• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1529-1534
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• 2015

Introduction: Overexposure to sun radiation and particularly its accumulation during childhood and adolescence is a significant risk factor for skin cancer development. The sun burn is particularly important. Aim: To estimate sun burn incidence in young pupils in a coastal area of Greece. Materials and Methods: Two surveys were conducted in a school population in the same district in Greece, over different periods of time, in young people 9 to 18 years old (n=2 977). Anonymous questionnaires were completed. Levels of significance were two-tailed and statistical significance was set at p=0.05. SPSS 17.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: From the individual characteristics of the participants it was shown that the majority of them had dark hair and fair skin, whereas a significant percentage reported the existence of moles on face and their body (83.4% vs 68.1%). The sun burn incidence was high in adolescents and the younger pupils (41.9% vs 55.6%). The younger aged children who were living in an urban area had significantly higher rates of sun burn than those living in semi-urban areas (33.8% vs 24.8%, p=0.020). As far as the knowledge of pupils about the risks of sun radiation it was shown that the elementary school pupils had better knowledge than those at high school. Finally, those with better knowledge had the fewer sun burns (Mean 2.83 SD 0.87, p<0.001). Conclusions: The contribution of knowledge to the decrease of sun burn incidence is important as long as this is continuous. Therefore, the education should concern not only children but also teachers and parents in the context of continuous and systematic programs of health education.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2017

In this study, we evaluated the toxic effects of heavy metals (As, Cr and Pb) on the population growth rate (r) of the marine diatom, Skeletonema costatum. The r of the species was determined after 96 h (4 days) exposure to As (0, 0.31, 0.63, 1.25, 2.50 and 5.00 mg L^-1), Cr (0, 0.16, 0.31, 0.63, 1.25 and 2.50 mg L^-1) and Pb (0, 1.25, 2.50, 5.00, 10.00 and 20.00 mg L^-1). It was observed that r in the control (absence of As, Cr and Pb) were greater than 0.04, however suddenly decreased with increased heavy metal concentrations. As, Cr and Pb reduced r in a dose-dependent manner and a significant reduction were occurred at concentration of greater than 0.31, 0.31 and 5.00 mg L^-1, respectively. Based on the toxicity, the heavy metal were ranked as Cr>As>Pb, with EC₅₀ (50% effective concentration) values of 0.80, 2.57 and 13.88 mg L^-1, respectively. The lowest-observed-effective-concentration (LOEC) of r in exposed to As, Cr and Pb were 0.63, 0.63 and 10.00 mg L^-1, respectively. Precisely, a concentration of greater than 0.63 mg L^-1 of As, 0.63 mg L^-1 of Cr and 10.00 mg L^-1 of Pb in marine ecosystems induced toxic effect on the r of S. costatum. Based on our results, we suggested that the r of S. costatum might be a useful bio-indicator for the toxicity assessment of heavy metals on the producer in marine ecosystems.

• The Korean Journal of Food & Health Convergence
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2019

Smoking has become one of the public health harzard affecting the world. In the UK, smoking is responsible for around one in five deaths. The illnesses caused by smoking extend beyond the well-reported links with cancer, heart disease and respiratory illnesses. Hence the research to determine the awareness of the predisposing factor to smoking among adults in sokoto metropolis. A cross-sectional form of descriptive survey research design was used for this study. This is because descriptive studies are used when the characteristics of a population are either unknown or partially known (Hennekens & Buring, 2007), and it was used by Ganley and Rosario (2013) in a related research this justified the use of similar design in a study of similar nature.Two hundred and seventy returned questionnaire was collected, analyzed using descriptive statistic of frequency count, normative percentage and grand mean; as well as inferential statistics of chi-square (${\chi}^2$). The level of significant was fixed at 0.05. Appropriate degrees of freedom were worked out. There was statistical significant influence or relationship with marital status on the predisposing factors of smoking chi-square of 19716.516 greater than the critical value 43.77297at df 30 p<0.05. There were statistical significance chi-square =27468.348 which is greater than the critical value 43.77297 at df= 30. These show that there is a relationship on gender awareness of predisposing factors to smoking rejecting the null hypotheses. The respondents across different lever/year higher institution shows that the awareness of predisposing factors of smoking there were a statistical significance difference chi-square =7168.429 (df=88) greater than critical value 102.342 rejecting the null hypotheses. There is consistent evidence that links exposure to depictions of smoking in movies and initiation of smoking in young people. Over the years television shows and films have effectively built up associations between smoking and glamour, sex and risk-taking. Social learning theory describes how we learn by example from others. We are strongly influenced by our parents, and other people we look up to, such as peers, actors and pop stars. This can lead us to emulate their behaviour and try smoking.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.138-145
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• 2015

Although it is well-known that environmental noise can lead to hearing loss in individuals, the true extent of subway noise effects in the general population remains poorly understood. The purpose of the present study is to see changes of acoustic reflex thresholds and speech perception scores when passengers listen to music presented from their personal listening device in the subway. Forty subjects with normal hearing participated being divided into two groups, experimental and control groups. As a baseline, all subjects were measured by acoustic reflex thresholds in five test frequencies and Korean speech perception in noise (KSPIN) test at 0 and -5 dB SNR. In the experiment, the control group read newspaper or magazine in the subway noise, whereas the experimental group listened to music presented from their smartphone under the subway noise through speakers at 73.45 dBA for 60 min. After completing the experiment, two groups also conducted both acoustic reflex thresholds and KSPIN tests in the same condition as the baseline. The results showed that there was a significant difference of correct percent in speech-in-noise test between experimental and control groups and of that between two signal-to-noise ratios, which means the double noise exposure of 60 min might cause some degradation of speech perception when noise increases compared to only subway noise condition that was not statistically significant difference. We concluded that a risk of some degraded speech perception ability would be expected when passengers have a habit of listening to music in the subway noisy situation for a long duration.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.471-477
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• 2007

Purpose: Hydrofluoric acid(HF) is one of the most dangerous mineral acids with dissociated fluoride ions. As hydrofluoric acid is present in various household products(such as rust removers), a large population of industrials is at the risk of HF exposure. It is a very strong organic acid, used widely in glass etching, metal washing, and in the semiconductor industry. Even when using adequate safety measures, lack of care on the user's part results in chemical burn by HF. Symptoms caused by HF-induced chemical burns shows delayed manifestations resulting in a loss of proper treatment opportunities. We therefore reviewed 20 cases of HF-induced chemical burns and treatment principle. Methods: The objects of this study were 19 male patients and 1 female treated from March 2004 to March 2006. There were 19 cases of injury on digits and 1 on the wrist area. There were 15 cases of immediate treatment after sustaining HF-induced burns, and 5 cases of delayed treatment. As a principle, in the emergency treatment, partial or complete removal of the nail along with copious washing with normal saline was done, depending on the degree of HF invasion of the distal digital extremities. Results: The 15 cases who came to the hospital immediately after the injury were healed completely without sequelae, and those who delayed their treatment needed secondary surgical measures, due to the severity of inflammation and necrosis of the digital tissues. Conclusion: As the industrial sector develops, the use of HF is increasing more and more, leading to increase in incidences of HF-induced chemical burns. When treating chemical burns caused by HF, washing by copious amounts of normal saline, along with early removal of the nails, rather than calcium gluconate, seems to be a available method for preserving the shape and function of the digits and the nail. The education of patients regarding this subject should be empathized accordingly.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: Many edible mushrooms are known to accumulate high levels of heavy metals. This research was focused on health risk assessment to investigate the mushrooms in Korea, arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) contaminations in edible mushrooms in cultivated areas were investigated, and health risk was assessed through dietary intake of mushrooms. METHODS AND RESULTS: The heavy metals in mushrooms were analyzed by ICP/MS after acid digestion. Probabilistic health risk were estimated by Monte-Carlo simulation techniques. The average contents of As, Cd, Pb, and Hg were $0.035{\pm}0.042$ mg/kg, $0.017{\pm}0.020$ mg/kg, $0.043{\pm}0.013$ mg/kg, and $0.004{\pm}0.004$ mg/kg, respectively. The results showed that contents of Cd and Pb did not exceed maximum residual levels established by European Uion regulation (Cd 0.20 mg/kg and Pb 0.30 mg/kg). For health risk assessment, estimated intakes in all age populations did not exceed the provisional tolerable daily intake of As and Hg, provisional tolerable monthly intake of Cd, provisional tolerable weekly intake of Pb. The Hazard Index (HI) were ranged from $0.03{\times}10^{-4}{\sim}0.01{\times}10^{-3}$ for As, $0.02{\times}10^{-3}{\sim}0.81{\times}10^{-3}$ for Cd, $0.06{\times}10^{-3}{\sim}0.38{\times}10^{-3}$ for Pb, and $0.08{\times}10^{-4}{\sim}0.14{\times}10^{-3}$ for Hg at general population. CONCLUSION: The HI from the ratio analysis between daily exposure and safety level values was less than 1.0. This results demonstrated that human exposure to heavy metals through dietary intake of mushrooms might not cause adverse effect.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.706-714
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• 2020

Currently, 90 % of the world's population breathes air with a fine dust content exceeding the World Health Organization's annual average exposure limit (10 ㎍/㎥). Global efforts have been devoted toward reducing secondary pollutants and ultra-fine dust through regulations on nitrogen oxides released over land and sea. Domestic efforts have also aimed at creating clean marine environments by reducing sulfur emissions, which are the primary cause of dust accumulation in ships, through developing and distributing environment-friendly ships. Among the technologies for reducing harmful emissions from diesel engines, electrostatic precipitator offer several advantages such as a low pressure loss, high dust collection efficiency, and NOx removal and maintenance. This study aims to increase the durability of a ship by improving equipment quality through failure mode effects analysis for the preventive maintenance of an electrostatic precipitator that was developed for reducing fine dust particles emitted from the 2,427 kW marine diesel engines in ships with a gross tonnage of 999 tons. With regard to risk priority, failure mode 241 (poor dust capture efficiency) was the highest, with an RPN of 180. It was necessary to determine the high-risk failure mode in the collecting electrode and manage it intensively. This was caused by clearance defects, owing to vibrations and consequent pin loosening. Given that pin loosening is mainly caused by vibrations generated in the hull or equipment, it is necessary to manage the position of pin loosening.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1547-1554
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• 2021

Objective: We aimed to investigate whether repeated intravascular administration of iodinated contrast media (ICM) or gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) within a short interval was associated with an increased risk of post-contrast acute kidney injury (PC-AKI). Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 300 patients (mean age ± standard deviation, 68.5 ± 8.1 years; 131 male and 169 female) who had undergone at least one ICM-enhanced perfusion brain CT scan, had their baseline and follow-up serum creatinine levels available, and had not undergone additional contrast-enhanced examinations 72 hours before and after a time window of interest were included. The study population was divided into three groups: single-dose group and groups of patients who had received multiple contrast administrations in the time window of interest with the minimum contrast repeat interval either within 4 hours (0-4-hour group) or between 4 to 48 hours (4-48-hour group). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between AKI and repeated ICM administrations. A similar supplementary analysis was performed including both ICM and GBCA. Results: When ICM was only considered ignoring GBCA, among 300 patients, 207 patients received a single dose of ICM, 58 had repeated doses within 4 hours (0-4-hour group), and 35 patients had repeated doses between 4 to 48 hours (4-48-hour group). Most patients (> 95%) had a baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of ≥ 30 mL/min/1.73 m². AKI occurred in 7.2%, 13.8%, and 8.6% of patients in the single-dose, 0-4-hour, and 4-48-hour groups, respectively. In the 0-4-hour and 4-48-hour groups, additional exposure to ICM was not associated with AKI after adjusting for comorbidities and nephrotoxic drugs (all p values > 0.05). Conclusion: Repeated intravascular administrations of ICM within a short interval did not increase the risk of AKI in our study patients suspected of acute stroke with a baseline eGFR of ≥ 30 mL/min/1.73 m².

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.330-338
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• 2011

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to investigate the agricultural product (Pulses, Lettuces, Pumpkins, Apples, Pears and Tangerines) in Korea, monitoring of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) contaminations of agricultural products in cultivated areas and abandoned mine areas were investigated, and risk assessment was performed through dietary intake of agricultural products. METHODS AND RESULTS: The average contents of Cd and Pb ranged from 0.001 to 0.018 mg/kg and from 0.007 to 0.032 mg/kg respectively. The result was showed that contents of Cd and Pb did not exceed maximum residual levels established by CODEX except pumpkins and apples. The average daily intake were in the range of $1.06{\times}10^{-3}$ to $4.76{\times}10^{-2}{\mu}g/kg$ b.w./day at the mean and 95th percentile for Cd, $4.53{\times}10^{-3}$ to $8.35{\times}10^{-2}{\mu}g/kg$ b.w./day at the mean and 95th percentile for Pb for general population, based on the Korean public nutrition report 2008. The Hazard Index (HI) from the ratio analysis between daily exposure and safety level values was smaller than 1.0. CONCLUSION(s): This results demonstrated that human exposure to Cd and Pb through dietary intake of agricultural produces from abandoned mine areas might not cause adverse effect exceeding to those from non-contaminated areas.

• 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.