• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.44-54
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• 2009

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of obesity on the physiological levels of adiponectin, leptin and components of metabolic syndrome (MS) in male workers, aged 30-40 years. Methods: Body mass index (BMI) was measured with Anthropometric equipment. Blood pressure and serum parameters were measured with an automatic digital sphygmomanometer and autochemical analyzer, respectively. Adiponectin and leptin were analysed by ELISA kits and MS was defined based on the NCEP-ATP III. Results: Body fat mass of waist and hip, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly higher, as expected, in the BMI>25kg/$m^2$ in comparison with the $BMI{\leq}25kg/m^2$. While fasting glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR and leptin in the BMI>25kg/$m^2$ were also significantly higher compared with $BMI{\leq}25kg/m^2$, HDL-cholesterol and adiponectin were significantly higher in $BMI{\leq}25kg/m^2$. On multiple logistic regression analysis for the components of MS, exercise, adiponectin and leptin were an only independent factor for MS in non-obese male workers($BMI{\leq}25kg/m^2$) after adjustment for age, cigarette smoking and drinking habits. Conclusion: These results suggested that the obesity in men was associated with physiological levels of adiponectin and leptin contributing to feedback control of MS and that dysfunction and/or declination in feedback control system associated with changes in physiological levels of neurptrophics: adiponectin and leptin might ultimately induce MS.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 1992

A study was performed to measure the heavy metal concentrations of suspended particles in iron castings during February, 1990. The heavy metal concentrations were analyzed using patricles atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results were as fellows 1. The concentrations of suspended paticles by casting process were at furnace 4.19mg/m$^{3}$ at pouring 2.93mg/m$^{3}$ at nonferrous furnace 3.90mg/m$^{3}$, at molding 1.17mg/m$^{3}$, jung ja 2.23mg/m$^{3}$, desanding 5.42mg/m$^{3}$, sand treatment 4.82mg/m$^{3}$, finishing 1,20mg/m$^{3}$. 2. Among the total of 8 iron casting workplaces, the concentrations Fe of furnace was 0.36mg/m$^{3}$, Cu of nonferrous furnace 0.02mg/m$^{3}$, Pb of pouring 0.02mg/m$^{3}$, Cr of desanding 0.01mg/m$^{3}$ and Mn of furnace 0.03mg/m$^{3}$.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.509-515
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the indoor levels of $PM_{10}$, VOCs and aldehydes in nail shop and hair salon. Methods: The field survey was conducted for 52 hair salons 52 nail shops, and 26 shop-in-shops in Seoul and Daegu city. The field technicians investigated characteristics of each shop including operating time, indoor volume, ventilation and so on. Indoor concentrations of $PM_{10}$, VOCs and aldehydes, indoor temperature and humidity were measured in 12 hair salons, 12 nail shops and 6 shop-in shops. MP Surveryor II (Graywolf, USA) was used to measure $CO_2$ concentration, temperature and humidity for 8 hours. $PM_{10}$ concentrations were measured by minivolume air sampler with Teflon quartz filter ($0.2{\mu}m$ pore size, ${\varphi}$ 47 mm, Graseby-Anderson TEF-DISKTM) for 6 hours. VOCs passive sampler (OVM 3500) was used to collect VOCs for 8 hours and analyzed by GC/MSD. Results: The $CO_2$ concentrations were $759.4{\pm}58.2$ ppm in nail shops, $731.0{\pm}72.5$ ppm in hair salons, and $656.4{\pm}31.2$ ppm in shop-in-shops. The $PM_{10}$ concentrations were $27.5{\pm}14.2{\mu}g/m^3$ in nail shops, $33.1{\pm}6.3{\mu}g/m^3$ in hair salons, and $39.0{\pm}26.9{\mu}g/m^3$ in shop-in-shops. TVOCs concentrations were $3085.4{\pm}1667.8{\mu}g/m^3$ in nail shops, $2131.1{\pm}617.3{\mu}g/m^3$ in hair salons, and $1550.3{\pm}529.0{\mu}g/m^3$ in shop-in-shops. TVOCs concentrations in nail shops were significantly higher than those in hair salons and shop-in-shops (p=0.002). Formaldehyde concentrations were $60.8{\pm}36.6{\mu}g/m^3$ in nail shops, $89.1{\pm}55.4{\mu}g/m^3$ in hair salons, and $45.1{\pm}22.5{\mu}g/m^3$ in shop-in-shops. Conclusion: TVOCs concentrations in nail shop were the highest among others. TVOC concentrations in all stores exceeded indoor air quality stand of indoor air quality control in public-use facilities, etc act.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.147-158
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• 2016

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the assessment of exposure to welding fume and heavy metals among construction welders. Methods: Activity-specific personal air samplings(n=206) were carried out at construction sites of three apartment, two office buildings, and two plant buildings using PVC(poly vinyl chloride) filters with personal air samplers. The concentration of fumes and heavy metals were evaluated for five different types of construction welding jobs: general building pipefitter, chemical plant pipefitter, boiler maker, ironworker, metal finishing welder. Results: The concentration of welding fumes was highest among general building pipefitters($4.753mg/m^3$) followed by ironworkers($3.765mg/m^3$), boilermakers($1.384mg/m^3$), metal finishing welders($0.783mg/m^3$), chemical pipefitters($0.710mg/m^3$). Among the different types of welding methods, the concentration of welding fumes was highest with the $CO_2$ welding method($2.08mg/m^3$) followed by SMAW(shield metal arc welding, $1.54mg/m^3$) and TIG(tungsten inert gas, $0.70mg/m^3$). Among the different types of workplace, the concentration of welding fumes was highest in underground workplaces($1.97mg/m^3$) followed by outdoor($0.93mg/m^3$) and indoor(wall opening as $0.87mg/m^3$). Specifically comparing the workplaces of general building welders, the concentration of welding fumes was highest in underground workplaces($7.75mg/m^3$) followed by indoor(wall opening as $2.15mg/m^3$). Conclusions: It was found that construction welders experience a risk of expose to welding hazards at a level exceeding the exposure limits. In particular, for high-risk welding jobs such as general building pipefitters and ironworkers, underground welding work and $CO_2$ welding operations require special occupational health management regarding the use of air supply and exhaust equipment and special safety and health education and fume mask are necessary. In addition, there is a need to establish construction work monitoring systems, health planning and management practices.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.69-75
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• 2019

Preservatives of cosmetics is managed by positive list in Korea. Positive list requires a proper quantitative analysis method, but the analysis method is still insufficient. In this study, gas chromatography with flame ionization detector was used to simultaneously analyze 14 preservatives in cosmetics. As a result of method validation, the specificity was confirmed by the calibration curves of 14 preservatives showing good linearity correlation coefficient of above 0.9997 except dehydroacetic acid (0.9891). The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of 14 preservatives were 0.0001 mg/mL ~ 0.0039 mg/mL and 0.0003 mg/mL ~ 0.0118 mg/mL, respectively, but they were 0.0204 mg/mL, 0.0617 mg/mL for dehydroacetic acid, respectively. The precision (Repeatability) of the values was less than 1.0%, but 7.1% for dehydroacetic acid. The Accuracy (% recovery) of 14 preservatives in cosmetics showed 96.9% ~ 109.2%. Finally, this method was applied to 50 cosmetics available in market. Results showed that the commonly used preservatives were chlorophene, phenoxyethanol, benzyl alcohol and parabens. However, the amount of the detected preservatives was within maximum allowed limits established by KFDA.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.62-70
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• 1977

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.319-322
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• 2005

Porous building materials are not only sources of indoor air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) but they are also strong sinks of these pollutants. Volatile organic compounds have been implicated in impaired spermatogenesis, increase in the incidence of malformed sperm and decrease in the percentage of moving sperm. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the direct effects of various volatile organic compounds (phenol, formaldehyde; HCHO, ethanol, toluene, styrene) on motility and survival rate of human sperm in vitro. Semen samples from 3 health subjects were prepared using swim-up method and 1-10mM volatile organic compounds were added to the test medium. HCHO and phenol produced significant decreases in the motility and survival rate with a different potency. The most potent inhibition of motility and survival rate was observed after exposure to HCHO. Less than 1mM HCHO significantly inhibited sperm motility. When ethanol is added directly to sperm, at concentrations equivalent to that in serum after heavy drinking, these damaging effects were lowest compared with other volatile organic compounds. Present study shows that each compound has differential toxic potency to human sperm and we need special caution for the use of HCHO and phenol.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2023

Background: Among various pollutants, fine particle (PM_2.5, defined as particle less than 2.5 nm in aerodynamic diameter) shows the most consistent association with adverse health effects. There is scientific evidence documenting a variety of adverse health outcomes due to exposure to PM_2.5. Objectives: This study aims to assess the health benefits of that would be achieved by meeting the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines for PM_2.5 using AirQ+ and BenMAP. Methods: We estimated PM_2.5 related health benefits in Korea from implementing the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines (annual average 5 ㎍/m³ and 10 ㎍/m³) and Korea's National Ambient Air Quality Standard (annual average 15 ㎍/m³). We used World Health Organization's AirQ+ and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program. Results: The annual number of avoided PM_2.5 related premature deaths exceeding WHO guideline levels was assessed using both AirQ+ and BenMAP. We estimated that the health benefits of attaining the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines for PM_2.5 (annual average 5 ㎍/m³) would suggest an annual reduction of 26,128 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 17,363~34,024) and 26,853 (95% CI: 18,527~34,944) premature deaths. Conclusions: Our study provided useful information to policy makers and confirms that the reduction of PM_2.5 concentration would result in significant health benefits in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.617-623
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• 2017

The vascular actions and mechanisms of taurine were investigated in the isolated human radial artery (RA). RA rings were suspended in isolated organ baths and tension was recorded isometrically. First, a precontraction was achieved by adding potassium chloride (KCl, 45 mM) or serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT, $30{\mu}M$) to organ baths. When the precontractions were stable, taurine (20, 40, 80 mM) was added cumulatively. Antagonistic effect of taurine on calcium chloride ($10{\mu}M$ to 10 mM) -induced contractions was investigated. Taurine-induced relaxations were also tested in the presence of the $K^+$ channel inhibitors tetraethylammonium (1 mM), glibenclamide ($10{\mu}M$) and 4-aminopyridine (1 mM). Taurine did not affect the basal tone but inhibited the contraction induced by 5-HT and KCl. Calcium chloride-induced contractions were significantly inhibited in the presence of taurine (20, 40, 80 mM) (p<0.05). The relaxation to taurine was inhibited by tetraethylammonium (p<0.05). However, glibenclamide and 4-aminopyridine did not affect taurine -induced relaxations. Present experiments show that taurine inhibits 5-HT and KCl -induced contractions in RA, and suggest that large conductance $Ca^{2+}$-activated $K^+$ channels may be involved in taurine -induced relaxation of RA.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.203-208
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• 2010

In this study, the level of migration of 5 kinds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (toluene, styrene, ethylbenzene, isopropylbenzene and n-propylbenzene) into distilled water from polystyrene-made food containers was measured using Purge&Trap combined with GC/FID. The contents of the VOCs which have regulatory limits in Korea food code only for material specification were determined under three exposure conditions which were 30 min at $60^{\circ}C$, 30 min at $95^{\circ}C$ and actual situation of instant noodle intake. The calibration curve of 5 compounds showed good linearity ($^r2$ = 0.9976~0.9995) within the concentration range of 1~50 ng/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were validated at range of 0.041~0.092 and 0.135~0.304 ng/mL, respectively. The average migration contents of 5 compounds were below 5 ng/mL except for styrene. The average contents of styrene were highly detected at $95^{\circ}C$ for 30 min exposure (52.71 ng/mL). Under actual condition at instant noodle intake, the average contents of styrene was 17.23 ng/mL. The results demonstrated that the migration rate of VOCs was related to storage temperature and time.