• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.817-825
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• 2002

Purpose: This study was carried out to investigate the prevalence and the main factors influencing the farmer's Syndrome in farmers in Korea. Method: A survey questionnaire was completed by 238 farmers who lived in 8 agricultural districts in Seosan City. The data were collected from April 10 to May 5, 2002. Results: The prevalence of the farmer's Syndrome was 42.6%, and its prevalence rate in woman was higher than that in man. The prevalence of the farmers syndrome proportionally increased with advanced age. Variables that were positively correlated with the farmer's syndrome were age, duration of farming, days of resting, and the number of the agricultural chemical's poisoning. On the other hand, variables that were negatively correlated with the farmers syndrome were smoking, sleeping hours, economic condition, and level of educational. In a regression analysis, the factors influencing the farmers syndrome were age, sex, sleeping hours, days of resting, and the number of the agricultural chemical's poisoning, which accounted for 25% of the total variance. Conclusion: Based on these study results, older age and woman gender are the remarkable risk factors influencing the farmer's syndrome. Sleeping hours, days of resting, and the number of the agricultural chemical's poisoning were also the significant attributable variables to the farmers syndrome.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.43-45
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• 2007

Carbon dioxide is the fourth most abundant gas in the earth's atmosphere, and it is widely used in the chemical industry. Solid carbon dioxide is commonly known as dry ice. At low concentration, carbon dioxide appears to have little toxicological effect. At higher concentrations, however, it can produce an increased respiratory rate, tachycardia, cardiac arrhythmia, loss of consciousness, convulsion, and even death. Management of carbon dioxide poisoning requires the immediate removal of an individual from the toxic environment and administration of oxygen. It is important to know the concentration of carbon dioxide to which a patient has been exposed. We report a case of acute poisoning from solid carbon dioxide in a patient presenting with drowsiness and diminished mental capacity when she arrived in the emergency department. She recovered completely after administration of oxygen with conservative treatment.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2009

Formic acid or formate is a common industrial compound used in the production of ensilage, disinfectants, decalcifying agents and mainly as a precursor in industrial chemical synthesis. It is also a well-known toxic metabolite produced in methanol poisoning. Thus, formate is a potential source of both accidental and deliberate poisoning. Very few reports have been published thus far, on the toxicology of direct formic acid poisoning. Here, we report a case of a 74-year-old man without a history of depression, who ingested about 30 gm of formic acid. The patient presented with profound high anion gap metabolic acidosis, acute renal failure and esophageal stricture. The patient was successfully treated with hemodialysis and supportive measures. But permanent esophageal stricture was complicated by formic acid burns in the gastrointestinal tract. We discuss the pathophysiology and treatment of this case.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.438-443
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• 2019

A new measurement method is suggested to quantify the phosphate poisoning of cathodic Pt catalyst for HT-PEMFC. To do that, hydrogen peroxide was used as an indicator to reduce the error which has been occurred in conventional electrochemical measurement such as CV or ORR RDE with high concentration of phosphate ions. As a result, the current density induced from the reaction of hydrogen peroxide decomposition increased proportionally to the concentration of phosphate ion while the conventional methods show has a significant error with high concentration of phosphate ion. Thus, it is confirmed that the suggested way is superior to the conventional measurement method for the quantification of phosphate ion poisoning in an atmosphere similar to the actual operation condition of HT-PEMFC.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.594-598
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• 2012

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) performance degrades seriously when sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are contaminated in the fuel gas at anode and air source at cathode, respectively. This paper reveals the effect of the combined sulfur impurity poisoning on both PEMFC cathode and anode parts through measuring electrical performance on single FC operated under 1 ppm to 10 ppm impurity gases. The severity of $SO_2$ and $H_2S$ poisoning depended on concentrations of impurity gases under optimum operating conditions($65^{\circ}C$ of cell temperature and 100 % relative humidity). Sulfur adsorption occured on the surface of Pt catalyst layer on MEA. In addition, MEA poisoning by impurity gases were cumulative. After four consecutive poisonings with 1, 3, 5 to 10 ppm, the fuel cell performance of PEMFC was decrease upto 0.54 V(76 %) from 0.71 V.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.652-659
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• 1999

The trend of poisoning of reforming catalyst along with the position of anodic catalyst bed was studied. Keeping the conditions that steam to carbon ratio was 2.5, operating voltage was 0.75 V, current density was $140mA/cm^2$, the unit cell was operated during 24 hrs at a steady state. And then the cell was stopped, the catalysts packed in the position of inlet, middle and outlet were sampled individually and then the amount of carbon, Li and K poisoned were analysed. After 100 hrs operated, the catalysts at the same positions were analysed at the same manner. The result of this experiment was as followings. After 24 hrs operated, the poisoning amounts of Li and K in the catalyst were 0.27 wt% at inlet, 0.23 wt% at middle and the highest value 1.59 wt% at outlet. After 100 hrs, the amount of poisoning is the highest in the catalyst packed at the inlet of unit cell. The performance simulation of unit cell explained these trends of poisoning catalysts. The simulation told that the catalyst in the region of the inlet of unit cell treated the 90% of initial methane flow rate and the highest electrochemical reaction happened in this region. So the catalysts of this region were the most poisoned with carbon, Li and K and also the rate of poisoning is faster than that of the catalyst at other regions. The temperature at the region of outlet of unit cell was $30^{\circ}C$ higher than that of other regions, so more Li, and K vaporized than at other regions and little reforming reaction at this region made the catalysts poisoning rate low.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.8
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• pp.619-627
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• 2011

The poisoning effect of Zr in aluminum alloys was investigated by analyzing the filtered cakes of aluminum alloy melt taken with the $Prefil^{(R)}$ footprinter through a variety of analytic instruments, SEM/EDX, Auger, and TEM. Experimental results indicated that the morphology and chemical composition of the aluminum alloys were not modified with the addition of Zr, which is to previous belief that Zr poisoning is caused by modification of $(Ti_{1-x}Zr_x)Al_3$. On the other hand, $TiAl_3$ surroundig $TiB_2$ particles was modified and its lattice parameter was more mismatched by increasing Zr content, leading to less nucleation rate. This is also supported by the observation that the poisoning effect is reduced when Ti is added, resulting in a lower content ratio of Zr to Ti. These results suggest that extra Ti should be added to eliminate the poisoning effect of Zr in aluminum alloys containing Zr.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.517-527
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• 2023

Objectives: We examine cases of chemical poisoning that occurred in the cleaning of metal parts and the regulations on halogenated solvents in other countries and propose regulations necessary to prevent chemical poisoning from halogenated solvents. Methods: We collected cases of chemical poisoning through the website of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency. A review of the literature was conducted focusing on regulations related to halogenated solvents in the United States and the European Union, particularly for cleaning metal parts. Among the Material Safety Data Sheets submitted to the government, MSDS containing eleven substances were extracted to confirm the composition and product use. We investigated cleaning methods for metal parts used in South Korea. For the hazard classification, the European Chemicals Agency or Japan's NITE's website was used. Results: In the case of poisoning, the cleaning methods involving trichloromethane were dipping and dry, which was not found in the literature. It was confirmed that many halogenated solvents and dimethyl carbonate were used for metal cleaning in South Korea. In vapor degreasing using TCE in the USA, even if the facility is strictly managed, such as by installing cooling coils in open cleaning facilities, the risk of exposure to TCE is considered to be not only carcinogenic but also a concern for acute and chronic effects. In comparison, exposure through Korean work methods such as dipping and drying operations is inevitably much higher. Conclusions: The transition to water-based cleaning with low-hazard chemicals should be a priority in the cleaning process. In the case of metal parts that require precise cleaning, if the use of a halogenated solvent is inevitable, a closed degreasing facility should be used to minimize exposure. The current regulations in the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Chemical Substances Control Act, and the Air Environment Conservation Act do not require cleaning facilities to minimize emissions. To protect the health of workers using halogenated solvents to clean metal parts, regulations that require a fundamental reduction in exposure will be necessary.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.17
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• pp.37-39
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• 2001

As the preliminary data collection for further chemical risk assessment. toxicants rating works is now rather extensively implemented in China. It consists of two parts, ie., rating of the hazard level of the exposed toxicant and that of the toxicant's profession. In the first part, the rating are based on six criteria, ie., acute toxicity, incidence of acute poisoning, prevalence of chronic poisoning, consequence of chronic poisoning, carcinogenecity and MAC level. Four hazardous levels are to be classified as extreme, high, medium, mild. In the second part. three determinants as weighted coefficients are taken into account, ie., toxicant's hazard level. exposure time and folds of MAC surpassing. Eventually, the index of classification C by which the work with toxic hazard can be classified is able to be calculated and assessed. Several comments were discussed and new recommendations were demonstrated.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.215-229
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• 2023

Objectives: To validate the effectiveness of a real-time chemical exposure monitoring system developed by KOSHA (Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency), we applied the system to a workplace in the electronics industry for 153 days. Methods: The monitoring system consisted of a PID chemical sensor, a LTE communication equipment, and a web-based platform. To monitor chemical exposure, four sets of sensors were placed in two manufacturing tasks - inspection and jig cleaning - which used TCE as a degreasing agent. We reviewed previous reports of work environment measurements and conducted a new work environment measurement on one day during the period. The PID sensor systems detected the chemical exposure levels in the workplace every second and transmitted it to the platform. Daily average and maximum chemical exposure levels were also recorded. Results: We compared the results from the real-time monitoring system and the work environment measurement by traditional methods. Generally, the data from the real-time monitoring system showed a higher level because the sensors were closer to the chemical source. We found that 28% of jig cleaning task data exceeded the STEL. Peak exposure levels of sensor data were useful for understanding the characteristics of the task's chemical use. Limitations and implications were reviewed for the adoption of the system for preventing poisoning caused by chemical substances. Conclusions: We found that the real-time chemical exposure monitoring system was an efficient tool for preventing occupational diseases caused by chemical exposure, such as acute poisoning. Further research is needed to improve the reliability and applicability of the system. We also believe that forming a social consensus around the system is essential.