• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.131-139
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• 2001

There is personal difference in the concentrations of trace elements in human hair according to human life or history suck as occupation, race, sex, age, food habit, social condition and so on. It is also found that the individual's deviation of elemental concentrations is reflecting the degree of environmental pollutants exposure to human body, intakes of food and metabolism. To compare the degree of accumulation in the hair tissue, human hair samples were collected from five positions of head and analyzed by non-destructive neutron activation analysis with and without washing according to IAEA's recommended method. Analytical quality control is performed using the certified reference material. The relative error of Cu, Cr, Na, Co, Mg, As, Se, Zn and those of Mn, Ca, Fe, Sr are within ${\pm}5%$ and ${\pm}10%$, respectively and the relative standard deviation of elements are within ${\pm}10%$. The deviations between the individuals and hair sampling positions were estimated. The deviation of individual was seven times more than that of positions. Under the defined condition, the difference and the correlation of elemental concentrations were compared with two different groups, office and factory workers. The result can be used as a fundamental data for human health and environment assessment.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.95-102
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• 2016

Controlling exposures to occupational hazards is important for protecting workers. Certified facepiece respirators are recommended when engineering controls do not adequately prevent exposures to airborne nanomaterials. The objective of this study is to carry out the experimental performance test to investigate the fractional efficiencies of the filter media for two grades of facepiece respirators. Experimental performance evaluations were carried out for the test NaCl particles and silver nanoparticles. For media of respirator filter, the penetration of NaCl particles was less than 5% and the most penetrating particle size occurred at about 40 nm. For silver nanoparticles, the most penetrating particle size was about 20nm with higher efficiency than those of NaCl particles. Charge characteristics of airborne nanoparticles is important because the media of respirator filter is made by the electret filter media.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.506-512
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• 2007

This study was conducted to describe the exposure levels of welding fumes by the type of manufacturers, work process, welding type and the size of manufacturers, and to find out the trend of chronological changes of airborne welding fume levels. The subjects of this study were 509 manufacturers, consisting of 11 types of manufacturers, 3 work processes, 7 welding types, in Busan from January, 1997 to December, 2005. Airborne concentration of welding fume was determined by manual of National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the data were analyzed by using SPSS 10.0 for Windows program. The mean concentration of airborne welding fume in all manufacturers was $1.29\;mg/m^3$ (Range: $0.01{\sim}3.00\;mg/m^3)$. The level of welding fume was the highest, as $1.96\;mg/m^3$, for manufactures of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, which was lower than $5.0\;mg/m^3$ of 8 hr-TWA in Korean permissible exposure limit for welding fume. There was a significant difference in the mean levels of welding fumes by work process, showing the highest in welding workshop ($1.39\;mg/m^3$), followed by pipeline welding workshop ($1.26\;mg/m^3$) and engineering workshop ($1.20\;mg/m^3$). Among welding types, the mean level of welding fume was the highest in the type of $CO_2$ & arc welding, as $1.46\;mg/m^3$, followed by $CO_2$ welding ($1.40\;mg/m^3$), shielded metal arc welding ($1.31\;mg/m^3$), spot welding ($1.27\;mg/m^3$), and so on. The highest mean level of welding fume was $1.58\;mg/m^3$ in work process of pipe line welding workshop for the manufacturers of basic iron and steel, and $2.27\;mg/m^3$ in the type of arc welding for the manufactures building ship and boats. By the size of manufacturers, the mean concentration of welding fume for manufactures in small scale with less than 50 workers was the highest as $1.45\;mg/m^3$ (Range: $0.07{\sim}3.00\;mg/m^3)$. The mean level of welding fume was the highest as $1.39\;mg/m^3$ both in 1997 and in 2005, showing a trend of fluctuating periodically within a range of $1.10{\sim}1.39\;mg/m^3$. The above results suggested that more effective control program for work environment producing welding fumes should be developed and applied since there were significant variations in welding fume levels by the type of manufacturers, work processes, welding types, the size of manufactures, and by year.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.183-188
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• 2017

In recent years, the automatic remote control controller of the gamma ray irradiator malfunctions, and radiation workers are continuously exposed to radiation exposure accidents. In the non-destructive testing field, much time and resources are invested in establishing a radioactive source monitoring system in order to prevent potential incidents of radiation. In this study, the gamma-ray response properties of the lead monoxide-based radiation detector were estimated through monte carlo simulation as a previous study for the development of a radioactive source location monitoring system that can be applied universally to various non-destructive testing equipment. As a result of the study, the optimized thickness of the radiation detector varies according to the gamma-ray energy emitted from the radioactive source, and the optimized thickness gradually increases with increasing energy. In conclusion, the optimized thickness of the lead monoxide-based radiation detector was $200{\mu}m$ for the Ir-192, $150{\mu}m$ for the Se-75 and $300{\mu}m$ for the Co-60. Based on these results, the appropriate thickness of lead monoxide-based radiation detector considering secondary-electron equilibrium was evaluated to be $300{\mu}m$ for general application. These results can be used as a basic data for determining the appropriate thickness required in the radiation detector when developing a radiation source location monitoring system for universal application to various non-destructive testing equipment in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2018

In the surface contamination test using the end-window Geiger-Muller type counter, the wrap is used as a method for protecting the detector exposed to the outside in order to measure the beta-rays. We analyze the effect of this method on the measurement rate and the correction factor, and wanted to make it clear to radiation workers that excessive use of the wrap can affect the measured value of the beta-rays. The experimental method was to compare and analyze the change of the beta-rays measurement counting rate and the calibration factor according to the wrap thickness using the beta-rays with different energy of 3 KBq, 1.5 KBq and 0.3 KBq. The subjects of this study were the end-window Geiger-Muller type counter which were held at the calibration center certified by Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (KOLAS) in March 2012, Cl-36 (Chlorine) and Sr-90 (Strontium) were used as the source of beta radiation. The measurement counting rate decreased with increasing wrap thickness, and the calibration factor increased with increasing wrap thickness. Since the changes of the measurement counting rate and the calibration factors can reduce the accuracy of the instrument readings, but also have a significant impact on detector contamination and damage, so there is a need to find out what thickness of wrap is most effective. If we using a wraps with thickness that show a low rate of change of the measurement counting rate and the calibration factor, it will protect the detector and minimize the effect on the measured value of the beta-rays.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.16-24
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• 1977

This is a result of clinical examination for workers working with Chromic acid and Chromium compounds in the plating room of their companies. I selected two companies that the plating process and the kinds of plating were similar. One (SW Co.) was more or less improved the operating environment with the ventilation machine so on and another (SR Co.) did not it so. The former was examined at March 29th 1977, the latter was at June 28th 1976. But the respiratory communicable diseases, flue or common cold so on were not spreaded there at that time. The clinical aspects were compared between the group of SW, and SR. The swelling and hyperemic signs of nasal mucous membrane and the experience of nasal bleeding were about 50%, generally, in all the groups. The following problem was dizziness or vertigo. The nasal signs in the group of SW (improved ventilation of the room air) were relatively weak, but in another, it was some what severe; - there was necrotic sign with thick nasal clast. They were only used of gauze mask when the vapors of various solvents were deeply full in the room. And there was very high rate of bronchial signs, sputum or coughing in the group of SW improved ventilation so called, than another one. I suppose that it means chronic inflammatory change of the bronchial mucous membrane with deeper signs, due to the individual protectors were carelessly or not used according to the improving of the operating environment. Theses nasal signs mentioned the above were not nearly in the other groups had not been done the Chromium plating. The Status of RBC, Hb and Ht, of urine protein and urobilinogen were mostly in normal range. But the number of WBC was more or less showed with a positive correlation to the working duration.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.62-66
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• 2016

There have been happening small and big fires due to the various causes in the thermal power plants which are the high risk buildings with the high possibility of big sizes of accidents, so the people in the power plants distribute the workers "the site action manuals in thermal power plants" and try to minimize the rate of disasters like fires through the regular education and training. However, in the Five Thermal Power Plants in Korea, there are no the standard of "the site action manuals" and Furthermore, the present educational manuals are mostly the hard copies with poor readability. So the standardization of the manuals are definitely needed. Therefore, in this research, we proceed the standardization of the manuals for the five areas of the site action manual s in the thermal power plants which are oil fires, electric fires, building fires, facility fires and gas leaking reaction SOP to improve the reaction power on the disasters in the power plants which are the national significant infrastructures, thus by using the manual, we propose the safety education contents for the thermal power plants based on the visualization technology using story-viewing method to complement the hard copy type disaster manuals.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.106-117
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• 2012

The proportion of rebar factory manufacturing which has been settled down in Korea recently seems to increase because of their strength such as high decreasing rate of rebar loss and manufacturing accuracy and the external factors such as an increase of downtown projects and a decrease of skilled workers. However, factory manufacturing using straight rebars causes a certain amount of rebar loss and an environmental problem including $CO_2$ emissions. To solve these problems, Bar in coil (BIC) has been introduced; however its application is very rare because it has not been produced so far in Korea and manufacturing machines of BIC are very expensive. Also, although BIC's application is expected to expand due to its strengths, few analysis of its application has been conducted. Therefore in this study, analysis of the BIC's characteristics and the influence to the rebar manufacturing industry are conducted for the advancement of rebar work as a basic research. To achieve this, inquiry on the present condition of rebar manufacturing industry in Korea is implemented. Then, the validation of BIC's applications by aspects of industry and the analysis of stakeholders' economical profit and loss are conducted.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.263-270
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• 2017

The shipbuilding industry uses large stationary tanks to store low-pressure air, which is used to open and close large shut-off valves. However, when supplying air from the tank to a distant valve, there are problems related to the need for supplementary pipes and the pressure drop during transportation. In this study, a portable welded vessel for storing high-pressure nitrogen (11 kg, 10 L, and 50 bar) was designed to prevent air leakage and improve the convenience of workers. This pressure vessel was elliptical to reduce the number of welded parts, which are structurally weak. The thickness and ratio of the major and minor axes of the pressure vessel were calculated to verify its structure stability at the working pressure (50 bar), and that the proposed weight and capacity were satisfactory. The residual stress caused by the welding process was calculated by performing a transient thermal-structural coupled field analysis using the ANSYS parametric design language (APDL), and the fatigue life of the vessel was verified based on the Goodman criterion.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.283-291
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• 2018

Objectives: To monitor the radon concentration level in plants that handle phosphorus rock and produce gypsum board and cement, and evaluate the effective dose considering the effect of radon exposure on the human body. Methods: Airborne radon concentrations were measured using alpha-track radon detectors (${\alpha}$-track, Rn-tech Co., Korea) and continuous monitors (Radon Sentinel 1030, Sun Nuclear Co., USA). Radon concentrations in the air were converted to radon doses using the following equation to evaluate the human effects due to radon. H (mSv/yr) = Radon gas concentration x Equilibrium factor x Occupancy factor x Dose conversion factor. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) used $8nSv/(Bq{\cdot}hr/m^3)$ as the dose conversion factor in 2010, but raised it by a factor of four to $33nSv/(Bq{\cdot}hr/m^3)$ in 2017. Results: Radon concentrations and effective doses in fertilizer manufacturing process averaged $14.3(2.7)Bq/m^3$ ($2.0-551.3Bq/m^3$), 0.11-0.54 m㏜/yr depending on the advisory authority and recommendation year, respectively. Radon concentrations in the gypsum-board manufacturing process averaged $14.9Bq/m^3$ at material storage, $11.4Bq/m^3$ at burnability, $8.1Bq/m^3$ at mixing, $10.0Bq/m^3$ at forming, $8.9Bq/m^3$ at drying, $14.7Bq/m^3$ at cutting, and $10.5Bq/m^3$ at shipment. It was low because it did not use phosphate gypsum. Radon concentrations and effective doses in the cement manufacturing process were $23.2Bq/m^3$ in the stowage area, $20.2Bq/m^3$ in the hopper, $16.8Bq/m^3$ in the feeder and $11.9Bq/m^3$ in the cement mill, marking 0.12-0.63 m㏜/yr, respectively. Conclusions: Workers handling phosphorous gypsum directly or indirectly can be assessed as exposed to an annual average radon dose of 0.16 to 2.04 mSv or 0.010 to 0.102 WLM (Working Level Month).