• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.755-767
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• 2014

Chlorine is one of the most produced and most used non-flammable chemical substances in the world even though its toxicity and high reactivity cause the ozone layer depletion. However, in modern life, it is impossible to live a good life without using Chlorine and its derivatives since they are being used as an typical ingredient in more than 40 percent of the manufactured goods including medicines, detergents, deodorant, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and plastic, etc. Even if Chlorine has been handled and distributed in various business (small and medium-sized businesses, water purification plants, distribution company, etc.), there have been few researches about its possible health hazard and transportation risks. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to make a detailed assessment of Chlorine-related risks and to model an index of chemicals transportation risks that is adequate for domestic circumstances. The assessment of possible health hazard and transportation risks was made on 13 kinds of hazardous chemicals, including liquid chlorine. This research may be contributed to standardizing the risk assessment of Chlorine and other hazardous chemicals by using an index of transportation risks.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.385-393
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• 2019

Potential fire, explosion and safety hazards exist in medium- or small-scale chemical plants using radical batch reaction processes due to the various conditions of materials, works or products. To minimize the potential damage, a study was conducted on qualitative hazard analysis using the HAZOP technique, which is a typical method for a qualitative risk assessment and analysis of the potential risks encountered in these chemical plants. For this purpose, a domestic chemical plant, which produces the acrylic resin by a radical batch reaction process, was selected and a risk assessment and analysis according to the procedure of HAZOP method was performed for the process. As the result of the study, to prevent the hazard, the input of inert gas and the installation of a pressure gauge were indispensable. In addition, the initiator and monomer should also be separated, and inhibiting substances and equipment are also necessary to prevent a runaway reaction.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2015

Objectives: The major objectives of this study are to review the U.S. Standard which affected Korean worker's Right-to-Know Standard and to propose the way of improving the reliability of MSDS and labels. Methods: To review the U.S. Standard historically, we used the Federal Register, other criteria documentation and peer-reviewed literatures. Then we analysed major issues in the historical debatement on the worker's Right-to-Know Standard. Results: Korean MSDS Standard benchmarked the U.S. Hazard Communication Standard which finally established by President Reagan in 1983. Reagan's Hazard Communication Standard was aimed to preempt States Right-to-Know Acts for chemical industry and not to improve the awareness of workers on chemical hazards. Too much protection on trade secrets and low reliability of hazard information were key problems of the U.S. Standard. Conclusions: We recommend some ways to improve Korean MSDS and Label Standard. First, A new analysis frame is needed to understand the U.S Standard. Second, hazard identification is the key element of reliable information and chemical name and CAS number should be on the label of the container. Third, trade secrets should be limited to low hazardous substances and be permitted by government before the chemical product is on the market.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.419-429
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• 2016

Objectives: According to the new Chemical Control Act from the Korean Ministry of Environment (2014-259), workers handling hazardous chemicals should wear personal protective equipment (PPE). However the act simply states in basic phrases that every worker handling one or more of the 69 listed chemicals should wear PPE and does not consider the unique hazard characteristics of chemicals and work types. The main purpose of this study is to provide basic data to revise the act to suit particular work processes and situations. Methods: The hazard rank of the substances was classified based on hazardous characteristics such as LC50 and vapor pressure using matrix analysis. The workplace exposure risk of the substances was also determined through a matrix analysis based on the previously determined hazard ranks and the demands of manual handling together with the likelihood of accident frequency of the operation combined with the exposure of workers during spill accidents. Results: To meet the demands for developing subsequent guidelines for the risk-based application of PPE in hazardous workplaces, this study sorted the 69 listed chemicals into five hazardous categories based on their LC50 and vapor pressures, and also assigned exposure categories according to exposure vulnerability for various types of work which are frequently performed throughout the life cycle of the chemicals. Conclusion: In the next study, an exposure risk matrix will be produced using the hazard rank of chemicals and workplace exposure risk, and then PPE will be selected to suit the categories of the exposure risk matrix.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 1997

There are many kinds of complicated equipments in the chemical plants. So the chemical plants have high possibility of accidents. Hazard analysis is one of the basic tasks to ensure the safety of chemical plants. However, it has many shortcomings. To overcome the problems, there have been attempts to automate this work by utilizing computer technology, particularly knowledge-based technique. However, many of the past approaches are lacking in properties: safeguard consideration, accident diversity, cause and consequence diversity, pathway leading to accidents, and various hazard analysis reasoning. Therefore, in this study, three analysis algorithms were proposed using multimodel approach, and a hazard analysis system, AHA, was developed on G2. The case study was solved with AHA system successfully.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.48-57
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• 1999

Safe plants are maintained by the systematic identification of potential hazards. Various hazard evaluation methods have been developed in pursuit of safe plants. Recently, much efforts has been made for the automation of hazard evaluation system by introducing expert system to get rid of weak points of the conventional hazard evaluation methods. HAZOP study is recognized as one of the most systematic and logical hazard evaluation methods. However, it has several disadvantages; experts should participate simultaneously, the detailed study is time-consuming, and the quality of the results largely depends on the quality of the experts. Therefore, the automation of HAZOP Study is highly beneficial for reducing the required time and obtaining the consistent evaluation results. In this study, a framework for the automation of HAZOP study is suggested. Based on the suggested framework, HAxSYM, an expert system to automate HAZOP study, has been developed. The case study validates the performance of the developed system, and the results are compared with the results from the conventional HAZOP study.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.118-129
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• 2018

This study analyzed the recent serious disaster cases of chemical extinguishing agent poisoning and suffocation investigated by KOSHA and proposed the safe use of chemical substances, including the chemical extinguishing agent. An analysis of the statistical figures an increase in the number and variations of chemical poisoning and suffocation cases in industry between 2011~2016 increased. Unlike other physical accidents, chemical accidents are very high in severity and it is difficult to identify the chemical hazard and risk. To prevent chemical disasters, it is essential to develop and use an easy chemical risk assessment tool. For the safe use of chemical substances, in which it is difficult to carry out hazard identification and risk assessments, this thesis presents the useful chemical recognition and risk assessment tools, CHEM-i and CHARM developed by KOSHA.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.31
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• pp.11.1-11.6
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• 2016

Objectives A hazard assessment of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a commonly used workplace chemical, was conducted in order to protect the occupational health of workers. A literature review, consisting of both domestic and international references, examined the chemical management system, working environment, level of exposure, and possible associated risks. This information may be utilized in the future to determine appropriate exposure levels in working environments. Methods Hazard assessment was performed using chemical hazard information obtained from international agencies, such as Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-generated Screening Information Data Set and International Program on Chemical Safety. Information was obtained from surveys conducted by the Minister of Employment and Labor ("Survey on the work environment") and by the Ministry of Environment ("Survey on the circulation amount of chemicals"). Risk was determined according to exposure in workplaces and chemical hazard. Results In 229 workplaces over the country, 831 tons of DEHP have been used as plasticizers, insecticides, and ink solvent. Calculated 50% lethal dose values ranged from 14.2 to 50 g/kg, as determined via acute toxicity testing in rodents. Chronic carcinogenicity tests revealed cases of lung and liver degeneration, shrinkage of the testes, and liver cancer. The no-observed-adverse-effect level and the lowest-observed-adverse-effect level were determined to be 28.9 g/kg and 146.6 g/kg, respectively. The working environment assessment revealed the maximum exposure level to be $0.990mg/m^3$, as compared to the threshold exposure level of $5mg/m^3$. The relative risk of chronic toxicity and reproductive toxicity were 0.264 and 0.330, respectively, while the risk of carcinogenicity was 1.3, which is higher than the accepted safety value of one. Conclusions DEHP was identified as a carcinogen, and may be dangerous even at concentrations lower than the occupational exposure limit. Therefore, we suggest management of working environments, with exposure levels below $5mg/m^3$ and all workers utilizing local exhaust ventilation and respiratory protection when handling DEHP.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.184-191
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• 2015

Chemical mutagenicity is a major hazard that is important to workers' health. Despite the use of large amounts of allyl chloride, the available mutagenicity data for this chemical remains controversial. To clarify the mutagenicity of allyl chloride and because a micronucleus (MN) test had not yet been conducted, we screened for MN induction by using male ICR mice bone marrow cells. The test results indicated that this chemical is not mutagenic under the test conditions. In this paper, the regulatory test battery and several assay combinations used to determine the genotoxic potential of chemicals in the workplace have been described. Further application of these assays may prove useful in future development strategies of hazard evaluations of industrial chemicals. This study also should help to improve the testing of this chemical by commonly used mutagenicity testing methods and investigations on the underlying mechanisms and could be applicable for workers' health.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2005

Chemical mixtures of components, each of which are present at less than guidance concentrations, may be hazardous due to additivity, interactions, or both. Toxicological interactions may increase the health hazard above what would be expected from an assessment of each component singly, or all components additively. So chemical mixture are a particular issue in public health. There are several approach to assess whether there are additivity or interaction in assessing toxicological effects, such as, components-based approach, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic /pharmacodynamic(PBPK/PD) models, hazard index method, and weight-of evidence method. If we consider interaction or additivity effects in assessing the health effects of chemcial mixtures, we can get more accurate information about toxicological effects and dose-response relationship in chemical mixtures.