• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.185-200
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• 2022

The risk of various hazardous substances in aquatic environment comprises not only the concentration of substances in the environmental medium but also their accumulation in fish through complex food web and the health risks to humans through the fish. In Korea, the monitoring of residual toxicant in aquatic ecosystems began in 2016 following the enforcement of the Acts on registration and evaluation for the management of chemicals used in daily life (consumer chemical products), and attention has been paid to potentially hazardous substances attributed to them. Recently, studies have been carried out to investigate the distribution of these hazardous substances in the ecosystem and calculate their emission factors. These include the accumulation and transport of substances, such as detergents, dyes, fragrances, cosmetics, and disinfectants, within trophic levels. This study summarizes the results of recently published research on the inflow and distribution of hazardous substances from consumer chemical products to the aquatic environment and presents the scientific implication. Based on studies on aquatic environment monitoring techniques, this study suggests research directions for monitoring the residual concentration and distribution of harmful chemical substances in aquatic ecosystems. In particular, this study introduces the directions for research on trophic position analysis using compound specific isotope analysis and trophic magnification factors, which are needed to fulfill the contemporary requirements of selecting target fish based on the survey of major fish that inhabit domestic waters and assessment of associated health risk. In addition, this study provides suggestions for future biota monitoring and chemical research in Korea.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.449-461
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• 2013

As the hydrofluoric acid leak in Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do or hydrochloric acid leak in Ulsan, Gyeongsangnam-do demonstrated, chemical related accidents are mostly caused by large amounts of volatile toxic substances leaking due to the damages of storage tank or pipe lines of transporter. Safety assessment is the most important concern because such toxic material accidents cause human and material damages to the environment and atmosphere of the surrounding area. Therefore, in this study, a hydrofluoric acid leaked from a storage tank was selected as the study example to simulate the leaked substance diffusing into the atmosphere and result analysis was performed through the numerical Analysis and diffusion simulation of ALOHA(Areal Location of Hazardous Atmospheres). the results of a qualitative evaluation of HAZOP (Hazard Operability)was looked at to find that the flange leak, operation delay due to leakage of the valve and the hose, and toxic gas leak were danger factors. Possibility of fire from temperature, pressure and corrosion, nitrogen supply overpressure and toxic leak from internal corrosion of tank or pipe joints were also found to be high. ALOHA resulting effects were a little different depending on the input data of Dense Gas Model, however, the wind direction and speed, rather than atmospheric stability, played bigger role. Higher wind speed affected the diffusion of contaminant. In term of the diffusion concentration, both liquid and gas leaks resulted in almost the same $LC_{50}$ and ALOHA AEGL-3(Acute Exposure Guidline Level) values. Each scenarios showed almost identical results in ALOHA model. Therefore, a buffer distance of toxic gas can be determined by comparing the numerical analysis and the diffusion concentration to the IDLH(Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health). Such study will help perform the risk assessment of toxic leak more efficiently and be utilized in establishing community emergency response system properly.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.336-344
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: This study was carried out to collect occurrence data on aluminum in 12 type agricultural products and assess dietary exposure risk to the Korean population health for aluminum concentration in agricultural products.METHODS AND RESULTS: Aluminum analysis samples were performed using microwave device and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer. The LOD(Limit of Detection) for aluminum was 0.851 μg/kg, while the LOQ(Limit of Quantitation) was 2.838 μg/kg and recovery was 97.6% for aluminum. The average levels of aluminum in mg/kg were 0.526 for rice, 0.546 for Korean cabbage, 1.316 for corn, 6.207 for soybean, 0.549 for sweet potato, 0.257 for potato, 6.963 for spinach, 1.213 for carrot, 0.524 for garlic, 0.950 for radish, 1.015 for leek, and 3.511 for Welsh onion. The dietary exposures of aluminum through usual intake were polished rice 89.31 μg/day, Korean cabbage 33.14 μg/day, corn 0.66 μg/day, soybean 3.72 μg/day, sweet potato 6.86 μg/day, potato 4.96 μg/day, spinach 45.96 μg/day, carrot 6.79 μg/day, garlic 2.36 μ g/day, radish 7.32 μg/day, leek 2.23 μg/day and Welsh onion 43.89 μg/day, taking 0.57%, 0.21%, 0.00%, 0.02%, 0.04%, 0.03%, 0.04%, 0.04%, 0.02%, 0.05%, 0.01% and 0.28% of PTWI(2 mg/kg b.w./week), respectively.CONCLUSION: The levels of overall dietary exposure to aluminum for Korean population through intake of agricultural product was far below the recommended JECFA level, indicating of least possibility of risk.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.25-36
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• 2024

Purpose: Tetracycline is not recommended for children under 12 by guideline due to the risk of tooth discoloration. We aimed to assess the incidence of dental discoloration in Korean children prescribed tetracyclines and investigate whether its risk was greater in tetracycline-exposed children than in the general population. Methods: This population-based cohort study using the Health Insurance Review and Assessment service database included children aged 0-12 years exposed to tetracyclines for at least 1 day between January 2008 and December 2020. The primary outcome was the incidence rate of dental discoloration ≥6 months after prescription, and the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was evaluated as secondary outcome. Results: 56,990 children were included-1,735 and 55,255 aged <8 and 8-12 years, respectively. 61% children were prescribed tetracycline for <14 days with mostly second-generation tetracyclines, doxycycline (61%) and minocycline (35%). The 5- and 10-year cumulative incidence rates of dental discoloration were 4.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.0-5.7%) and 5.7% (95% CI, 4.1% to 7.8%), respectively, in the 0-7 years age group and 0.8% (95% CI, 0.7% to 0.9%) and 1.3 (95% CI, 1.1% to 1.4%), respectively, in the 8-12 years age group. Tetracycline exposure did not increase such risk compared to that in the general population (SIR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.69 to 1.60). Conclusions: The incidence of dental discoloration was lower than previously suggested. Relieving the age restriction for prescribing tetracyclines may be considered.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.479-495
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• 2018

This study was carried out to research the multimedia fate modeling, concentration distribution and impact assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) emitted from automobiles, which are known as carcinogenic and mutation chemicals. The amount of emissions of PAHs was determined based on the census data of automobiles at a target S-city and emission factors of PAHs, where multimedia fugacity modeling was conducted by the restriction of PAHs transfer between air-soil at the impervious area. PAHs' Concentrations and their distributions at several environmental media were predicted by multimedia fugacity model (level III). The residual amounts and the distributions of PAHs through mass transfer of PAHs between environment media were used to assess the health risk of PAHs at unsteady state (level IV), where the sensitivity analyses of the model parameter of each variable were conducted based on Monte Carlo simulation. The experimental result at S-city showed that Fluoranthene among PAHs substances are the highest residual concentrations (60%, 53%, 32% and 34%) at all mediums (atmospheric, water, soil, sediment), respectively, where most of the PAHs were highly accumulated in the sediment media (more than 80%). A result of PAHs concentration changes in S-city over the past 34 years identified that PAHs emissions from all environmental media increased from 1983 to 2005 and decreased until 2016, where the emission of heavy-duty vehicle including truck revealed the largest contribution to the automotive emissions of PAHs at all environment media. The PAHs concentrations in soil and water for the last 34 years showed the less value than the legal standards of PAHs, but the PAHs in air exceeded the air quality standards from 1996 to 2016. The result of this study is expected to contribute the effective management and monitoring of toxic chemicals of PAHs at various environment media of Metropolitan city.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.71-81
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• 2005

The purposes of this study was to collect, analyze, and describe the MF exposure levels from subways in Korea and to measure and evaluate the MF levels generated from electric appliances used at general homes. The target subway lines were Seoul Metropolitan Line 1 to Line 8, Bundang Line, Incheon Line, Daegu Line, Gwangju Line, and Busan Line 1 and Line 2. We measured at each station in those subway lines and, all the train types (pantograph-equipped, motor-equipped, and common), and platform types(facing and isolating) were investigated by the distance(80, 200, 400 cm) from the train on 19 targeted subway lines using 3 magnetic field measuring devices (EMDEXII, Enertech Co.) during the survey from January till October, 2004. On the other hand, the levels of the 60Hz magnetic fields generated from 14 items of home electric appliances such as electric blankets, hair dryers, electric razors, etc. were measured at 10 general homes using 5 EMDEXII meters with a sampling interval of 1.5 second by the distance(surface, 30, 50, 100, 300cm ) from the target electric appliances. The survey results in the whole subway lines examined in this study were as follows; Seoul Metropolitan Line 4 using AC(alternating current) power source showed the highest mean value of $2.85{\mu}T$, followed by Seoul Metropolitan Line 1 running between Seoul and Incheon using AC($2.78{\mu}T$), Seoul Metropolitan Line 1 between Seoul and Uijongbu using AC($2.73{\mu}T$), Bundang Line using AC($1.79{\mu}T$), Seoul Metropolitan Line 1 connected from Yongsan using AC($1.67{\mu}T$), Seoul Metropolitan Line 1 between Seoul and Suwon using AC($0.79{\mu}T$), and so on. In general, the intensity of the magnetic field in the subway systems in Korea was significantly higher when using AC($2.14{\pm}0.91{\mu}T$) than when using DC($0.29{\pm}0.44{\mu}T$) power source. Among the home electric appliances examined, microwave ovens showed the highest mean value of $7.69{\mu}T$, followed by hair dryers($6.47{\mu}T$), vacuum cleaners($5.27{\mu}T$), televisions ($2.26{\mu}T$), electric blankets($1.38{\mu}T$), personal computers ($0.81{\mu}T$), and so on. Two items of electric appliances showed the excess value of $0.2{\mu}T$ at the distance of 30cm in the MF exposure level; electric razors $1.58{\pm}2.13{\mu}T$ and vacuum cleaners $0.48{\pm}0.44{\mu}T$. As a whole, this study showed a tendency that the shift of the MF levels according to the increase of distance from the electric appliances was lower than those of the results surveyed in UK and USA. As a result, this study is expected to suggest meaningful data for the future study in exposure assessment of magnetic fields and for the establishment of guidelines for subways and electric appliances in Korea. More detailed and large scaled exposure assessment studies should be performed continuously to get the various and useful information on health risk assessment of MFs in Korea.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.424-433
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• 2017

Antioxidants are used in the manufacturing of commercial food packages made of polyolefin plastic such as polyethylene and polypropylene for the purpose to delay the oxidation reaction of the polymer due to oxygen or traces of ozone in the atmosphere. Additives in plastics may be migrated from the packaging materials into foods, thereby presenting a potential health risk to the consumer. Therefore, it is necessary to determine migration level of antioxidants from food packaging materials to foodstuffs in order to take proactive management. In this study, we have developed a method for the analysis of 10 antioxidants, which are butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), Cyanox 2246, 425 and 1790, Irgafos 168, and Irganox 1010, 1330, 3114 and 1076, migrated from the food packaging materials into four food simulants for aqueous, acidic, alcoholic and fatty foods. The antioxidants were determined by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatograph-ultraviolet detector with 276 nm after solid-phase extraction with a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) cartridge or dilution with isopropanol. The analytical method showed a good linearity of coefficient ($R^2{\geq}0.99$), limits of detection (0.11~0.41 mg/L), and limits of quantification (0.34~1.24 mg/L). The recoveries of antioxidants spiked to four food simulants ranged from 71.3% to 109.4%. The migrated antioxidants in this study were within the safety levels that resulted from the safety assessment by the estimated daily intake to the tolerable daily intake.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.361-368
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• 2018

N-nitrosamines are probable or possible human carcinogens, which are produced by the reaction between secondary amines and nitrogen oxide in the acidic environment or by heating. Common risk assessment procedure involves the comparison between exposures expressed in the unit, mg/kg body weight/day and the Health-Based Reference dose expressed in the same unit. This procedure is suitable for the policy decision-making and is considered as inappropriate for the consumers to get information about their dietary decision-making. Therefore, the distributions of NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine), NDBA (N-nitrosodibutylamine), the six N-nitrosamines (NDMA, NDBA, NDEA (N-nitrosodiethylamine), NPYR (N-nitrosopyrrolidine), NPIP (N-nitrosopiperidine), and NMOR (N-nitrosomorpholine) in the menus grouped based on the presence of main ingredients and cooking methods were analyzed to generate consumer-friendly information regarding food contaminants. Recipes and intakes were taken from 2014 to 2016 KNHANES (The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) and only the data from ages of 7 years or older were used. The contamination data were collected from the 2014~2016 Total Diet Study and all the analysis were performed using R software. Rockfish, eel, anchovy broth and pollock were mainly exposed to N-nitrosamines. In terms of cooking methods, soups and stews appeared to contain the highest amount of N-nitrosamines. Cereals, fruits, and dairy products in the ingredient categories, and rice dishes and rice combined with others in recipe categories had the lowest level exposure to N-nitrosamines. In case of N-nitrosamines, unlike other cooking related food contaminants, boiled dishes such as soups and stews and dishes mainly consisting of fishes and shellfishes had highest level of exposure, showing a large discrepancy with the previous thought of processed meat is the main source of N-nitrosamines.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.227-241
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• 2019

Purpose: This study examined the relationship between caffeine intake and metabolic syndrome in Korean adults using the 2013 ~ 2016 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data (KNHANES). Methods: The caffeine database (DB) developed by Food and Drug Safety Assessment Agency in 2014 was used to estimate the caffeine consumption. The food and beverage consumption of the 24 hr recall data of 2013 ~ 2016 KNHANES were matched to items in the caffeine DB and the daily caffeine intakes of the individuals were calculated. The sample was limited to non-pregnant healthy adults aged 19 years and older, who were not taking any medication for disease treatment. Results: The average daily caffeine intake was 41.97 mg, and the daily intake of caffeine of 97% of the participants was from coffee, teas, soft drinks, and other beverages. Multivariate analysis showed that the caffeine intake did not affect metabolic syndrome, hypertension, low HDL-cholesterol, and abdominal obesity. Diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia, however, were 0.76 (95% CI: 0.63 ~ 0.93), and 0.87 (95% CI: 0.77 ~ 0.98) in third quintile (Q3), and 0.66 (95% CI: 0.53 ~ 0.82) and 0.83 (95% CI: 0.73 ~ 0.94) in fourth quintile (Q4) compared to Q1, respectively. Therefore, caffeine intake of 3.66 ~ 45.81 mg per day is related to a lower risk of diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia. Conclusion: The study showed that adequate caffeine intake (approximately 45 mg) was associated with a lower prevalence of diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia. Therefore, it can be used as a guideline for the adequate level of caffeine intake for maintaining health.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.118-129
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• 2002

Nutrition is important in the management of diabetes mellitus, however, there are few little education materials specifically designed for older adults. The objective of this study was to develop nutrition education materials for prevention and management of diabetes moll for older adults. Materials developed were a booklet and four leaflets. The contents of materials were based on lesson plans. After several revisions of the draft of materials, illustrations and icons appropriate to the contents were designed using illustrator 9.0 and Photoshop 6.0. The booklet was composed of five chapters and 40 pages. The first chapter began with an introduction about diabetes and diabetes management by diet, exercise and medication. The second chapter dealt with ideal body weight, calculation of adequate caloric intake and food exchange list. The third chapter provided information for meal planning and sample menus. The fourth chapter focused on practical tips on nutritional care of diabetes, by providing tips on reducing sugars, fat and salt, and suggestions on eating for special occasions. The fifth chapter dealt with information in case of low blood sugars, exercise and foot care. The topics of the four leaflets were “Diabetes, what is it and care”, “Food exchange list and meal planning”, “Healthy eating for diabetes”, “Special care for diabetes low blood sugars, exercise and foot care” Each leaflet was composed of six sections and was printed in large paper (B4 size) for older adults. The draft of educational materials were re-viewed by four nutrition professionals and finally pilot-tested with ten adults aged 50 and older. The characteristics of the developed materials are as follows, i) messages are delivered using simple, specific information, ⅱ) messages focused on practical applicable tips, ⅲ) various pictures, illustrations and artwork were created and inserted to enhance understanding and interest, ⅳ) sections including risk factor assessment, calculation of ideal body weight and meal planning were designed to induce the user's participation, ⅴ) sample menus and food pictures were inserted in the booklet, vi) characteristics of older adults and transformed characteristics are diversely used to help the user feel familiarity. These materials are self-explanatory and can be used by older adults. These materials also can be used widely in nutrition education at public health centers or senior centers.