• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.96-101
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• 2019

Chemicals Control Act have been strengthened to control more safely hazardous chemicals from 2015. In particular, the standards for the installation and management of handling facilities was enhanced with specific regulations depending on type of the facilities and the hazardous chemicals. However, some standards for handling facilities caused difficulties in implementing the strengthened standards due to various field conditions, such as lack of physical space. The Ministry of Environment is implementing Safety Assessment System (SAS) to solve these problems since 2018. However, many plants have difficulties in preparing alternative methods to pass the safety evaluation. The purpose of this study was to review and analyze the SAS and to suggest alternative measures in terms of management and technical aspects through the case study of hydrochloric acid storage tanks. The following safety solutions were suggested for handling facilities that had insufficient the space and capacity for the retaining wall due to physical space. Firstly, insufficient space was resolved by introducing equipment relocation or demolition, and retaining wall expansion. Secondly, the wall of the surrounding buildings was used as an alternative to the retaining wall with additional chemical resistant treatment. Finally, sensor installation and facility inspection were suggested as ways to improve chemical safety. Therefore, improvement of chemical accident prevention system is required not only in terms of facilities supplementation but also management aspect. The results of this study are expected to be available for similar facilities and will be based on the preparation of additional safety assessment as alternatives measures in the future.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.1933-1938
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• 2014

Despite increasing importance of in vitro cell-based assays for the assessment of nanoparticles (NPs) cytotoxicity, their suitability for the assessment of NPs toxicity is still in doubt. Here, limitations of widely used cell viability assay protocol (i.e., MTT asssay) for the cytotoxicity assessment of P25 $TiO_2$ NPs were carefully examined and an alternative toxicity assessment method to overcome these limitations was proposed, where the artifacts caused by extracellularly formed formazan and light scattered by agglomerated NPs were minimized by measuring only the intracellular formazan via image cytometric methods.

• Korean Journal of Hazardous Materials
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 2015

Semiconductor industry has large number of chemical inventory and is easily exposed to chemical release incidents. Toxic release is one of the most interested area in evaluating consequence to the vicinity of industry facilities handling hazardous materials. Hydrofluoric acid is one of the typical chemical used in semiconductor facility and is selected and toxic release is evaluated to assess the risk impacted to its off-site. Accident scenarios were listed using process safety information. The scenarios having effect to the off-site were selected and assessed further according to guideline provided by Korea government. Worst case and alternative scenarios including other interested scenarios were evaluated using ALOHA. Each evaluated scenario was assessed further considering countermeasures. The results showed that the facility handling hydroflooric acid is safe enough and needed no further protections at the moment.

• Clean Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.144-151
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• 2008

Life cycle assessment was carried out to evaluate the environmental values of dimethylas a diesel alternative fuel with the assumption of dimethyl ether production from natural gas via synthesis gas. The whole life cycles from raw material acquisitions to the final usages of diesel and dimethyl ether were involved in the assessment. Inventory analysis showed that the most significant environmental impacts came from resource depletions and air emissions. Impact assessment revealed that dimethyl ether was environmentally better in the aspect of human health and ecosystem quality but worse in resource depletions compared with diesel fuel. Suggestions for environmental improvement of dimethyl ether as a diesel alternative fuel were prepared based on the assessment results.

• Korean Journal of Hazardous Materials
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2015

Since the HF release in 2012 in Korea, it became one of the most significant to evaluate consequence to the vicinity of industry facilities handling hazardous materials. BTX plant is selected to assess off-site risk to check whether the facility satisfies the Chemical Control Law by Korea Government. Accident scenarios were listed using process safety information. The scenarios having effect to the off-site were selected and assessed further according to guideline provided by Korea government. Worst case and alternative scenarios including other interested scenarios were evaluated using ALOHA. Each evaluated scenario was assessed further considering countermeasures. The results showed that the facility handling chloric acid is safe enough and needed no further protections at the moment.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.733-738
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• 2017

In this study, we selected chlorine, a typical toxic material used in many workplaces, as the leakage material, and through the analysis of alternative scenarios based on the meteorological conditions in the summer frequently encountered in accidents, we suggest ways to improve the (method of analysis/accident scenario modeling). The analysis of 296 chemical accidents from January 2014 to December 2016 found that the highest rate of occurrence was in summer, accounting for 35.81% of the total. According to the risk assessment, the influence range and number of inhabitants in the influence area were 712.4 m and 20,090 under the annual mean weather conditions and 796.2 m and 27,143 people under the summer mean weather conditions, respectively. This result implies that, under certain conditions, the range of impacts in the current alternative scenario is incomplete. Therefore, risk assessment systems need to be improved in order to take into consideration the characteristics of each chemical substance.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.11-21
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• 2023

Background: The need to develop alternative chemicals is increasing worldwide due to the strengthening of global chemical regulations and consumer safety awareness in the marketplace. Objectives: We aimed to review domestic and foreign technology trends for exploring alternative candidate algorithms that can be used to develop safer alternatives to strengthen global market competitiveness and protect public health in the future. Methods: We searched the current status of research trends, companies related to the development of alternative chemicals in domestic and foreign countries. For this, we referred to research papers and websites by companies and institutes related to such alternatives. Results: Among the domestic and foreign research trends, more studies in South Korea were focused on predicting molecular-based physicochemical properties and toxicity than were reporting on research exploring alternative candidates. Three web-based databases and six tools were being developed. More studies in other countries predicted information to consider in alternative development than reported on research exploring alternative candidates, and four web-based databases and three tools were being developed. Among the companies related to the development of alternative chemicals, 286 alternatives classified as 'EVALUATED ALTERNATIVE' in MARKETPLACE accounted for the most significant proportion in Europe on a continent basis, and the largest number in the United States (US) on a national basis. In South Korea, only significant companies were registered. Conclusions: In this study, it was found to be necessary to provide public technology support platforms to explore alternative candidates considering various aspects in order to support alternative development. In conclusion, exploring alternative candidate algorithms could contribute to the response to the global trends in the chemical industry and to supporting companies and researchers developing safer alternatives in the future.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.2828-2839
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• 2022

This study developed a safety assessment tool for geological disposal systems called APro, a systemically integrated modeling system based on modularizing and coupling the processes which need to be considered in a geological disposal system. Thermal, hydraulic, chemical, canister failure, radionuclide release and transport processes were considered in the current version of APro. Each of the unit processes in APro consists of a single Default Module, and several Alternative Modules which can increase the flexibility of the model. As an initial stage of developing the modularization concept and modeling interface, the Default Modules of each unit process were described, with one Alternative Module of chemical process. The computation part of APro is mainly a MATLAB workspace controlling COMSOL and PHREEQC, which are coupled by an operator splitting scheme. The APro model domain is a stylized geological disposal system employing the Swedish disposal concept (KBS-3 type), but the repository layout can be freely adjusted. In order to show the applicability of APro to the total system performance assessment of geological disposal system, some sample simulations were conducted. From the results, it was confirmed that coupling of the thermal and hydraulic processes and coupling of the canister failure and the radionuclide release processes were well reflected in APro. In addition, the technical connectivity between COMSOL and PHREEQC was also confirmed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.141-158
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• 2019

Objectives: An adverse outcome pathway is a biological pathway that disturbs homeostasis and causes toxicity. It is a conceptual framework for organizing existing biological knowledge and consists of the molecular initiating event, key event, and adverse output. The AOP concept provides intuitive risk identification that can be helpful in evaluating the carcinogenicity of chemicals and in the prevention of cancer through the assessment of chemical carcinogenicity predictions. Methods: We reviewed various papers and books related to the application of AOPs for the prevention of occupational cancer. We mainly used the internet to search for the necessary research data and information, such as via Google scholar(http://scholar.google.com), ScienceDirect(www.sciencedirect.com), Scopus(www.scopus. com), NDSL(http: //www.ndsl.kr/index.do) and PubMed(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed). The key terms searched were "adverse outcome pathway," "toxicology," "risk assessment," "human exposure," "worker," "nanoparticle," "applications," and "occupational safety and health," among others. Results: Since it focused on the current state of AOP for the prediction of toxicity from chemical exposure at work and prospects for industrial health in the context of the AOP concept, respiratory and nanomaterial hazard assessments. AOP provides an intuitive understanding of the toxicity of chemicals as a conceptual means, and it works toward accurately predicting chemical toxicity. The AOP technique has emerged as a future-oriented alternative to the existing paradigm of chemical hazard and risk assessment. AOP can be applied to the assessment of chemical carcinogenicity along with efforts to understand the effects of chronic toxic chemicals in workplaces. Based on these predictive tools, it could be possible to bring about a breakthrough in the prevention of occupational and environmental cancer. Conclusions: The AOP tool has emerged as a future-oriented alternative to the existing paradigm of chemical hazard and risk assessment and has been widely used in the field of chemical risk assessment and the evaluation of carcinogenicity at work. It will be a useful tool for prediction, and it is possible that it can help bring about a breakthrough in the prevention of occupational and environmental cancer.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.353-361
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• 2016

The goal of this study was to examine the current status of science teachers’ stage of concern (SOC) and level of use (LoU) on descriptive assessment and determine the relationship between SoC and LoU. To achieve this, concerns-based adoption model (CBAM) was used, and a survey was conducted on 138 science teachers. The data from this study were analyzed by frequency analysis, percentile analysis based on CBAM, χ² test, and Spearman correlation analysis. SoC and LoU of the science teachers observed in this study are as follows. First, the science teachers’ overall SoC for the descriptive assessment was low and showed a typical pattern of the initial stage when the program was introduced. Second, LoU analysis on descriptive assessment showed that the “mechanical Use” (N=49, 35.5%) or “routine” (N=48, 34.8%) accounted for the majority. Third, the Spearman correlation between SoC and LoU on descriptive assessment was .299(p<.01). This suggests that teachers’ SoC needs to be increased in order to promote higher LoU on descriptive assessment, which requires new alternative measures.