong-Sig
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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    • v.30 no.4
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    • pp.295-301
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    • 2010
  • Flow accelerated corrosion(FAC) of carbon steel pipes in nuclear power plants has been known as one of the major degradation mechanisms. It could have bad influence on the plant reliability and safety. Also detection of FAC is a significant cost to the nuclear power plant because of the need to remove and replace insulation. Recently, the interest of the guided wave testing(GWT) has grown because it allows long range inspection without removing insulation of the pipe except at the probe position. If GWT can be applied to detection of FAC damages, it will can significantly reduce the cost for the inspection of the pipes. The objective of this study was to determine the capability of GWT to identify location of FAC damages. In this paper, three kinds of techniques were used to measure the amplitude ratio between the first and the second welds at the elbow area of mock-ups that contain real FAC damages. As a result, optimal inspection technique and minimum detectability to detect FAC damages drew a conclusion.