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  • Title/Summary/Keyword: biological hazards

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The Interrelationship between Riparian Vegetation and Hydraulic Characteristics during the 2020 Summer Extreme Flood in the Seomjin-gang River, South Korea (2020 여름 섬진강 대홍수시 하안식생과 수리 특성의 상호관계)

  • Lee, Cheolho;Lee, Keonhak;Kim, Hwirae;Baek, Donghae;Kim, Won;Kim, Daehyun;Lee, Hyunjae;Woo, Hyoseop;Cho, Kang-Hyun
    • Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.79-87
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    • 2021
  • Because active interactions occur among vegetation, hydrology, and geomorphology in riparian systems, any changes in one of these factors can significantly affect the other two. In this study, we evaluated these interactions at four sites (two in Gajeong and two in Hahan) along the Seomjin-gang River that was substantially devastated by an extreme flood in 2020. We examined the relationship between the riparian vegetation and the hydraulic characteristics of the flood using remote sensing, hydraulic modeling, and field surveys combined. The evaluation results showed that the floods caused a record-breaking rise of up to 43.1 m above sea level at the Yeseong-bridge stage gauge station (zero elevation 27.4 m) located between the Gajeong and Hahan sites, with the shear stress being four times higher in Hahan than in Gajeong. Additionally, the water level during the flood was estimated to be a maximum of 1 m higher depending on the location in the presence of riparian plants. Furthermore, both sites underwent extensive biological damage due to the flood, with 78-80% loss in vegetation, with preferential damage observed in large willow species, compared to Quercus acutissima. The above findings imply that all plant species exhibit different vulnerabilities towards extreme floods and do not induce similar behavior towards events causing a disturbance. In conclusion, we developed strategies for effectively managing riparian trees by minimizing flood hazards that could inevitably cause damage.

Neutralization of Pyrophyllite Mine Wastes by the Lime Cake By-Product (부산석회를 이용한 납석광산 폐석의 중화처리)

  • Yoo, Kyung-Yoal;Cheong, Young-Wook;Ok, Yong-Sik;Yang, Jae-E.
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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    • v.24 no.3
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    • pp.215-221
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    • 2005
  • Numerous abandoned or closed mines are present in the steep mountain valleys in Korea due to the depression of the mining industry since the late 1980s. From the mines, enormous amounts of wastes were dumped on the slopes causing sedimentation and acid mine drainage to be discharged directly into streams causing detrimental effects on surrounding environment. Objective of this research was to evaluate the feasibility of the lime cake by-product from the soda ash production (Solvay process) to neutralize the pyrophyllite mine wastes, which have discharged the acid drainage to soil and stream in the watershed. The pH of mine wastes was strongly acidic at pH 3.67 containing over 16% of Al2O3 and 11% of Fe2O3. Whereas the lime cake by-product was strongly basic at pH 9.97 due to high contents of CaO, MgO and CaCl2 as major components. Column experiments were conducted to test the neutralizing capacity of the lime cake by-product for the acidic pyrophyllite mine wastes. The column packed with the wastes (control) was treated with the lime cake by-product, calcium carbonate, the dressing soil or combination. The distilled water was eluted statically through the column and the leachate was collected for the chemical analyses. Treatments of the mine wastes with the lime cake by-product (or calcium carbonate) as mixtures increased pH of the leachate from 3.54.0to78. Concentrations of Fe and Al in the leachate were also decreased below 1.0 mg L1. A Similar result was observed at the combined treatments of the mine waste, the lime by-product (or calcium carbonate) and the dressing soil. The results indicated that the lime cake by-product could sufficiently neutralize the acid drainage from the pyrophyllite mine wastes without dressing soils.

Microbiological Hazard Analysis for HACCP System Application to Non Heat-Frozen Carrot Juice (비가열냉동 당근주스의 HACCP 시스템 적용을 위한 미생물학적 위해 분석)

  • Lee, Ung-Soo;Kwon, Sang-Chul
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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    • v.29 no.2
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    • pp.79-84
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    • 2014
  • This study has been performed for about 270 days at analyzing biologically hazardous factors in order to develop HACCP system for the non heat-frozen carrot juice. A process chart was prepared by manufacturing process of raw agricultural products of non heat-frozen carrot juice, which was contained water and packing material, storage, washing, cutting, extraction of the juice, internal packing, metal detection, external packing, storage and consignment (delivery). As a result of measuring Coliform group, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus, Listeria Monocytogenes, Enterohemorrhagic E. coli before and after washing raw carrot, Standard plate count was 4.7×104CFU/g before washing but it was 1.2×102CFU/g detected after washing. As a result of testing airborne bacteria (Standard plate count, Coliform group, Yeast and Fungal) depending on each workplace, number of microorganism of in packaging room, shower room and juice extraction room was detected to be 10 CFU/Plate, 60 CFU/Plate, 20 CFU/Plate, respectively. As a result of testing palm condition of workers, as number of Standard plate count, Coliform group and Staphylococcus aureus was represented to be high as 6×104CFU/cm2, 0CFU/cm2 and 0CFU/cm2, respectively, an education and training for individual sanitation control was considered to be required. As a result of inspecting surface pollution level of manufacturing facility and devices, Coliform group was not detected in all the specimen but Standard plate count was most dominantly detected in scouring kier, scouring kier tray, cooling tank, grinding extractor, storage tank and packaging machine-nozzle as 8.00×10CFU/cm2, 3.0×10CFU/cm2, 4.3×102CFU/cm2, 7.5×102CFU/cm2, 6.0×10CFU/cm2, 8.5×102CFU/cm2 respectively. As a result of analyzing above hazardous factors, processing process of ultraviolet ray sterilizing where pathogenic bacteria may be prevented, reduced or removed is required to be controlled by CCP-B (Biological) and critical level (critical control point) was set at flow speed is 4L/min. Therefore, it is considered that thorough HACCP control plan including control criteria (point) of seasoning fluid processing process, countermeasures in case of its deviation, its verification method, education/training and record control would be required.

Microbiological Hazard Analysis for HACCP System Application to fermented milk (발효유류의 HACCP 시스템 적용을 위한 미생물학적 위해 분석)

  • Park, Seong-Bin;Kwon, Sang-Chul
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.438-444
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    • 2015
  • The aim of this research was to apply a HACCP system (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) to fermented milk. The main ingredients of fermented milk, work facilities and workers were obtained from a company named YD, which is located in Seobuk-gu, Cheonan-si between November 5 2013 to April 13, 2014. A manufacturing process chart was prepared by referring to the manufacturing process of fermented milk manufacturers in common. The manufacturing process chart was made with raw materials; Raw milk, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Oligosaccharides, Lactic Acid bacteria and Subsidiary ingredients, Warehousing of packaging materials, Storage, Input, Preheating, Mixing, Homogeneity, Sterilization, Precooling, Culture, Filtration, In packaging, Out packaging, Storage, and Consignment, as listed Table 1. The results of the microbiological hazard analysis on the raw materials was safe after sterilization(90C±5C, 35±3min.) On the other hand,a microorganism test of an environment and workers suggested that the microbiological hazard should be reduced through systematic cleaning and disinfection accompanied by improved personal hygiene based on hygienic education on workers and the management of microorganisms in air.

Evaluation of Workers' Exposures to Airborne Lead chromate in the Producing and Using Industries (국내 무기안료 제조 및 취급 공정에서의 공기 중 크롬산연 노출 평가)

  • Choi, Ho Chun;An, Sun Hee;Lee, Hyun Seok;Kim, Hwa Sung
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.293-302
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    • 2008
  • Lead chromate is made by sodium dichromate and lead acetate, and has being used widely in the part of pigment, paints, inks, plastics and so on. Even though lead chromate has health hazards which like both lead and chromium, there are a few study about pigment workplaces using lead chromate in Korea. The purpose of this study is to evaluate workers' exposure levels and airborne lead and chromium concentration in the pigment workplaces using lead chromate. There are 20 workers in the total 5 workplaces. 10 workers(50%) have been exposed to lead and 3 workers(15%) have been exposed to chromium, which exceeded the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists(ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (Pb: 0.05mg/m3, Cr: 0.012mg/m3) and Korean Ministry of Labor's Standard. Geometric mean (GM) of airborne lead was highest in pigment (0.0421mg/m3), paint (0.0020mg/m3) and PVC coloring (0.0007mg/m3), respectively(p<0.05). The result of airborne chromium concentration was paint (0.0033mg/m3), paint (0.0004mg/m3) and PVC coloring (0.0003mg/m3). Also the lead and chromium concentration in the manual process is each 30 times and 10 times higher than the value in automatic process(p<0.01). In the classified process by detail, the concentration of airborne lead was 0.0638mg/m3 in grinding & packaging, mixture & after-measuring (0.0436mg/m3), filtration & drying (0.0402mg/m3), lead nitrate & dissolution(0.0129mg/m3), pigment commitment & mixture (0.0013mg/m3) and dispersion & grinding (0.0010mg/m3) (p<0.05). Moreover the concentration of a sample in weighting & packaging was 0.0023mg/m3. The concentration of lead in workers' blood was pigment (15.12 ug/dl), paint (4.74 ug/dl) and PVC coloring (2.50 ug/dl), and some samples have exceeded biological exposure limit. In conclusion, the depending on their work industry and process, workers have been exposed to the high lead chromate.

The Environmental Hazard Assessment of Siting Restricted Industries from Industrial Complex in Rural Area Applied by Chemical Ranking and Scoring System (화학적 등급화기법을 적용한 농공단지 입주제한업종의 환경유해성 평가)

  • Hong, Sang-Pyo
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.24 no.6
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    • pp.549-560
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    • 2015
  • The priorities of siting restriction was derived from quantification of environmental hazard according to industrial classification based on 'Chemical Ranking and Scoring System(CRS)' which is handling the discharge characteristics of 31 industrial classifications regulated from locating at 'Industrial Complex in Rural Area(ICRA)'. CRS that is utilizing the data of 'Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers(PRTR)' is applied to determine human health risk and ecological risk which are calculated by discharged amount and materials LC50 according to water, soil and air media based on industrial classification. From this process, exposure assessment and toxicity assessment for integrating the adverse environmental impact and the mitigation effect of environmental risk according to the development of environmental technologies into establishing the rational landuse management method for the 31 industrial classifications regulated from locating at ICRA was analyzed. From the assessment result of the siting restriction removal at ICRA for 31 industrial classifications, based on 2012 year reference 6 industries that includes Manufacture of Guilt Coloration Surface Processing Steel Materials, Manufacture of Biological Product, Manufacture of Smelting Refining and Alloys of Copper, Dyeing and Finishing of Fibers and Yarns, Manufacture of Other Basic Iron and Steel n.e.c., Rolling Drawing and Extruding of Non-ferrous Metals n.e.c. are calculated as having relatively lower environmental hazards, thus it is judged that the siting restriction mitigation at ICRA is possible for the 6 industrial classifications that are not discharging the specific hazardous water contaminants during manufacturing process.

Harmfulness of Particulate Matter in Disease Progression (미세먼지의 질병에 미치는 유해성)

  • Choi, Jong Kyu;Choi, In Soon;Cho, Kwang Keun;Lee, Seung Ho
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.191-201
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    • 2020
  • As society develops rapidly, environmental pollution is becoming a greater risk factor threatening human health. One of the major causes of air pollution that affects human health is particulate matter (PM), which contains a heterogeneous mixture of different particle sizes and chemical compositions. PM is classified by size into general PM (PM10; diameter below 10 ㎛) and fine PM (PM2.5; diameter below 2.5 ㎛). PM2.5 can pass through the respiratory tract into the circulatory system and thence throughout the body. PM2.5 is known to stimulate oxidative stress and inflammatory responses to cells, promoting diseases such as asthma, chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and immunological disorders. Although detailed molecular mechanisms for how PM stimulates disease progression still need to be elucidated, together with national efforts to reduce PM production, significant research has been conducted that demonstrates the harmfulness of PM in disease progression through in vitro and in vivo experiments. This review focuses on the harmfulness of PM in disease progression; we also introduce a biological verification method for determining the hazards of PM.

Analysis on the National R&D Portfolio of Food Safety in Korea from 2008 to 2010 (최근 3년(2008-2010)간 식품안전 분야 국가연구개발사업 운영 현황 분석)

  • Kwak, No-Seong;Jeong, Jiwon;Lee, Jong-Kyung
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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    • v.28 no.2
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    • pp.115-123
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    • 2013
  • Food safety management should be based on scientific evidences. FAO and WHO presented risk analysis as one of four principles in food safety management. WTO also admits the self safety regulation only when it is made on the basis of risk assessment. Without scientific analysis, tracing and eliminating the cause of food poisoning is impossible. Research and development plays a key role to produce scientific evidences. The Korean government ran over 40 programs in 11 agencies from 2008 to 2010. However, there is no statistics on food safety R&D at present. In this research, food safety projects conducted from 2008 to 2010 are listed up by means of analysing National Science and Technology Information Service (NTIS). The analytical criteria are the name of programs, national standard classification of science and technology, and keywords. As result, Korea Food and Drug Administration, Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Rural Development Administration play major role in the food safety R&D. The portion of more than one year projects should rise up in order to achieve the data for risk assessment, which is strongly required to improve. Besides, the research should be deeper so as to publish more SCI papers. The R&D portfolio should be changed in direction to raise up the portion of biological hazards such as norovirus. In order to do so, a large number of food safety programs should be emerged. The categories of food safety management and the hygiene/quality management of the agricultural and livestock products in the national standard classification of science and technology should be emerged because they are set up reflecting agencies' interests in spite of few differences between them.

Literature Review on Health Effect Surveys of Residents in Environmentally Contaminated Areas in South Korea from 1997 to 2021 (한국 환경오염 취약지역 주민 건강영향조사 문헌고찰(1997~2021))

  • Kyung-Hwa Choi;Sujung Kim;Hyun A Jang;Dahee Han;Ho-Jang Kwon;Yong Min Cho
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.49 no.3
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    • pp.134-148
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    • 2023
  • Background: The conducting of health effect surveys (HESs) in environmentally contaminated vulnerable areas (ECVAs) by the central and local governments has been increasing apace with the increase in demand for HESs since the Environmental Health Act was enacted in South Korea in 2008. Objectives: This study aimed to review the HESs of residents in ECVAs conducted in South Korea. Methods: An analysis was performed on 125 reports obtained from the Environment Digital Library, PRISM, and local government websites after selecting from 803 projects obtained as ECVAs from the Korea ON-Line E-Procurement System (1997~2021), National Institute Environment Research (2000~2021), and Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (2009~2021). The reports were classified by background (residents' demand, HES, and more), research design (cross-sectional study, cohort, ecological study, and panel), pollution source (abandoned metal mine (AMM), industrial complex (IC), and more), and assessment method of exposure and health effects. The survey area was converted into administrative district codes for geographical mapping. Results: There were 37, 34, 18, and 10 cases associated with AMM, IC, waste incinerators, and coal-fired power plants, respectively. Most of the studies conducted were cross-sectional studies and ecological studies. The proportion of epidemiological investigations by residents' demand showed an increase from 0.0% to 8.9% for the central government while decreasing from 16.7% to 14.3% for local governments after 2008 compared to before 2008. HESs increased at both the central and local government levels since 2014. For the evaluation method, 365 environmental hazards, 319 health outcomes, and 302 biological markers were investigated, with the most commonly investigated items being metals, cancer, and blood metals. Conclusions: HESs of residents in ECVAs in South Korea have been continuously developed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Future improvements are expected, and systematic review and classification of the HESs is warranted.

Summative Usability Assessment of Software for Ventilator Central Monitoring System (인공호흡기 중앙감시시스템 소프트웨어의 사용적합성 총괄평가)

  • Ji-Yong Chung;You Rim Kim;Wonseuk Jang
    • Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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    • v.44 no.6
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    • pp.363-376
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    • 2023
  • According to the COVID-19, development of various medical software based on IoT(Internet of Things) was accelerated. Especially, interest in a central software system that can remotely monitor and control ventilators is increasing to solve problems related to the continuous increase in severe COVID-19 patients. Since medical device software is closely related to human life, this study aims to develop central monitoring system that can remotely monitor and control multiple ventilators in compliance with medical device software development standards and to verify performance of system. In addition, to ensure the safety and reliability of this central monitoring system, this study also specifies risk management requirements that can identify hazardous situations and evaluate potential hazards and confirms the implementation of cybersecurity to protect against potential cyber threats, which can have serious consequences for patient safety. As a result, we obtained medical device software manufacturing certificates from MFDS(Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) through technical documents about performance verification, risk management and cybersecurity application.The purpose of this study is to conduct a usability assessment to ensure that ergonomic design has been applied so that the ventilator central monitoring system can improve user satisfaction, efficiency, and safety. The rapid spread of COVID-19, which began in 2019, caused significant damage global medical system. In this situation, the need for a system to monitor multiple patients with ventilators was highlighted as a solution for various problems. Since medical device software is closely related to human life, ensuring their safety and satisfaction is important before their actual deployment in the field. In this study, a total of 21 participants consisting of respiratory staffs conducted usability test according to the use scenarios in the simulated use environment. Nine use scenarios were conducted to derive an average task success rate and opinions on user interface were collected through five-point Likert scale satisfaction evaluation and questionnaire. Participants conducted a total of nine use scenario tasks with an average success rate of 93% and five-point Likert scale satisfaction survey showed a high satisfaction result of 4.7 points on average. Users evaluated that the device would be useful for effectively managing multiple patients with ventilators. However, improvements are required for interfaces associated with task that do not exceed the threshold for task success rate. In addition, even medical devices with sufficient safety and efficiency cannot guarantee absolute safety, so it is suggested to continuously evaluate user feedback even after introducing them to the actual site.