• Korean Journal of Weed Science
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.73-79
• /
• 1997

Governments and industry have a growing interest in the harmonization of environmental test methods and risk assessment procedures. OECD are currently producing a set of harmonised test guidelines for studying the environmental fate and ecological effects of pesticides. FAO has published an environmental risk assessment procedure. This procedure, which is similar to those used in US and Europe, is based on calculating the ratio of the toxicity of a pesticide to indicator organisms to their level of exposure to the pesticide. The exposure depends on both the concentration of the pesticide and its bioavailability. Ratios which indicate a pesticide will not produce a harmful effect have been established using ecological field studies. Examples are presented for assessing the risk to aquatic ecosystems, earthworms and honeybees. Long-term field studies(up to 20 years) have also shown that pesticides can be used indefinitely without harming soil fertility. Herbicides can be used to avoid the ecologically damaging effects of using soil cultivations excessively for weed control.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.273-279
• /
• 2015

Effects of passive film quality by chemical passivation and solution flow on the corrosion behavior of 304 stainless steel in HCl solution were investigated using a coloration indicator, and by corrosion weight loss, electrochemical polarization and element dissolution measurements. A high redness degree suggests a low passive-film integrity for 304 stainless steel following air exposure, while the minimum redness degree for the samples after chemical passivation suggests a high passive-film integrity. In the static condition, samples subjected to air exposure exhibited a high corrosion rate and preferential dissolution of Fe. Chemical passivation inhibited the corrosion rate due to the intrinsically high structural integrity of the passive film and high concentrations of Cr-rich oxides and hydroxide. Solution flow accelerated corrosion by promoting both the anodic dissolution reaction and the cathodic reaction. Solution flow also altered the preferential dissolution to fast uniform dissolution of metal elements.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.223-234
• /
• 2000

Objective - To evaluate the usefulness of chromium in erythrocytes as a biological marker of exposure to hexavalent chromium in chromate producers and chrome platers Methods - Blood and urine samples were ramdomly obtained from chromate producers (n=34) and chrome platers (n=35), and non-exposed workers (n=75), chromium level in erythrocytes and plasma, and urine were measured. Different chromium exposure workers were assessed through measurements of airborne hexavalent chromium concentrations using a personal air sampler. Linear associations between variables were evaluated with correlation analysis. Results - The chromate producers had mean chromium levels in erythrocytes five fold as higher than the chrome platers, and fifteen fold higher than non-exposed group. Among the chromium exposed workers, airborne hexavalent chromium was positively and strongly correlated with in erythrocytes (r=0.689, p<0.01), and erythrocytes chromium was inversely correlated with hematocrit (r=-0.441, p<0.01), hemoglobin (r=-0.465, p<0.01) and the number of red blood cells (r=-0.28, p<0.05). Conclusions - In conclusion, this study suggests that chromium in erythrocytes is a good indicator of the chromium body burden caused by exposure to hexavalent chromium.

• Journal of Aquaculture
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.196-201
• /
• 2003

Sessile organisms such as the oyster Crassostrea gigas have been given much attention as a potential biomonitoring indicator to assess the impact of toxicants on aquatic organism. In this study, we exposed cells isolated from gill of oyster (Crassostrea gigas) to hydrogen peroxide in vitro. In addition oysters were in vivo exposed to pyrene and benzo(a)pyrene at various concentrations for 2 weeks. Comet assay was used to detect DNA single strand breaks and to investigate the application of this technique as a tool for aquatic biomonitoring. Hydrogen peroxide increased DNA single strand break with increasing concentration after 30 minutes exposure in vitro. Pyrene and benzo(a)pyrene caused DNA damage only at very high concentration (100 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L or 1000 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L) at two week exposure in vivo. DNA damage was relatively higher at hemocyte than at gill. It suggested that metabolized PAHs are transferred to hemolymph from digestive gland which have a relatively high enzyme activity, and attacked the DNA of hemocyte, while gill accumulated PAHs without degrading them to their metabolites due to low enzyme activity at gill. Both in vitro and in vivo exposure experiments showed that the comet assay is an effective tool on screening whether the organism are exposed to genotoxic contaminants.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.265-270
• /
• 2018

This study was to measure the exposure of diesel vehicle drivers to elemental carbon (EC) as an indicator of diesel particulate matter (DPM) emitted from diesel vehicles in an underground coal mine over 3 years as per NIOSH Method 5040. Our study results (range $10{\mu}g/m^3-377{\mu}g/m^3$ for the loader drivers, $19{\mu}g/m^3-162{\mu}g/m^3$ for the SMV drivers) were similar or less than previous study results (range $5{\mu}g/m^3-2,200{\mu}g/m^3$) for normal mine operations. From this study results, it appeared that the exposures decreased in the second and the third year. It is thought that the reasons for the decreased personal DPM (EC) exposures over the 3 years were related to the following recommendations; more frequent monitoring and maintenance of the diesel vehicles and their DPM filtration systems, more consistent monitoring of the mine's ventilation system and changes of work practices such as minimizing the opening of diesel vehicle windows. An educational program on adverse health effects of exposure to DPM and use of respiratory protection (P2 respirators) also assisted in minimizing driver exposure to DPM.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.311-323
• /
• 2019

The number of newly constructed traditional Korean houses, i.e., Hanoks, and light-frame buildings is increasing. However, related research is limited owing to the lack of awareness regarding safety evaluations. Therefore, this study conducted an outdoor exposure test to accurately evaluate wooden constructions. Spruce, pine, and fir (SPF) material was monitored for a year, wherein the SPF material was artificially dried under 18% moisture content, and its physical properties and color differences were measured once a month. Large differences were observed in the material's weight and moisture content, which are indexes sensitive to daily range and rainfall; however, no significant difference was found for other basic properties in the pre and post test results. Herein, $L^*$, $a^*$, and $b^*$ values represent color differences; these values exhibited a general decrease after the test. Such differences were attributed to the loss of lignin in the wood. The color difference value was high between the months of May and July, when the daily range and rainfall significantly fluctuated. Multiple regression analysis was performed on the $a^*$ value (redness indicator), daily range, rainfall, and ultraviolet index. The results indicated that the daily range influenced redness the most. According to the estimated regression equation, the daily range and redness are positively correlated. Based on the results, the types and influence of independent variables on color difference are expected to change as the wood's duration of outdoor exposure and the amount of data obtained both increase.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.87-94
• /
• 1995

Since March 1992, total 200 patients who visited our hospital as functional or organic lesions of central nervous system were treated by gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery for 27 months. Thirty-nine patients of total cases was diagnosed as cerebral arteriovenous malformation. The rate of magnification on X-ray film was reduced by cutting fixation adaptor from 1.0 to below 1.45 times. In order to treat the deep- and lateral-seated cerebral arteriovenous malformation, we slightly modified the angiographic indicator, the commercial Leksell system, by cutting each inner sides about 5mm, We performed the more distinction of the scales by adapting 0.5mm or 1mm copper filter to angiographic indicator. The center point of indicator(X=100mm, Y=100mm, Z=100mm) is corrected by adjusting scales of X-, Y-, Z-axis to each inner 100 and outer 100 point within 1-2mm by repeated exposure of X-ray on films in trial-and-errors. We have developed the 'GKANGIO' programed as the Fortran-77 in Microvax - 3100, which can save treatment planning time and perform accurate pretreatment planning using the theoretical target metrix center. The theoretical description of the simplified method is presented for the reduction of experimental and numerical errors in treatment planning of radiosurgery.

• Journal of Conservation Science
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.220-231
• /
• 2021

The use of digital copies of film-based analog images and the introduction of digital radiographic imaging systems using image plates gradually replace the non-destructive radiationirradiation method of Cultural Heritage. The quality of images obtained from this technique is affected by conditions such as tube voltage, tube current, and exposure time, type of image acquisition medium, distance of the artifacts from the image acquisition medium, and thickness of artifacts. In this study, we evaluated the grayscale image obtained using GE's Computed Radiograhpy (CR) imaging system, the transmission characteristics of the X-ray source for each tree type (pine, chestnut, sawtooth oak, ginkgo) used in wooden Cultural Heritage, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast. The GE's CR imaging were analyzed using the Duplex wire image quality indicator, line-pair gauges.

• Journal of Aquaculture
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.173-179
• /
• 2005

Superoxide dismutase (SOD), an antioxidant enzyme catalyzing the first step for scavenging the reactive oxygen species is important as an early warning indicator to address various biological stresses. For this reason, the monitoring the expressed pattern of SOD gene in fish organs is one of important biomarkers to assess the aquatic pollution caused by many toxic chemicals. Based on the Northern blot hybridization, semi-quantitative and/or realtime RT-PCRs, the alteration of SOD gene transcripts in shark liver was examined during the experimental acute exposures to cadmium. The expression of SOD at mRNA level was up-regulated both by injection (0, 0.5, 1 or 2 mg $CdCl_2/kg$ body weight for 48 hours) and by immersion (0 or $5{\mu}M$ Cd for 0, 1, 4 and 7 days) treatments of cadmium. The transcriptional stimulation of shark SOD gene by cadmium exposure was dependent upon doses and durations: there was a trend toward more increase in higher dose and longer durations of exposure. The hepatic SOD mRNA levels showed also a general agreement with the tissue cadmium concentrations accumulated in immersion exposure. This result may provide useful strategy to develop a fine molecular biomarker at mRNA level for detecting aquatic pollution caused by toxic metals.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.344-352
• /
• 2012

Mercury is a toxic and non-essential metal in the human body. Mercury is ubiquitously distributed in the environment, present in natural products, and exists extensively in items encountered in daily life. There are three forms of mercury, i.e., elemental (or metallic) mercury, inorganic mercury compounds, and organic mercury compounds. This review examines the toxicity of elemental mercury and inorganic mercury compounds. Inorganic mercury compounds are water soluble with a bioavailability of 7% to 15% after ingestion; they are also irritants and cause gastrointestinal symptoms. Upon entering the body, inorganic mercury compounds are accumulated mainly in the kidneys and produce kidney damage. In contrast, human exposure to elemental mercury is mainly by inhalation, followed by rapid absorption and distribution in all major organs. Elemental mercury from ingestion is poorly absorbed with a bioavailability of less than 0.01%. The primary target organs of elemental mercury are the brain and kidney. Elemental mercury is lipid soluble and can cross the blood-brain barrier, while inorganic mercury compounds are not lipid soluble, rendering them unable to cross the blood-brain barrier. Elemental mercury may also enter the brain from the nasal cavity through the olfactory pathway. The blood mercury is a useful biomarker after short-term and high-level exposure, whereas the urine mercury is the ideal biomarker for long-term exposure to both elemental and inorganic mercury, and also as a good indicator of body burden. This review discusses the common sources of mercury exposure, skin lightening products containing mercury and mercury release from dental amalgam filling, two issues that happen in daily life, bear significant public health importance, and yet undergo extensive debate on their safety.