• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한예방의학회 1994년도 교수 연수회(환경)
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• pp.426-430
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• 1994

The assessment of exposure is an important component of the risk assessment process. Exposure information is used in risk assessment in at least two ways: 1) in the identification of hazards and the epidemiologic research investigating exposure-response relationships and 2) in the development of population exposure estimates. In both of these cases, the value of a chemical risk assessment is enhanced by improvements in the quality of exposure assessments. The optimum exposure assessment is the direct measurement of population exposure; however, such measurements are rarely available. Recent developments in methods for exposure assessment allow estimates to be made that are valid representations of actual exposure. The use of these exposure estimates to classify exposures correctly enhances the likelihood that causal associations between exposure and response will be correctly identified and that population risks will be accurately assessed.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제45권3호
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• pp.231-237
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• 2019

Objective: The objective of this study was to propose a method using population risk to assess the local background exposure effect of harmful pollutants from chemical accidents in Ulsan. Methods: The benzene was selected as representative harmful pollutant. The concentrations of benzene were measured and analyzed at 40 sites in Ulsan city in September, 2018. The data from National Statistics office in Korea were used for population density, and the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) data from US EPA were used for unit risk. Results: The risk assessment can be carried out by considering the background population risk. The background population risk was calculated as 5.01 persons per million for exposure to benzene in Ulsan, and therefore may be used as a adjusted background method in case of chemical accident caused by benzene. Conclusions: This study may provide the evidence that background exposure effect and risk to harmful pollutants from chemical accidents would be useful.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.290-295
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• 2018

Background: There is little information on the dose-response relationship between exposure to occupational carcinogenic agents and mesothelioma. This study aimed to investigate this association as well as the existence of agents other than asbestos that might cause mesothelioma. Methods: The Swedish component of the Nordic Occupational Cancer (NOCCA) study consists of 6.78 million individuals with detailed information on occupation. Mesothelioma diagnoses recorded in 1961-2009 were identified through linkage to the Swedish Cancer Registry. We determined cumulative exposure, time of first exposure, and maximum exposure intensity by linking data on occupation to the Swedish NOCCA job-exposure matrix, which includes 29 carcinogenic agents and corresponding exposure for 283 occupations. To assess the risk of mesothelioma, we used conditional logistic regression models to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results: 2,757 mesothelioma cases were identified in males, including 1,416 who were exposed to asbestos. Univariate analyses showed not only a significant excess risk for maximum exposure intensity, with a hazard ratio of 4.81 at exposure levels 1.25-2.0 fb/ml but also a clear dose-response effect for cumulative exposure with a 30-, 40-, and 50-year latency time. No convincing excess risk was revealed for any of the other carcinogenic agents included in the Swedish NOCCA job-exposure matrix. Conclusion: When considering asbestos exposure, past exposure, even for short periods, might be enough to cause mesothelioma of the pleura later in life.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제48권2호
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• pp.90-99
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• 2023

Background: Quantitative risk assessments should be accompanied by uncertainty analyses of the risk models employed in the calculations. In this study, we aim to develop a computational code named SUMRAY for use in cancer risk projections from radiation exposure taking into account uncertainties. We also aim to make SUMRAY publicly available as a resource for further improvement of risk projection. Materials and Methods: SUMRAY has two versions of code written in R and Python. The risk models used in SUMRAY for all-solid-cancer mortality and incidence were those published in the Life Span Study of a cohort of the atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The confidence intervals associated with the evaluated risks were derived by propagating the statistical uncertainties in the risk model parameter estimates by the Monte Carlo method. Results and Discussion: SUMRAY was used to calculate the lifetime or time-integrated attributable risks of cancer under an exposure scenario (baseline rates, dose[s], age[s] at exposure, age at the end of follow-up, sex) specified by the user. The results were compared with those calculated using another well-known web-based tool, Radiation Risk Assessment Tool (RadRAT; National Institutes of Health), and showed a reasonable agreement within the estimated confidential interval. Compared with RadRAT, SUMRAY can be used for a wide range of applications, as it allows the risk projection with arbitrarily specified risk models and/or population reference data. Conclusion: The reliabilities of SUMRAY with the present risk-model parameters and their variance-covariance matrices were verified by comparing them with those of the other codes. The SUMRAY code is distributed to the public as an open-source code under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology license.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.273-284
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• 2002

At present, the health risks associated with the natural radionuclides of ground water have become a concern as potential social problems. However, there are no regulatory actions or control strategies for such risks. Therefore, we have investigated and discussed the risks and associated management strategies for radionuclides in other countries. US EPA has proposed MCL (300 pCi/L) and AMCL (4,000 pCi/L) for radon, and 30 ppb for uranium, 15 pCi/L for gross-alpha and 5 pCi/L for radium as final MCLs. Also, Canada, WHO and European countries have their inherent management levels. Finally, we suggested several criteria for setting guidelines in our countries including exposure related criteria such as geological distribution, occurrence, exposure probability distribution, exposure population and multimedia exposure assessment, acceptable risk, and cost -benefit analysis. The national-scale exposure and risk assessment, and economic analysis should be conducted for producing and aggregating the representative information on these criteria.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제5권4호
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• pp.169-174
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• 2014

We have been examining the issue of healthcare workers' exposure to antineoplastic drugs for nearly a decade and have observed that there appears to be more publications on the subject matter originating from Europe than from North America. The concern is that findings from Europe may not be generalizable to North America because of differences in handling practices, regulatory requirements, and training. Our objective was to perform a literature review to confirm our observation and, in turn, identify gaps in knowledge that warrants addressing in North America. Using select keywords, we searched for publications in PubMed and Web of Science. All papers were initially classified according to the originating continent and then categorized into one or more subject categories (analytical methods, biological monitoring, occupational exposure, surface contamination, and probability of risk/exposure). Our review identified 16 papers originating from North America and 55 papers from Europe with surface contamination being the subject matter most often studied overall. Based on our results, we are of the opinion that North American researchers need to further conduct dermal and/or urinary drug contamination studies as well as assess the exposure risk faced by healthcare workers who handle antineoplastic drugs. Trends in exposure levels should also be explored.

• 한국산업보건학회지
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.102-110
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• 2010

Personal exposure relies on characteristics of time activity patterns of the population of concern as human activities impact the timing, location, and level of personal exposure. The information about time spent in microenvironments plays a critical role for personal exposure to air pollutants. It is useful to determine the precise times of the day that the subjects are in certain locations or engaging in specific activities because exposure to some air pollutants can depend on temporal trends. This study investigated time activity pattern for workers of Korean population over 19 years old with 8,778 workers in weekday. The residential indoor times were 12 hours. Time activity was different by gender and the mean times stayed at home in weekday were 12.9 hours in female and 11.42 hours in male, respectively. The major factors on residential indoor time and workplace time were age, monthly income, occupation and industry type, work position, education, and gender. Considering shorter than those in other countries, Korean workers spent less time at home after the working hours. Determinants of time activity pattern need to be taken into account in exposure assessment, epidemiological analyses, exposure simulations, as well as in the development of preventive strategies. Since there are substantial difference of Korean worker activity pattern, this information can be critical for exposure assessment in Korea.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권16호
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• pp.6691-6695
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• 2014

Background: A population-based cervical cancer screening program using visual inspection with acetic acid was launched in Maldives in 2014. Our study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of women in relation to risk factors of cervical cancer, early detection of the disease and its prevention. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire based survey was conducted among 20 to 50 year old women, systematically sampled to represent three regions of Maldives. Trained investigators interviewed a total of 2,845 women at home. Results: The prevalence of the risk factors of cervical cancer like early age at marriage and childbirth, multiple marriages, multiple marriages of the husbands, and multiple pregnancies was high. More women knew about breast cancer than cervical cancer. Even among the small number of women who knew of cervical cancer, only 34.6% had the knowledge of at least one early symptom. Very few women knew that the cancer could be prevented by any test. Only 6.2% of the women reported having ever undergone a Pap smear. Many women had the misconception that cervical cancer was infectious. In Maldives the younger women have high literacy rate due to the policy of universal free education and those with higher levels of education had improved knowledge of cervical cancer and its risk factors. The prevalence of risk factors also reduced with improved literacy. Conclusions: Awareness about risk factors and prevention of cervical cancer is limited among Maldivian women in spite of having high exposure to some of the risk factors. A universal literacy program in the country has helped to improve the knowledge of cervical cancer prevention and to reduce the exposure to various risk factors in the younger population.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제46권4호
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• pp.457-469
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• 2020

Objective: This study was designed to estimate the precise nationwide number of those who used humidifier disinfectants (HDs) and experienced specific health effects, including death, due to exposure to HDs in Korea between 1994 and 2011. Methods: A total of 5,000 households (15,472 people) were surveyed by stratifying the sample with a design that is equivalent to nationally approved household systematic sampling and face-to-face interviews from October 16, 2019 to December 30, 2019. Results: The proportion of use of humidifier disinfectants at home was 18.4% (2,844/15,472 people) and the proportion of those who experienced health effects among those who were exposed to HDs was 10.7% (303/2,844 people). Based on these factors, it was estimated that 8.94 million people (95% CI=8.25-9.63 million) were exposed to HDs and 0.95 million people (95% CI=0.87-1.02 million) experienced health effects, which means almost one in five and one in fifty Koreans respectively. The estimated number of deaths from HDs were 20,366 people (95% CI=18,801-21,931). Conclusion: The survey was large and analyzed a representative sample across the country, so this estimation of the nationwide population exposed and at risk to HDs is more accurate and reliable than previous studies. However, it is necessary to confirm whether results similar to those of this study can be reproduced through a survey using a cross-sectional survey at the national level. In particular, a survey focused on death cases is needed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제17권6호
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• pp.2827-2832
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• 2016

Purpose: To estimate the number of deaths attributable to second hand smoking (SHS) in Morocco in 2012. Materials and Methods: prevalence based study focusing on mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and lung cancer among non-smokers aged 35 and over. Prevalence of SHS among never smokers was gathered from a national cross sectional survey on tobacco and population attributable risk (PAR) was calculated by applying PARs to mortality. The analyses were stratified by sex, age and area of exposure. Results: Rates for exposure to SHS among men aged 35-64 years ranged from 20.0% at home to 57.4% at work. Among non-smoking Moroccans aged 35 and over, 233 (IC: 147 - 246) deaths were attributable to exposure to SHS; 156 (IC: 100 - 221) in women and 77 (IC: 44 -125) in men. A total of 173 (122 - 222) deaths were estimated to have been caused by exposure only at home, 34 (9 - 76) by exposure only at the work place and 26 (15 - 58) by exposure both at home and work places. Exposure to SHS could be responsible for 182 (128 - 237) deaths from IHD and 51 (19 - 109) from lung cancer. Conclusions: These data confirm that SHS needs urgent attention in Morocco.