• Title/Summary/Keyword: biological and chemical risk factors

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Scientific Basis of Environmental Health Contingency Planning for a Coastal Oil Spill (대규모 유류유출사고 대비 환경보건 대응계획 수립을 위한 기반연구)

  • Kim, Young-Min;Cheong, Hae-Kwan;Kim, Jong-Ho;Kim, Jong-Hun;Ko, Kum-Sook;Ha, Mi-Na
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.42 no.2
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    • pp.73-81
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    • 2009
  • Objectives : This study presents a scientific basis for the establishment of an environmental health contingency plan for dealing with accidental coastal oil spills and suggests some strategies for use in an environmental health emergency. Methods : We reviewed the existing literature, and analyzed the various fundamental factors involved in response strategies for oil spill. Our analysis included data derived from Hebei Spirit oil spill and used air dispersion modeling. Results : Spill amounts of more than 1,000 kl can affect the health of residents along the coast, especially those who belong to vulnerable groups. Almost 30% of South Korean population lives in the vicinity of the coast. The area that is at the highest risk for a spill and that has the greatest number of people at risk is the stretch of coastline from Busan to Tongyeong. The most prevalent types of oil spilt in Korean waters have been crude oil and bunker-C oil, both of which have relatively high specific gravity and contain volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and metals. In the case of a spill of more than 1,000 kl, it may be necessary to evacuate vulnerable and sensitive groups. Conclusions : The government should establish environmental health planning that considers the spill amount, the types of oil, and the distance between the spot of the accident and the coast, and should assemble a response team that includes environmental health specialists to prepare for the future oil spill.

Public Health Risks: Chemical and Antibiotic Residues - Review -

  • Lee, M.H.;Lee, H.J.;Ryu, P.D.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.402-413
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    • 2001
  • Food safety is a term broadly applied to food quality that may adversely affect human health. These include zoonotic diseases and acute and chronic effects of ingesting natural and human-made xenobiotics. There are two major areas of concern over the presence of residues of antibiotics in animal-derived foodstuffs with regard to human health. The first is allergic reactions. Some antibiotics, such as penicillins can evoke allergic reactions even though small amounts of them are ingested or exposed by parenteral routes. The second is development of antibiotic resistance in gut bacteria of human. Recently multi-resistant pneumococcal, glycopeptide-resistant enterococci and gram negative bacteria with extended-spectrum $\beta$-lactamases have spread all over the world, and are now a serious therapeutic problem in human. Although it is evident that drugs are required in the efficient production of meat, milk and eggs, their indiscriminate use should never be substituted for hygienic management of farm. Drug should be used only when they are required. In addition to veterinary drugs, environmental contaminants that were contaminated in feed, water and air can make residues in animal products. Mycotoxins, heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals derived from industries can be harmful both to animal and human health. Most of organic contaminants, such as dioxin, PCBs and DDT, and metals are persistent in environment and biological organisms and can be accumulated in fat and hard tissues. Some of them are suspected to have endocrine disrupting, carcinogenic, teratogenic, immunodepressive and nervous effects. The governmental agencies concerned make efforts to prevent residue problems; approval of drugs including withdrawal times of each preparation of drugs, establishment of tolerances, guidelines regarding drug use and sanitation enforcement of livestock products. National residue program is conducted to audit the status of the chemical residues in foods. Recently HACCP has been introduced to promote food safety from farm to table by reducing hazardous biological, chemical and physical factors. Animal Production Food Safety Program, Quality Assurance Programs, Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank are para- or non-governmental activities ensuring food safety. This topic will cover classification and usage or sources of chemical residues, their adverse effects, and chemical residue status of some countries. Issues are expanded to residue detection methodologies, toxicological and pharmacokinetic backgrounds of MRL and withdrawal time establishments, and the importance of non-governmental activities with regard to reducing chemical residues in food.

Plant uptake potential of endosulfan from soil by carrot and spinach (다소비 채소작물인 시금치와 당근의 토양 중 엔도설판 흡수이행능)

  • Choi, Geun-Hyoung;Jeong, Dong-Kyu;Lim, Sung-Jin;Ro, Jin-Ho;Ryu, Song-Hee;Park, Byung-Jun;Moon, Byung-Cheol;Kim, Jin Hyo
    • Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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    • v.60 no.4
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    • pp.339-342
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    • 2017
  • Residual endosulfan in an agricultural environment has been reported, although endosulfan was listed to persistent organic pollutants and banned. To produce the safe crop from endosulfan residue risk, the plant uptake potential of endosulfan from soil to crop should be studied. In here, the plant uptake potentials of endosulfan in various crops were surveyed and ranged from 0.002-4.460. And the bioconcentration factors (BCF) of total endosulfan in carrot and spinach were calculated from the pot experiment. The BCFs in carrot and spinach were 0.285 and 0.040-0.047 respectively. Endosulfan sulfate was contributed to over 42.8% of the crop residue as a major contributor among the three endosulfan congeners in both of carrot and spinach.

The Impact of Fatigue on Hazard Recognition: An Objective Pilot Study

  • Ibrahim, Abdullahi;Okpala, Ifeanyi;Nnaji, Chukwuma;Namian, Mostafa;Koh, Amanda
    • International conference on construction engineering and project management
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    • 2022.06a
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    • pp.450-457
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    • 2022
  • The construction industry is demanding, dynamic, and complex making it difficult for workers to recognize hazards. The nature of construction tasks exposes workers to several critical risk factors, such as a high rate of exertion and fatigue. Recent studies suggest that fatigue may impact hazard recognition in the construction industry. However, most studies rely on subjective measures when assessing the relationship between physical fatigue and hazard recognition, limiting such studies' efficacy. Thus, this study examined the relationship between physical fatigue and hazard recognition using a controlled experiment. Worker fatigue levels were captured using physiological data and a subjective exertion scale. The findings confirmed that physical exertion plays a significant role in hazard recognition skills (p < 0.05). This research contributes to theory and practice by providing a process for objectively assessing the influence of physical fatigue on worker safety and providing construction professionals with some critical insight needed to improve workplace safety.

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Uncertainty Minimization in Quantitative Electron Spin Resonance Measurement: Considerations on Sampling Geometry and Signal Processing

  • Park, Sangeon;Shim, Jeong Hyun;Kim, Kiwoong;Jeong, Keunhong;Song, Nam Woong
    • Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.53-58
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    • 2020
  • Free radicals including reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important chemicals in the research area of biology, pharmaceutical, medical, and environmental science as well as human health risk assessment as they are highly involved in diverse metabolism and toxicity mechanisms through chemical reactions with various components of living bodies. Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for detecting and quantifying those radicals in biological environments. In this work we observed the ESR signal of 2,2,6,6-Tetra-methyl piperidine 1-oxyl (TEMPO) in aqueous solution at various concentrations to estimate the uncertainty factors arising from the experimental conditions and signal treatment methods. As the sample position highly influences the signal intensity, dual ESR tube geometry (consists of a detachable sample tube and a position fixed external tube) was adopted. This type of measurement geometry allowed to get the relative uncertainty of signal intensity lower than 1% when triple measurements are averaged. Linear dependence of signal intensity on the TEMPO concentration, which is required for the quantification of unknown sample, could be obtained over a concentration range of ~103 by optimizing the signal treatment method depending on the concentration range.

The trend of prevalence of pain in Korea from 2005 to 2016

  • Cho, Sang-Hyeon;Kim, Yong-Min;Lee, Jae-Ho;Kim, Hyun-Soo;Song, Jae-Seok
    • The Korean Journal of Pain
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    • v.33 no.4
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    • pp.352-358
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    • 2020
  • Background: Korean society is afflicted with rapid aging. Aging is a risk factor for pain, and pain can reduce patients' quality of life. Thus, adequate management and monitoring of changing trends accompanying the demographic shift are highly valuable. However, this study was conducted because no studies have investigated the recent changes in the prevalence of pain. Methods: The extent of the prevalence of pain was determined by questions related to quality of life based on the data derived from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey (KNHNS) from 2005 to 2016. The annual frequencies of the pain group and severe pain group were calculated using the survey questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine possible differences in prevalence by year. Results: The prevalence of pain in all populations was 30.6% in 2005 and 18.9% in 2016. The average prevalence from 2005 to 2016 was 21.9%. A declining trend occurred over time with an odds ratio of 0.929 per year (95% CI: 0.921-0.938). The prevalence of severe pain was 2.35% in 2005 and 1.88% in 2016. Likewise, a decrease was observed over time, with an odds ratio of 0.920 per year at 95% CI 0.901-0.939. The decline in age-/sex-stratified analysis also showed a statistically significant trend in all groups. Conclusions: The prevalence of pain in Korean society, based on the KNHNS, has declined since 2005. Such a trend was observed in all ages and sexs, and was most significant in the elderly.

Affected Model of Indoor Radon Concentrations Based on Lifestyle, Greenery Ratio, and Radon Levels in Groundwater (생활 습관, 주거지 주변 녹지 비율 및 지하수 내 라돈 농도 따른 실내 라돈 농도 영향 모델)

  • Lee, Hyun Young;Park, Ji Hyun;Lee, Cheol-Min;Kang, Dae Ryong
    • Journal of health informatics and statistics
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    • v.42 no.4
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    • pp.309-316
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    • 2017
  • Objectives: Radon and its progeny pose environmental risks as a carcinogen, especially to the lungs. Investigating factors affecting indoor radon concentrations and models thereof are needed to prevent exposure to radon and to reduce indoor radon concentrations. The purpose of this study was to identify factors affecting indoor radon concentration and to construct a comprehensive model thereof. Methods: Questionnaires were administered to obtain data on residential environments, including building materials and life style. Decision tree and structural equation modeling were applied to predict residences at risk for higher radon concentrations and to develop the comprehensive model. Results: Greenery ratio, impermeable layer ratio, residence at ground level, daily ventilation, long-term heating, crack around the measuring device, and bedroom were significantly shown to be predictive factors of higher indoor radon concentrations. Daily ventilation reduced the probability of homes having indoor radon concentrations ${\geq}200Bq/m^3$ by 11.6%. Meanwhile, a greenery ratio ${\geq}65%$ without daily ventilation increased this probability by 15.3% compared to daily ventilation. The constructed model indicated greenery ratio and ventilation rate directly affecting indoor radon concentrations. Conclusions: Our model highlights the combined influences of geographical properties, groundwater, and lifestyle factors of an individual resident on indoor radon concentrations in Korea.

Hazard Analysis for the Application of Good Agricultural Practices(GAP) on Paprika During Cultivation (파프리카의 농산물우수관리제도(GAP)적용을 위한 재배단계의 위해요소 분석)

  • Nam, Min-Ji;Chung, Do-Yeong;Shim, Won-Bo;Chung, Duck-Hwa
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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    • v.26 no.3
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    • pp.273-282
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    • 2011
  • This study established hazards which may cause risk to human at farm during cultivation stage of paprika. Samples of plants (paprika, leaf, stem), cultivation environments (water, soil), personal hygiene (hand, glove, clothes), work utensils (carpet, basket, box) and airborne bacteria were collected from three paprika farms (A, B, C) located in Western Gyeongnam, Korea. The collected samples were assessed for biological (sanitary indications and major foodborne pathogens), chemical (heavy metals, pesticide residues) and physical hazards. In biological hazards, total bacteria and coliform were detected at the levels of 1.9~6.6 and 0.0~4.610g CFU/g, leaf, mL, hand or 100 $cm^2$, while Escherichia coli was not detected in all samples. In major pathogens, only Bacillus cereus were detected at levels of ${\leq}$ 1.5 log CFU/g, mL, hand or 100 $cm^2$, while Staphylococuus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157 and Salmonella spp. were not detected in all samples. Heavy metal and pesticide residue as chemical hazards were detected at levels below the regulation limit, physical hazard factors, such as insects, pieces of metal and glasses, were also found in paprika farms. Proper management is needed to prevent biological hazards due to cross-contamination while physical and chemical hazards were appropriate GAP criteria.

Assessment of Pre-Harvest Environmental Factors in Domestic Production of Organic Lettuce (국내 유기상추의 생산환경 조사분석)

  • Namgung, Min;Kim, Beom Seok;Heo, Seong Jin;Choi, Yong Beom;Hur, Jang Hyun;Park, Duck Hwan
    • The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.88-94
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    • 2014
  • Among pre-harvest environmental factors, increasing attention has been paid to the effects of chemical and microbiological factors on fresh produce. The occurrence and prevalence of these factors have been usually studied with regard to the final products at the post-harvesting stage and/or when they are sold in the market. However, the origin and routes of transmission of both factors remain to be clarified. In the present study, we examined the contamination levels of food-borne pathogens and chemical factors such as pesticide residues and heavy metals in 83 and 43 samples, respectively, including various soil, water, and fertilizer samples, as well as post-harvested and processed samples. Among the organic farming samples, only one pesticide, dimethomorph, was detected in the soil sample, however no pesticides were observed from any other samples in organic farming system. Thus, it was thought that might be contaminated from conventional farm land in the vicinity. Whereas many pesticide residues were detected in conventional farming systems such as soil, fertilizer, water, and fresh produce as expected. Furthermore, heavy metals detected from all tested samples did not shown contamination levels higher than the standard limit. We comparatively assessed the levels of contamination by food-borne pathogens on the samples from organic and conventional farming systems, and found aerobic bacteria at approximately 7 log CFU/g, with no significant differences observed between the two systems. Coliforms were present at lower levels than aerobic bacteria. No human pathogens were present among the coliforms detected, indicating that these bacteria are saprophytes without the ability to cause food-borne illnesses. In contrast, among the high-risk food-borne pathogens, only sporadic cells of Bacillus cereus were found on samples of organic farming system. These data extend previous findings that the most prevalent food-borne pathogen is B. cereus and demonstrate that it spreads to whole living plants via soil.

Improvement of Proliferation Capacity of Non-adapted CHO Cells Subcultured Using Serum Free Media in Long-term Culture (무혈청 배지에서 계대배양한 비적응 CHO(Chinese Hamster Ovary) 세포의 증식력 개선에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Seung-Sun;Lee, Jin-Sung;Byun, Soon-Hyu;Park, Hong-Woo;Choe, Tae-Boo
    • KSBB Journal
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    • v.21 no.4
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    • pp.248-254
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    • 2006
  • Animal cell culture industry has a large market and an exponential growth rate among biological industry field. Chines hamster ovary(CHO) cells are the most widely used cell lines for recombinant protein production. They can avoid infection from polio, herpes, hepatitis B, HIV, measles, adenovirus and etc. Moreover it is easy to transfection recombinant genes and possible to suspension culture. Serum free media is one of the most important factor of protein production. Because serum has problems. Serum is not defined the contents until now, it has a number of proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and unknown molecules that cause of risk involve in infection and high cost of product purification. CHO cell line cultured using serum free media were the basis of a very successful method to produce(glyco-)protein in mammalian cells, which are then used as pharmaceutical products. Also, the low protein content of the developed medium facilitates downstream processing and product purification. But non-adapted CHO cells have a limit of proliferation cultured using serum free media and it takes very long time to adapt non-adapted cells to serum free media. There are a number of causes of a limit of proliferation using serum free media. Absence of growth factors and growth stimulating molecules is a major factor of the reasons. It makes growth signals and moves cell cycle. And increase of cellular stress is another reason. It induces increase of intraceullar ROS concentration. The purpose of this study is about improvement of proliferation capacity of non-adapted CHO cells cultured using serum free media without adaptation process.