• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.153-161
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• 2009

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate 1) blood lead levels of workers at auto repair shops as Biological Exposure Indices (BEI) of toxic substances such as lead and toluene that are produced during automotive painting process, 2) the differences depending on personal characteristics of workers who have been exposed to toluene by using urine hippuric acid concentration as a marker and 3) the correlation between the concentration of hazardous chemicals in each workplace and the BEL. All subjects were male with a mean age of 36.2 years. In terms of age, most were in the 30 to 40 age group (13 persons, 48.1%). In relation to the length of work experience, the highest proportion had experience of 10 years of less (18 persons, 66.7%). Twenty three workers were cigarette smokers (85.2%) while 4 (14.8%) were non-smokers. In addition, more than 80% of the workers drank alcohol. Dust concentration and toluene exposure during automotive painting showed no significant difference with age, length of work experience, smoking and drinking while a significant difference (p<0.05) has been detected between lead concentration and smoking. The geometric mean of dust concentration, lead concentration and toluene concentration were $0.38mg/m^3,\;0.0021mg/m^3$ and 1.08ppm respectively. In addition, the geometric mean of blood lead levels and urine hippuric acid concentration were $1.70{\mu}g/dl$ and 0.25g/g respectively, which were lower than the standard levels suggested by the Ministry of Labor. To determine the influential factors on blood lead and urine hippuric acid concentrations, a correlation analysis has been conducted with variables of air, lead and toluene concentrations, age, length of work experience and amount of cigarette smoking. According to the analysis, a relatively high correlation (p<0.01) has been observed between air lead concentration and biological sample concentration.

• 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 Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.11-24
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• 2011

Working in a research laboratory means exposure to a wide range of hazardous substances. Several studies indicated that laboratory workers, especially working with chemicals, might have an increased risk of certain cancers. However, exposure assessment data in laboratory settings are scarce. This study was performed to examine several approaches for quantitatively assessing the exposure levels to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) among workers in chemistry laboratories. The list of 10 target VOCs, including ethanol, acetone, 2-propanol, dichlormethane, tetrahydrofuran, benzene, toluene, n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, was determined through self-administered questionnaire for six chemistry research laboratories in a university, a government-funded research institute, or private labs. From September to December 2008, 84 air samples were collected (15 area samples, 27 personal time weighted samples, 42 personal task-basis short-term samples). Real time monitors with photo ionization detector were placed during the sampling periods. In this study, benzene was observed exceeding the action levels, although all the results were below the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV). From the air sampling results, we concluded that (1) chemicals emitted during experiments could directly affect to neighbor office areas (2) chemical exposures in research laboratories showed a wide range of concentrations depending on research activities (3) area samples tended to underestimate the exposures relative to personal samples. Still, further investigation, is necessary for developing exposure assessment strategies specific to laboratories with unique exposure profiles.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.12
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• pp.615-641
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• 1999

Trade and the environment emerged as a major and complex issue for trade negotiators in the final stages of the Uruguay Round negotiations. The agreements and other international measures employing trade measures and trade sanctions for achieving global environmental objectives are Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer(1985), the Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer(1987), The Framework Convention on Climate Change(1992), the Convention on Biological Diversity(1992), the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal(1992), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Faunna and Flora(1975), the Rio Declaration, the Agenda 21, etc. The texts of the World Trade Organization(WTO) incorporated certain provisions which were designed to reflect some of the environmental concerns are Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Properity Rights(TRIPs), Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs), the General Agreement on Trade in Services(GATS), and Technical Barriers to Trade(TBT) There is the possibility of conflict between multilateral environmental agreements and WTO agreements granting waivers against trade measures and sanctions. This remains a possibility, especially between countries which are Member of WTO and which are not Members of the relevant multilateral environment agreements, and countries which are Members of both the WTO and the relevant MEAs. Measures taken under the trade-related provisions of MEAs could potentially give rise to conflicts under obligations arising in WTO texts. If the parties in dispute are WTO members while they are not members of MEAs, the WTO provisions can be granted a certain priority in terms of international norms and vice versa. When the parties concerned are both WTO members and MEAs, it will be rational to grant the WTO provisions a priority. However, such measures should neither constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries where similar conditions prevail, nor create a disguised restriction on trade. Also any trade measures taken should be necessary to prevent developments in trade from endangering the effectiveness of an MEA and they should be proportional and least trade restrictive.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 1996.11a
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• pp.39-49
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• 1996

Hundreds of contaminated sites have been generated due to the past mismagement of toxic substances, the lack of adequate environmental controls and ignorance of the potential environmental impacts of general activities in Canada. The general public, industry and governments have been addressing the contaminated sites with a number of cleanup responses. Environmental protection and remediation have become top priorities for the public and private sectors alike in Canada. Between the late 1980s and the early 1990s, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and Canada's Green Plan were followed by provincial and territorial laws and policies to regulate contaminated sites. The National Contaminated Site Remediation Program(NCSRP) was initiated in 1989. It has been administered through bilateral agreements between the federal and participating provincial/territorial governments. They have committed a total of $250 million toward orphan site cleanup and technology development/demonstration over a five year period. The federal government has committed an additional $25 million to assess contaminated sites on federal crown land. Over 40 orphan high-risk contaminated sites, over 230 federal sites and over 35 technology development/demonstration projects have been addressed. The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment has developed a series of guidance documents to ensure a consistent and successful implementation of the Program. The management/regulation scheme of contaminated sites generally consists of： 1) identifying and investigating sites, 2) determining site contamination, 3) recognizing responsibility and liability, 4) assessing priority for remediation, 5) activation, evaluation and implementing remediation options, and 6) documenting remediation completion. The NCSRP supported the successful development/demonstration of a wide range of innovative remedial technologies. They are related to stabilization/solidification, thermal washing/flushing, advanced oxidation, sonics, and groundwater contaminated with hydrocarbons, PAHS, PCBs, heavy metals, and other hazardous pollutants in a variety of site environments.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.737-747
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• 2006

Ministry of Environment (MOE) of Korea has been implementing the water quality management policy to focus on the control of organic matters (BOD and COD) for 28 years since 1978 when the water quality standards had been established. However, the government and the public have begun to recognize the necessity of creating the best water environment for people and aquatic life, and also formulating the various measures of water pollution, Consequently, MOE of Korea is establishing the basic plan of water environment management, with the vision of "Clean Water, Eco River 2015." The major targets of water environment management plan are to maintain ecosystem health and to protect water quality from various hazardous substances in water bodies. In order to achieve the major targets, it is essential to amend the water quality standards, which bring about the systematic management of various pollutants and healthy ecosystem. Introduction of the new techniques of water environment assessment is also prerequisite to maintain sustainable water environment. These can be accomplished under the consideration of following suggestions in environmental quality standards. First, several criteria should be complemented in water quality standards; they include the improvement of the current water quality classification system, the strengthening and supplement of relevant parameters considering human health in the standards, the introduction of biotic indices, and management standards on eutrophication. Secondly, it should be considered to introduce the biological water quality standards using biotic indices and the management standards for sediments. Lastly, it needs to introduce or develop an ecological status classification which could be used in the assessment of the water environment as a whole.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.83-96
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• 2005

Brominated flame retardants have the market share of 40%, comparing others because of their low cost and highly effective retardation against the flame. However, their toxic effects in human and properties of the accumulation in the environments have been issued among the international organization such as EU, OECD and etc. It, therefore, was surveyed the classification, toxic effects, and the usage of Brominated flame retardants, the trends for their managements in the world and Korea, and their contaminated levels in Korean Peninsula. In addition, the management directions for them were proposed. Penta, octa, and deca-BDE among brominated retardants will seem to be prohibited by the regulation as a flame retardants for plastics in Europe because of their toxic effects. Although Penta and Octa BDEs was used marginally in Korea, deca-BDE was 27% of brominated flame retardants (49,050 ton) which had been used in 2002. However, risk assessment for brominated retardants might not launched in Korea, yet. These reports demonstrate that toxic brominated retardants such as PBDEs will be assessed for their usage and the level of contamination in the environment in the area of the point sources like the industrial areas, incinerators and etc. However, the law to regulate the hazardous chemicals seems not to be dictated the monitoring of their contamination in the environment. We, therefore, suggest how to evaluate and to monitor the toxic contaminants with EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) and LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) system. Further, to establish the management system of BFRs (such as the monitering of contamination levels in environments, life cycle assessment, and risk assessment for the toxic chemicals), It can be recommended the law to deal with the method analyzing chemicals will be established, which contains QA/QC (Quality Assurance and Quality Control) to evaluate the analytic capability of the companies to prepare EIS (Environment Impact Statement) or other institutes for analyzing chemicals.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.175-181
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• 2021

Objectives: The correlation between the size of a leak hole, the volume of the leakage, and the range of influence was investigated for a hydrochloric acid tank-lorry. Methods: For the case of a tank-lorry chemical accident, KORA (Korea Off-site Risk Assessment Supporting Tool) was used to predict the leak rate and the range of influence according to the size of the leak hole. The correlation was studied using R. Results: As a result of analyzing the leak rate change according to the leak hole size in a 35% hydrochloric acid tank-lorry, as the size of the leak hole increased from 1 to 100 mm, the leak rate increased from 0.008 to 83.94 kg/sec, following the power function. As a result of calculating the range of influence under conditions ranging from 1 to 100 mm in size and 10 to 60 minutes of leakage time, it was found that the range spanned from a minimum of 5.4 m to a maximum of 307.9 m. As a result of multiple regression analysis using R, the quadratic function model best explained the correlation between the size of the leak hole, the leak time, and the range of influence with an adjected coefficient of determination of 0.97 and a root mean square error of 22.33. Conclusion: If a correlation database for the size of a leak hole is accumulated for various substances and under various conditions, the amount of leakage and the range of influence can easily be calculated, facilitating field response activities.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.148-155
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• 2013

Objectives: This study was performed in order to compare the average levels and similarity of occupational exposure limits in South Korea, the U.S., the E.U., Germany, Japan and Finland. Methods: In this study, occupational exposure limits (OELs) for one hundred and seventy seven hazardous substances which are managed in the workplace by the Occupational Safety and Health Act in South Korea were matched with those of other countries. The units for the exposure limits of the same substance (identical CAS number) were unified and the exposure limits in each country were compared with threshold limit values (TLVs) of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) using a geometric mean method. Geometric similarity was calculated to assess the association by each country. Results: The exposure limits according to ACGIH TLVs in South Korea, the E.U., Germany, Japan, and Finland were 148, 37, 76, 90, and 110, respectively. When using TLVs of ACGIH as a standard, the geometric mean ratios of Germany, Finland, the E.U., South Korea, and Japan were 0.79, 0.80, 0.82, 1.19, and 1.27, respectively. Geometric similarity with TLVs of ACGIH was highest in South Korea (0.75) followed by Japan (0.56), the E.U. (0.52), Finland (0.50), and Germany (0.46). Conclusions: Through the comparison of levels of OELs and similarities among South Korea, the U.S., the E.U., Germany, Japan, and Finland, we could better understand the characteristics of occupational exposure limits by country.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.36 no.11B
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• pp.1383-1388
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• 2011

Due to many recent activities on enforcement of the intensified environmental regulation such as the policies of curbing the greenhouse gas and the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), the usage of Light emitting diode (LED) has been rapidly increased and energy efficient management of LED light system is regarded as an important technology to enhance the energy efficiency. In this paper, we propose an energy-efficient control scheme of LED light, being composed of multiple light sources. The proposed scheme controls the intensity of LED light source to minimize the total intensity while providing the quality of lighting service. The intensity of light is assumed to be proportional to power consumption, thus the objective is to minimize the total power consumption. A linear programming problem is formulated to find the optimal intensity of each light source and procedure to apply the proposed scheme in the real system is suggested. The performance evaluation results elucidate that the proposed scheme achieves over 20% improvement in power consumption of light intensity in comparison with the conventional dimming control scheme.