• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.302-312
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• 2017

Objectives: In this study, an evaluation of the working environment of furnace workers was performed and the work-relatedness of the occupational diseases were examined Methods: In this study, two electric furnaces at a single casting business site producing manganese-based iron alloy were selected, and occupational exposures to hazardous substances were evaluated for furnace workers and furnace worker assistants. Results: As a result, total dust concentration were $0.407{\sim}3.001mg/m^3$ and respirable dust concentration were $0.196{\sim}0.584mg/m^3$. The highest concentration of crystalline silica was $0.079mg/m^3$ In the case of Masato and Sosuckwhoi crystalline silica, they contained 90.85% and 4.17% respectively. Manganese concentration was the highest at a $0.205mg/m^3$ maximum. The average of black carbon is $11.56{\mu}g/m^3$ and the maximum concentration is $604.23{\mu}g/m^3$. PAHs concentration was the highest at a $78.301{\mu}g/m^3$ of naphthalene. The concentration of carbon monoxide was 18.82 ppm(total average 3.89 ppm) during pouring, and the maximum is 131 ppm. The formaldehyde concentration was 0.003 to 0.007 ppm. Conclusions: It seems that conditions in the past were worse, since casting has recently been performed only twice per day for about 20 minutes, reducing the amount of pouring, and local exhaust systems have been installed one-by-one. In addition, it was judged that the past exposure levels were higher considering the points measured on the back-side due to the risk of damage to the individual samples. It was found that operators could be exposed to high concentrations of crystalline silica, and that they were also exposed to high concentrations of metal(fume) and carbon monoxide during pouring. Therefore, there is a risk that occupational diseases such as lung cancer and COPD may occur with long-term work in such a process.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.190-199
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• 2003

This study was conducted to determine the factors affecting job satisfaction in workers by using the Job Stress Model proposed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Data were collected from December 1 to December 30, 1999. The subjects were 2,133 workers employed at 155 work sites, who were examined using NIOSH Job Stress questionnaire translated by the Korea Occupational Safety ${\pounds}|$ Health Academy and Occupational Safety ${\pounds}|$ Health Research Institute. SAS/PC program was used for statistical analysis using descriptive analysis. Pearson's correlation coefficient, ANOVA, and Stepwise multiple regression analysis. The results of this study were as follows. 1. According to general characteristics of the subjects, job satisfaction was high in those with less number of children. 2. By work condition, job satisfaction was higher in those who were working in a permanent job position, were working with regular time basis than with shift basis, were working in regular shift hours than in changing shift hours, were working for a short period, and were working less hours and overtime works per week. 3. In terms of physical work environment, job satisfaction was significantly related to 10 physical environmental factors. In other words, job satisfaction was high in workers who were working in an environment with no noise, bright light, temperature adjusted to an appropriate level during summer and winter, humidity adjusted to an appropriate level. well ventilation, clean air, no exposure to hazardous substance during work hour, overall pleasant work environment and not crowded work space. 4. By work-related factors, job satisfaction was high in those with less ambiguity about future job and role, high job control/autonomy, and less workload. On the other hand, job satisfaction was low in those with little utilization of competencies, and much role conflict at work and workload. 5. As for the relationships between job satisfaction and the non-work related factors, job satisfaction was high in workers who were volunteering at different organizations or active in religious activities for 5-10 hours per week. 6. In the relationships between job satisfaction and buffering factors, significantly positive correlations were found between job satisfaction and factors such as support by direct superior, support by peers, and support by spouse, friend and family. 7. There were nine factors that affected job satisfaction in the workers: age, number of children, work hours per week, noise, temperature at the work site during summer, uncomfortable physical environment, role ambiguity, role conflict, ambiguity in job future, work load, no utilization of competencies and social support from direct supervisor. These nine factors accounted for 26% of the total variance in the multiple regression analysis. In conclusion. the following are proposed based on the results of this study. 1. The most important physical environmental factors affecting job satisfaction in workers were noise, role ambiguity, and work load, suggesting a need to develop strategies or programs to manage these factors at work sites. 2. A support system that could promote job satisfaction is needed by emphasizing the roles of occupational health nurses who may be stationed at work sites and manage the factors that could generate job stress. 3. Job satisfaction is one of the three acute responses to stress proposed in NIOSH job stress model (job satisfaction. physical discomfort and industrial accidents). Therefore, further studies need to be conducted on the other two issues.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.334-343
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• 2023

Background: South Korea's Act on Registration and Evaluation, etc. of Chemicals (known as K-REACH) was established to protect public health and the environment from hazardous chemicals. 4,4'-Methylenedianiline (MDA), which is used as a major intermediate in industrial polymer production and as a vulcanizing agent in South Korea, is classified as a toxic substance under the K-REACH act. Although MDA poses potential ecological risks due to industrial emissions and hazards to aquatic ecosystems, no ecological risk assessment has been conducted. Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the ecological risk of MDA by identifying the actual exposure status based on the K-REACH act. Methods: Various toxicity data were collected to establish predicted no effect concentrations (PNECs) for water, sediment, and soil. Using the SimpleBox Korea v2.0 model with domestic release statistical data and EU emission factors, predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) were derived for ten sites, each referring to an MDA-using company. Hazard quotient (HQ) was calculated by ratio of the PECs and PNECs to characterize the ecological risk posed by MDA. To validate the results of modeling-based assessment, concentration of MDA was measured using in-site freshwater samples (two to three samples per site). Results: PNECs for water, sediment, and soil were 0.000525 mg/L, 4.36 mg/kg dw, and 0.1 mg/kg dw, respectively. HQ for surface water and sediment at several company sites exceeded 1 due to modeling data showing markedly high PEC in each environmental compartment. However, in the results of validation using in-site surface water samples, MDA was not detected. Conclusions: Through an ecological risk assessment conducted in accordance with the K-REACH act, the risk level of MDA emitted into the environmental compartments in South Korea was found to be low.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.3-12
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• 1980

Certain heavy metals which may lead peoples to poisonous status are widely used in industry and their uses have been increasing along with rapid industrialization of this country. Such an increasement of metal uses aggravates the status of environmental pollution affecting foodstuffs which are the most important life supporting factor of animal and humanbeing. Concerning the safety measures to minimize food-borne transmission of such hazardous metals, surveillance is the backbone of them and probably more so with a potential problem such as intoxication. Theoretically, this surveillance should include the determination of levels of heavy metal toxicants in foods, the determination of food consumption patterns and typical total diet, and the estimation of total load of the metal contaminant from all sources of exposure including air, water, and occupational sources. In recent year, actually, such estimates on the total daily intake of some heavy metals from foods have been made in several developed countries and a wide variation of date by season, locality, and research method was recognized. Also in this country, this kind of research data is vitally needed to make up for the serious shortage or lack of references to estimate the total amount of heavy metal intake of the people. In this study, a modification model for estimation of the total daily intake of cadmium copper, nickel, zinc, and lead through foods was applied and concentrations of the above metals in crops cultivated in this country were measured with atomic absorption spectro photometer to get the following results. 1. Level of heavy metal concentration in crops Generally, the levels of such metals in essential crops such as rice, cucumber, radish. chinese cabbage, apple, pear, grape, and orange are similar or lower than those in Japan and other developed countries. By the way, a striking result on cadmium concentration was increasement of its concentration in rice from $0{\sim}0.035ppm$ in 1970 to 0.11ppm in this study. However, the value is still far below the. Japanese Permissible Lebel of 1.0ppm. 2. Estimation of total daily intake per capita from foods A new model for estimation was devised utilizing levels of metal concentration in foods, amount of food consumed, and other food factors. Based on the above method, the daily intake of cadmium was estimated to be $70.53{\mu}g/man/day$ in average which was as high as the Limit Value of ILO/WHO(up to $71.4{\mu}g/man/day$). Also, 3.89mg of Zinc, 1.65mg of cuppor, 0.32mg of lead were given as the total daily intake per capita by this research. 3. Efficacy of washing or skinning to decrease the amount of metals in crops After washing the crops sufficiently with commercial linear alkylate sulfonate, the concentration of heavy metals could be reduced to $50{\sim}80%$ showing decreasement rate of $20{\sim}50%$. Also, after skinning the fruits, decreasement rate of the heavy metal concentration shelved $0{\sim}50%$.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2024

Dangerous tasks that occur every day at industrial site manufacturing plants, which have recently been making rapid changes, were classified by type, and the effect of mobile circuit television (CCTV) on safety accidents among daily safety management methods was analyzed. The subject of the study is about 3,000 workers who manage the infrastructure facility sector to supply utilities such as gas, water, and electricity to the display manufacturing process located in Asan City, and the study was conducted based on the daily dangerous work from 2019 to 2022, and during this study period, many construction works such as new investment and expansion of construction and manufacturing processes were occurring at the site. As a result, the rate of safety accidents and exposure to risks are expanding, and most of the safety accidents occurred because the sectors that did not follow the basics and the safety measures on the site were not implemented. In this paper, it was confirmed that there is an accident reduction effect according to the relationship between the dangerous work classified according to the work importance and the mobile CCTV shooting rate. Considering the characteristics of the manufacturing plant site, it can be used to play the role of basic data for preventing safety accidents based on the expansion of the introduction of a new safety management culture in the future.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.67-90
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to develop indoor air quality management strategies regarding indoor air pollutants while considering various factors affecting indoor pollutants concentration. The Integrated Indoor Air Quality model(IIAQ) developed by Seoul National University is used for this study. The IIAQ model is a tool that can provide an integrated view to indoor environmental pollution by simulating suggested scenarios. The results of the modeling are used to assess health risk. The concentrations that are used for the risk characterization are weighted concentrations based on the period of time in each place and existing Indoor Air Quality(IAQ) standards. The estimated concentration of toluene and formaldehyde for 10 years through the IIAQ model was 207.3 $ug/m^3$ and 36.4 $ug/m^3$ in indoors, and 55.9 $ug/m^3$ and 8.62 $ug/m^3$ in outdoors. These concentrations are lower than the existing IAQ standards. The estimated carcinogenic risk of formaldehyde is up to 1.05E-03 for the adult male group and exceeds 1E-06 for all receptor groups. This value means that cancer could affect one person out of 1000. The estimated non-carcinogenic risk of toluene was lower than 1, which means that there was no serious non- carcinogenic risk. The result of modeling shows that using low emitting indoor sources is the most effective strategy for both formaldehyde and toluene. This risk assessment suggests that the total exposure levels of existing IAQ standards may cause serious carcinogenic risk. In order to avoid uncontrolled risk, it is suggested that the current IAQ standards should be adjusted by taking into account the total amount of exposure from all exposure pathways from indoor and outdoor sources.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.27
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• pp.3.1-3.4
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• 2012

Objectives: The current use of humidifier detergent and its harmful impact on humans has arisen as a societal environmental health issue. Therefore, in this study we aimed to explore the relationship between demo-socio characteristics and humidifier use, as well as the monthly usage changes in pregnant women; thus, we report the actual status of humidifier usage of Korea's pregnant population. Methods: From a birth cohort of a Mothers and Children's Environmental Health (MOCEH) study, 1,144 pregnant women who responded through questionnaires including demo-socio characteristics, obstetric status and household environment including whether they use humidifier and frequency of use were included in this study. Statistical analyses were performed to explore the relationship between maternal characteristics and the relevance of the use of humidifiers was performed using a chi-square test, a t-test and univariate logistic regression analysis. The monthly usage rate was demonstrated in the graph. Results: The humidifier usage rate in pregnant women was 28.2%. The average frequency of humidifier usage was 4.6 days per week, 7.3 hours per day. The usage rate was higher in the multipara group and the above the age of 34 age group than in the primipara and below the age of 34 groups. Seoul showed a higher usage rate than Cheonan and Ulsan and as the education level and income increased, the usage rate of humidifiers among pregnant women also increased. In the monthly trend of usage rate, the winter season showed the highest usage rate of over 45% and the lowest in late summer and beginning of fall with a value of 12% or less. Conclusions: During pregnancy, the mother's body is especially vulnerable to hazardous environmental exposure that not only affects the pregnant woman but also the fetus. Further research is still needed to elucidate the route and effect of environmental risk factors. Therefore, based on precautionary and preventive principles, special interest and caution in harmful environments are strongly needed not only at an individual level but also at a national level.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.477-487
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• 2019

Objectives: Firefighters are known to be exposed to a variety of toxic substances, but little information is available on the exposure profile of firefighting activities. The aims of this study were to conduct exposure monitoring of toxic chemicals at fire scenes, to compare the concentrations of respective chemicals among firefighting tasks, and to assess the main factors influencing the concentrations of chemicals. Methods: Researchers performed sampling at firefighting scenes during four weeks in 2013. At the scene, we collected samples based on firefighters' own activities and examined the situation and scale of the accident. Collected samples were classified into three categories, including fire extinguishing and overhaul, and were analyzed in the laboratory according to respective analysis methods. Results: A total of fourteen fire activity events were surveyed: five fire extinguishing, six overhaul, and three fire investigations. Although no substance exceeded the ACGIH TLV, PAHs were detected in every sample. Naphthalene ranged from 0.24 to 279.13 mg/㎥ (median 49.6 mg/㎥) and benzo(a)pyrene was detected in one overhaul case at 10.85 ㎍/㎥. Benzene (0.01-12.2 ppm) was detected in every task and exceeded the ACGIH TLV. No significant difference in concentrations between tasks was shown. Conclusions: These results indicate that all firefighting tasks generated various hazardous combustion products, including possible carcinogens.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.5-22
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• 1969

The urban population of our country is rapidly increasing due to many factors of social structure, and sociologists are predicting that the increase rate of the urban population will be over 50% in 1980's. Above all, the population of the capital city of Seoul, is at present more than four millions. Such centring of people in cities, together with the improvement of the standards of living, caused rapid increase in the amount of fuel consumption, and this consumption of fuels became one of the primary sources of the air pollution in cities. Moreover, the heavy traffic, construction of many tall buildings, and the increasing number of new factories due to the industrial development-all these are contributing to make the matter of air pollution worse and worse in the Metropolitan, whose geographical location is quite unfavorable considered from the view point of air pollution. Most homes in Seoul use briquet as fuel, while oils are used in tall buildings. The CO, $SO_2$, and smoke that come from burning of these fuels are a great threat to the health of the urban population. With the purpose of examining the influence of air pollution upon the public health, written inquiries were made upon respiratory diseases, and the carboxyhemoglobin saturation in the blood was measured to determine whether the air pollution may affect the health of the urban population. Method of Health Examination (1) Investigation of Respiratory Diseases Patients' records were examined to figure out the monthly ambulance rate of respiratory patients to the total number of patients treated. On the other hand, by using the questionnaire form approved by the Medical Research Council's Committee on Research into Chronic Bronchitis, investigators interviewed the examinees and inquired into the respiratory symptoms. (2) Measuring of Carboxyhemoglobin Saturation From the ear lobe of the examinees, with the use of the melangeur for the white blood cell counting, blood was taken, and after diluting it ten times with 0.1% $Na{2}CO_{3}$, again diulting it 20 times with 0.5% $Na_{2}\;CO_{3}$, its absorbancy was measured. The following results are obtained from the investigation. (1) It was found out that 7.7% of the total patients under treatment were suffering from upper respiratory infection, acute or chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, pulmonary emphysema and bronchiectasis. Of them all, patients with upper respiratory infection numbered the greatest with 4.8% and patients with acute or chronic bronchitis the next with 2.1%, and their monthly ambulance rate was high from December to February during the winter, and from April to May and from September to October during the changeable seasons. (2) The daily ambulance rate of respiratory patients, it was revealed, had a close connection with the concentration of $SO_2$ and CO in the air. (3) It was found out that men were more subject to respiratory disease than women, and both men and women were more liable to the diseases with the advancing of age. (4) People living at Choong-ku with the heavy traffic and in the industrial zones of Yeungdungpo had high frequency of respiratory symptoms. (5) Considered from the view point of occupations, high frequency was found among those without job, with jobs unknown, merchants and intdustrial workers, whose social status was rather low and traffic policemen who were always exposed to the exhaust gas of cars. As for women, the frequency was detected in the order of those from high to low, housewives who were exposed to briquet gas, women with jobs unknown, women without jobs, whose social status was low. (6) Ex-smokers rather than smokers, of both sexes, had higher frequency. As for men, heavy smokers had high frequency, while in women light smokers had rather high frequency which was presumed to be due to their average old age. (7) Men's average of carboxyhemoglobin saturation was 9.48%, while women's was 11.3%, higher than men's. (p<0.05). Age meant no difference in the case of men, but as for women, the saturation was remarkably high between the ages from 20 to 60. (8) No regional difference was detected in the carboxyhemoglobin saturation. (9) The carboxyhemoglobin saturation was found, in the case of men, in the order of office workers, traffic policemen, students, the unemployed, merchants and industrial workers, drivers; and as for women, the order was housewives, office workers, merchants and industrial workers. (10) No significant correlation was found between the carboxyhemoglobin saturation and the concentration of CO detected in kitchens, or between the carhoxyhemoglobin saturation and the passing of time after exposure to briquet gas. No difference of carboxyhemoglobin saturation was detected between smokers and non-smokers, and the degrees of smoking; only, significant negative correlation was found between the passing of time after smoking and the carboxyhemoglobin saturation. It is ture that air pollution causes or aggravates the respiratory diseases, increases the carboxyhemoglobin saturation in the blood, but what seems to be more hazardous to the health is the air polluted by the briquet gas in the kitchens and on-dol rooms rather than the atmospheric air pollution.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.316-322
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: Pesticides concentration was monitored in 50 agricultural lakes, and ecological risk for aquatic organism was assessed using risk quotient (RQ) and probabilistic methods. METHODS AND RESULTS: Pesticides concentrations detected in 50 agricultural lakes during peak season (June and September) were in the range of $0.17{\sim}0.99{\mu}g/L$. The RQ for algae and the other species was estimated to be 0.25 and below 0.01, indicating medium risk and no risk. Oxadiazon predominantly contributed to RQ value of 99% for algae, fishes, and amphibians. In terms of hazardous concentration at 5% of species ($HC_5$), ecological risk quotients (ERQ) for oxadiazon ranged from 0.18~0.33, showing a medium risk level. Overall, the concentrations of pesticides were much lower than $HC_5$), value. Probability of combined ecological risk for pesticides ranged from 1.82% to 2.41%. CONCLUSION(s): Combined ecological risk probability did not exceed the acceptable level of 5%, indicating no ecological risk for selected aquatic species. This study suggests that regular ecological risk assessment (ERA) will be required to protect and manage an agricultural lake. Not only ERA at screening level by comparing exposure with toxic effects for aquatic species also advanced ERA technique considering species in indigenous to Korea, chronic toxicity, pulse dose, fate, and environmental factors should be required.