• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.36-39
• /
• 2015

Copper sulfate is a copper compound used widely in the chemical and agriculture industries. Most intoxication occurs in developing countries of Southeast Asia particularly India, but rarely occurs in Western countries. The early symptoms of intoxication are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps, and the most distinguishable clue is bluish vomiting. The clinical signs of copper sulfate intoxication can vary according to the amount ingested. A 75-year old man came to our emergency room because he had taken approximately 250 ml copper sulfate per oral. His Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score was 14 and vital signs were blood pressure 173/111 mmHg, pulse rate 24 bpm, respiration rate 24 bpm, and body temperature $36.1^{\circ}$ .... Arterial blood gas analysis (ABGa) showed mild hypoxemia and just improved after 2 L/min oxygen supply via nasal cannula. Other laboratory tests and chest CT scan showed no clinical significance. Three hours later, the patient's mental status showed sudden deterioration (GCS 11), and ABGa showed hypercarbia. He was arrested and his spontaneous circulation returned after 8 minutes CPR. However, 22 minutes later, he was arrested again and returned after 3 minutes CPR. The family did not want additional resuscitation, so that he died 5 hours after ED visit. In my knowledge, early deaths are the consequence of shock, while late mortality is related to renal and hepatic failure. However, as this case shows, consideration of early definite airway preservation is reasonable in a case of supposed copper sulfate intoxication, because the patients can show rapid deterioration even when serious clinical manifestation are not presented initially.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.91-96
• /
• 2002

We arrived at the following conclusions after we have studied esophagitis through the literatures of oriental and western medicine. 1. The western medical causes of acute esophagitis are corrosiveness chemical material, esophageal or gastric disease, trauma, blister stomatitis, filamentous fungus infection and uremia of chronic patient etc, and the oriental medical causes are qi and blood stagnation, blood stasis and stagnation, stagnant phlegm by coldness, heating, dyspepsia and food poisoning etc. 2. The western medical causes of chronic esophagitis are malfunction of lower esophageal sphincter, esophageal tom chink and hernia, increase of gastric pressure by overeating, fatness, pregnancy and ascites etc, and the oriental medical causes are asthenic cardiac qi, hepatic qi attacking stomach by seven kinds of depression, cold-damp stagnation and insufficiency of gastric qi by overeating, excessive drinking and sexual indulgence etc. 3. The main symptoms of acute esophagitis are severe chest pain, instantly vomiting, swallowing pain etc, and chronic esophagitis are occasionally light chest pain, heart bum, anorexia, dysphagia, dizziness, general body weakness etc. These symptoms are come under thoracic obstruction, acid regurgitation, vomiting and chest pain of oriental medicine. 4. The western medical diagnoses of acute and chronic esophagitis have used radiation test, esophageal endoscopy, esophageal pressure test and biopsy etc, and the oriental medical diagnoses have used syndrome differentiation by four examination of inspection, listening and smelling examination, inquiring, pulse-taking and palpitation. 5. The western medical treatments of acute esophagitis have regarded preservation stability of esophagus as a principle, and the oriental medical treatments mainly have used expelling pathogen of expelling cold and regulating qi, cooling and removing stasis, promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis, eliminating phlegm and regulating qi. 6. The western medical treatments of chronic esophagitis have regarded decrease flowing backward of gastric juice as a purpose, and the oriental medical treatments mainly have used strengthening body resistance of replenishing and strengthening cardioqi, dispersing stagnated hepatoqi, expelling cold and dehygrosis, invigorating stomach and nourishing qi.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.1-9
• /
• 2012

The purpose of ecological risk assessment in soil ecosystem is to protect ecological receptors and to provide a scheme of efficient management for soil contaminants. Developed countries have already prepared the methodologies of ecological risk assessment by considering their soil properties, land use, and ecological receptors. In this study, we compared the soil ecological risk assessment processes in the similarity and differences in methodology. Four countries, except for USA, adjusted the toxicological data for ecological risk assessment, based on their representative soil properties because the soil properties affect toxic effects to ecological receptors. The soil ecological risk assessment methodology of Netherlands and UK was based on 'Technical guidance document on risk assessment (TGD)' of European Chemical Bureau (ECB). Australia, USA, and Canada developed their autonomous methodology. In the Netherlands, UK, Australia, and Canada, they employed the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) approach if sufficient toxicity data are available. The USA determined the ecological soil screening level by obtaining the geometric mean of toxicological data for three species. Furthermore, all countries consider secondary poisoning in their soil ecological risk assessment. The latest risk assessment methodology of soil ecosystem that this study investigated can be used to explore what Korea needs to develop the Korean ecological risk assessment methodology of soil ecosystem in the future.

• Food Science and Industry
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.67-73
• /
• 2017

Control of food pathogens is critical in food safety field. Norovirus is one of the major causes of gastroenteritis and food poisoning worldwide, however, currently, there is not a vaccine or a specific drug available for its treatment. There are several methods to inactivate norovirus during food processing by chemical and physical treatments, however, the use of natural substance has been suggested as an optional strategy due to their safety and consumer preference. In this study supported by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea, we identified novel plant-derived substances with significant anti-norovirus activities. The aim of this project was to determine the antiviral activity of a wide range of natural substances, including plant-derived extracts and essential oils, using a norovirus surrogate system, human norovirus replicon-bearing cells, and mouse in vivo experiments. During the activity screening test, we identified novel anti-norovirus substances or oils using plaque assay with MNV-1. Six selected substances were formulated into an optimum mixture and used as an ingredient for salad sauce of which anti-novovirus activity was confirmed(pending for patent and paper submission). The potential application of selected natural substances as a metal surface sanitizer was also tested. Interestingly, the mixture of selected natural compounds showed a significant inhibitory effect against norovirus. These results suggest that these substances may be used as food ingredient with anti-norovirus antivity or components for surface sanitizers to prevent norovirus contamination.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.144-153
• /
• 2021

Organophosphorus nerve agents (OPNAs), including both G- and V-type nerve agents such as sarin, soman, tabun and VX, are extremely neurotoxic organophosphorus compounds. Catalytic bioscavengers capable of hydrolyzing OPNAs are under development because of the low protective effects and adverse side effects of chemical antidotes to OPNA poisoning. However, these bioscavengers have certain limitations for practical application, including low catalytic activity and narrow specificity. In this study, we generated a fusion-hybrid form of engineered recombinant human paraoxonase 1 (rePON1) and bacterial organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH), referred to as GV-hybrids, using a flexible linker to develop more promising catalytic bioscavengers against a broad range of OPNAs. These GV-hybrids were able to synergistically hydrolyze both G-type OPNA analogs (paraoxon: 1.7 ~ 193.7-fold, p-nitrophenyl diphenyl phosphate (PNPDPP): 2.3 ~ 33.0-fold and diisopropyl fluorophosphates (DFP): 1.4 ~ 22.8-fold) and V-type OPNA analogs (demeton-S-methyl (DSM): 1.9 ~ 34.6-fold and malathion: 1.1 ~ 4.2-fold above) better than their individual enzyme forms. Among the GV-hybrid clones, the GV7 clone showed remarkable improvements in the catalytic activity toward both G-type OPNA analogs (kcat/Km (106 M-1 min-1): 59.8 ± 0.06 (paraoxon), 5.2 ± 0.02 (PNPDPP) and 47.0 ± 6.0 (DFP)) and V-type OPNA analogs (kcat/Km (M-1 min-1): 504.3 ± 48.5 (DSM) and 1324.0 ± 47.5 (malathion)). In conclusion, we developed GV-hybrid forms of rePON1 and bacterial OPH mutants as effective and suitable catalytic bioscavengers to hydrolyze a broad range of OPNA analogs.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.57 no.1
• /
• pp.73-82
• /
• 2024

Objectives: The unsafe use of pesticides in agriculture represents a major hazard to human health. This study was conducted to investigate the association between pesticide exposure and health symptoms among chili farmers in northeast Thailand. Methods: This cross-sectional analytic study included 141 chili farmers in Sakon Nakhon Province, in northeast Thailand. Data regarding health symptoms were gathered using a self-report questionnaire. A medical technician tested blood cholinesterase activity using an erythrocyte method, and an occupational medicine specialist at Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand reviewed the results. Associations between personal characteristics, pesticide exposure factors, and health symptoms were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. Results: Of the 141 chili farmers studied, 66.7% experienced pesticide poisoning, as indicated by below-normal cholinesterase levels. Fatigue was the most frequently reported symptom associated with pesticide exposure, affecting 37.6% of participants. This was followed by nausea and vomiting (31.9%), dizziness (14.9%), and dry throat (14.9%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that several factors were significantly associated with adverse symptoms: amount of work experience, volume of pesticides used, use of chemical pesticides, use of leaking containers during spraying, direct pesticide exposure while working, contact with pesticide-soaked clothing, consumption of food and drinks in the fields, and blood cholinesterase level indicating risk. Conclusions: This study suggests potential health risks for chili farmers stemming from exposure to and contamination by pesticides used in agricultural practices. To mitigate these risks, it is essential to supply personal protective equipment and to implement educational programs aimed at improving protective behaviors among farmers.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.697-701
• /
• 2010

We investigate the cell performance and characteristics of a direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) using palladium (Pd) as a catalyst for anode. Pd is deposited on the electrolyte using the "direct paint" method. From a continuous three time-test of the polarization curve of the DFAFC, it is found that the catalytic activity of Pd and the cell performance of DFAFC steadily degrade as the tests are proceeded. This behavior may be due to the deactivation of Pd by formate (COOH) and hydroxyl (OH) groups, which are electrochemically dissociated from formic acid solution. Estimations of the degradation, followed by reactivation in activity of Pd catalyst and DFAFC cell performance are implemented by linear voltage sweep tests going in both positive and negative directions. When the maximum voltage of 1.0 V versus DHE is applied to the cell while a linear voltage sweep test going in negative directions, the activity of Pd catalyst and the DFAFC cell performance recover by the rehabilitation in activity of the deactivated Pd.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.63 no.6
• /
• pp.415-419
• /
• 2019

Fipronil is an insecticide that belongs to the N-phenylpytazole and has been used mainly for an insect pest control. However, it is known that acute poisoning of the human body causes various symptoms such as dizziness, muscle weakness, dyspnea, skin irritation, and increased heart rate. Lately, eggs containing fipronil have been distributed and toxic problems are spreading around the world. In this study, we tried to develop analytical methods to evaluate the exposure of fipronil and fipronil sulfone in animal serum samples. The differences according to mobile phase and the results of liquid - liquid extraction and solid phase extraction pretreatment method were compared. Distilled water (A) and acetonitrile (B) were selected for the mobile phase, and the pretreatment method was determined by solid phase extraction. As a result of the method validation, the intra-day / inter-day accuracies were 82.2~114.1% and the precisions were less than 20%. The detection limit was 0.027 ng/ml for fipronil and 0.087 ng/ml for fipronil sulfone. The linearity obtained was satisfying, with a coefficient of determination (r²) higher than 0.99. The concentrations in some animal sera were determined using the methods of analysis for fipronil and fipronil sulfone in animal sera developed in this study. Using the method developed in this study, it could be used as an analytical method for human bio-monitoring of fipronil and fipronil sulfone as well as animal serum.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.189-194
• /
• 2003

Approved chemical preservatives have been widely used to preserve foods and increase their shelf life. There are increasing demends of the partial or complete removal of chemical preservatives from foods vecause of adverse health effect of chemicals. In this study, the possibility of natural antimicrobial compounds, Korean propolis as food preservatives are investigated. Propolis samples were extracted on various concentration of ethanol. Propolis extracts extracted with 100% ethanol showed the highest inhibitory effect aginst food spoilage microorganisms. The 100% ethanol extracts of propolis were selected and the antimicrobial activites of 100% ethanol extracts of proplis against several food spoilage microorganisms were examined. Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Escherichia coli, Staphylcoccus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Shigella sonnei, Salmonella choleraesuis, Erwinia rhapontici, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus as food poisoning microorganisms were chosen for the examination. The Propolis extracts had antimicrobial activity against food spoilage microorganisms. When the microorganisms were treated with propolis extracts, the population of food spolige microorganisms were decreased by 1~9 log.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.55 no.2
• /
• pp.270-274
• /
• 2017

Formic acid has been known as one of key sources of hydrogen. Among various monometallic catalysts, hydrogen can be efficiently produced on Pd catalyst. However, the catalytic activity of Pd is gradually reduced by the blocking of active sites by CO, which is formed from the unwanted indirect oxidation of formic acid. One of promising solutions to overcome such issue is the design of alloy catalyst by adding other metal into Pd since alloying effect (such as ligand and strain effect) can increase the chance to mitigate CO poisoning issue. In this study, we have investigated formic acid deposition on the bimetallic $Pd/Pd_3Fe$ core-shell nanocatalyst using DFT (density functional theory) calculation. In comparison to Pd catalyst, the activation energy of formic acid dehydrogenation is greatly reduced on $Pd/Pd_3Fe$ catalyst. In order to understand the importance of alloying effects in catalysis, we decoupled the strain effect from ligand effect. We found that both strain effect and ligand effect reduced the binding energy of HCOO by 0.03 eV and 0.29 eV, respectively, compared to the pure Pd case. Our DFT analysis of electronic structure suggested that such decrease of HCOO binding energy is related to the dramatic reduction of density of state near the fermi level.