• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.93-103
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• 2013

In recently, a growing concern for the health of urban residents increased interests in a variety of outdoor activities simply be done in terms of cost and time. They are specially interested in low-impact and safe exercises around residential or working area. Walking is the one of easily doing exercise in daytime or nighttime near residential area. The sidewalks of boulevard near the residential area is the best place for exercise because of easy access and the green space with roadside trees. However, if the nighttime is not guaranteed the proper lighting condition, the possibility of exposure to crime and the threat to pedestrian safety can be increased. Because roadside trees are one of the potential obstacle for lighting condition, supplementary lightings are important to mitigate interruption for safety. To meet such a need, the purpose of this study is to propose a simulation approach which improves lighting condition on sidewalks of boulevard with variety of roadside trees. To do so, the simulation approach is applied for analyzing the interrupted condition by classified five standard types of roadside trees considering the growth of them and finding optimal layout of supplementary luminaires by lighting types. The results of this approach shows that it is useful for assessing the safety of pedestrian in nighttime.

• 한국환경과학회지
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• 제24권7호
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• pp.875-882
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• 2015

In 2013, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that outdoor air pollution is carcinogenic to humans, with the particulate matter component of air pollution most closely associated with sufficient evidence of increased cancer incidence by exposure to particulate matter component of air pollution. Motor vehicles are one of a major emission sources of fine particle ($PM_{2.5}$) in urban areas. A large number of epidemiological studies have reported a positive association of morbidity or mortality with distance from the roadside. We conducted this study to assess the association of $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations measured at roadside hotspots with those at adjacent residential sites using real-time $PM_{2.5}$ monitors. We conducted real-time $PM_{2.5}$ measurements for rush hour periods (08:00~10:00 and 18:00~20:00) at 9 roadside air monitoring Hotspot sites in metropolitan Seoul over 3 weeks from October 1 to 21, 2013. Simultaneous measurements were conducted in residential sites within a 100 m radius from each roadside air monitoring site. A SidePak AM510 was used for the real-time $PM_{2.5}$ measurements. Medians of roadside $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations ranged from $9.8{\mu}g/m^3$ to $38.3{\mu}g/m^3$, while corresponding median values at adjacent residential sites ranged from $4.4{\mu}g/m^3$ to $37.3{\mu}g/m^3$. $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations of residential sites were 0.97 times of hotspot roadside sites. Distributions of $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations in roadside and residential areas were also very similar. Real-time $PM_{2.5}$ concentrations at residential sites, (100 m adjacent), showed similar levels to those at roadside sites. Increasing the distance between roadside and residential sites, if needed, should be considered to protect urban resident populations from $PM_{2.5}$ emitted by traffic related sources.

• 한국환경과학회지
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• 제22권2호
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• pp.151-161
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• 2013

The assessment of personal exposure is a critical component in population-based epidemiologic studies of air pollution. This study was conducted to apply and compare the four exposure estimation methods of individual-level to air pollution concentration in a cohort including 2,283 subjects in Gwangyang, Korea. Individual-level exposure of air pollution were estimated using multiple approaches, including average across all monitors, nearest monitor, and spatial interpolation by inverse distance weighting and kriging. The mean concentrations of $PM_{10}$, $NO_2$, $SO_2$, CO, $O_3$ by four exposure estimation methods were slightly different but not significantly different from each other. Cross-validation showed that kriging was more accurate than other exposure estimation methods because kriging has probably predicted individual exposure levels equivalent to residential locations after estimating the parameters of a model according to the spatial surface of air pollution concentration. These data support that spatial interpolation methods may provide better estimates than selecting the value from the nearest monitor and averaging across values from all monitors by reflecting spatial attributes of air pollution on personal level.

• 한국지하수토양환경학회지:지하수토양환경
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.12-29
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• 2011

Risk-based screening levels (RBSLs) of some pollutants for residential adults were derived with risk assessment tools developed by United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), and Korea Ministry of Environment (KMOE) and compared each other. To make the comparison simple, ingestion of soil, dermal contact with soil, outdoor inhalation of vapors, indoor inhalation of vapors, and inhalation of soil particulates were chosen as exposure pathways. The results showed that the derived RBSLs varied for every exposure pathway. For direct exposure pathways (i.e., ingestion of soil and dermal contact with soil), the derived RBSLs varied mainly due to the different default values for exposure factors and toxicity data. When identical default values for the parameters were used, the same RBSLs could be derived regardless of the assessment tools used. For inhalation of vapors and inhalation of soil particulates, however, different analysis methods for cross-media transfer rates were used and different assumptions were established for each tool, identical RBSLs could not be obtained even if the same default values for exposure factors were used. Especially for inhalation of soil particulates pathway, screening level derived using KMOE approach (most conservative) was approximately 5000~10000 times lower than the screening level derived using ASTM approach (least conservative). Our results suggest that, when deriving RBSL using a specific tool, it is a prerequisite to technically review the analysis methods for cross-media transfer rates as well as to understand how the assessment tool derives the default values for exposure factors.

• 한국전자파학회논문지
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• 제14권10호
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• pp.1017-1023
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• 2003

최근 전기전자기기 등의 사용에 의한 전자파 발생으로 인체 위해성에 대한 논쟁이 시작되었으며, 지난 20여년 동안 고압선로에서 발생되는 극저주파 전자기장에 만성적인 노출로 인한 인체 위해성에 관한 역학적 연구가 많은 나라에서 진행되어 왔다. 2 mG 이상의 자기장에 지속적으로 노출될 경우에 소아백혈병 등과 같은 암 질병이 발생한다는 연구논문이 발표되고 있다. 고압선로로부터 발생되는 전자파에 의한 장기적인 노출과 암 발생에 관한 상관관계가 과학적으로 명확하게 규명되지 않았고, 또한 잠재적인 건강 위험성에 대한 평가가 입증되지 않았음에도 불구하고, 2000년에 스위스는 민감한 정온시설 지역에 대하여 엄격한 예방적 원칙을 적용하고 있으며, 여러 국가들도 이러한 건강 위험성에 대한 저감정책의 일환으로 자기장 노출 가이드라인을 설정하려는 움직임을 보이고 있다. 다시 말하면, 과학적인 불확실성이 높은 상황에서도 과학적인 연구결과만을 기다리지 않고, 잠재적인 위험성을 예견하여 차후 심각한 위험성에 대한 조치를 미리 적용하는 관리정책이다. 우리나라에서는 아직 이러한 건강 위험성에 대한 관리정책이 아직 마련되어 있지 않은 상태이다. 따라서 고압선로에서 발생되는 전자기장에 만성적인 노출과 소아백혈병 발생과의 상관관계를 밝히기 위한 연구를 지속적으로 해야 하며, 유아원, 초등학교 등의 환경민감시설에 대한 단계별 전자파 방출 권고치를 설정하는 등의 예방적 관리정책을 부분적이나마 도입할 필요가 있다.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.135-145
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• 1992

This study was carried out to find out some characteristic responses of biological samples under the exposure of trace metals with the considering of Sex, age, residence period and smoking. Blood, Urine and Hair were collected from 116 dwellers in the vicinity of a smelting factory. Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry and the following results were found important. 1) The concentrations of trace metals in the blood were 0.010+ 0.003 $\mu$g/ml in Cd, 0.82+ 0.11 $\mu$g/ml in Cu, 0.23_+ 0.13 $\mu$g/ml in Pb and 5.78_+ 1.43 $\mu$g/ml in Zn, those in the urine were 1.7_+ 1.7 $\mu$g/l in Cd, 16.5_+ 16.0 $\mu$g/l in Cu, 24.6_+ 23.0 $\mu$g/l in Pb and 367.7_+ 283.4 $\mu$g/l in Zn, and those in the hair were 0.52_+ 0.56 $\mu$g/g in Cd, 11.00_+4.01 $\mu$g/g in Cu, 8.53_+ 7.05 $\mu$g/g in Pb and 383.23_+ 110.56 $\mu$g/g in Zn. 2) In sex, the concentrations of Zn in the blood and urine of male were higher than those of female, however, the concentrations of Cd and Zn in the hair of female were higher than those of male. 3) The concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn in the urine showed an increasing trend by age. 4) While the concentration of Cd in the urine increased, the concentration of Pb in the hair decreased by residential period in all the samples. 5) The concentrations of Cd and Zn in the blood and that of Zn in the urine of smoking group were higher than those of non-smoking group. The concentration of Pb in the blood of smoking group and those of Cd, Pb and Zn in the urine of non-smoking group showed increasing the trend by age. The concentrations of Cd and Zn in the urine of non-smoking group, the concentration of Zn in the hair of smoking group showed increasing trend by residential period, however, the concentrations of Pb in the blood and hair and that of Zn in the hair showed decreasing trend by residential period. 6) When the correlations of the concentrations between Zn (main smelting metal) and other metals were analyzed, Zn in the blood was significantly correlated with Cu, Pb and Zn in the urine (positively) and Zn in the urine was significantly correlated with Zn in the blood, Cd, Cu and Pb in the urine, and Pb in the hair (positively). Zn in the hair was significantly correlated with Cd in the urine and Cu in the hair (positively). 7) Consequently, it was useful to note that samples of urine showed higher sensitivity under the metal exposure than those of blood and hair in individual sampling. In addition, as trace metals showed higher accumulation in the hair of the groups, sampling of hair was more highly recommended than those of urine and blood in group sampling.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제48권6호
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• pp.315-323
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• 2022

Background: Socioeconomical disadvantaged communities are more vulnerable to environmental chemical exposure and associated health effects. However, there is limited information on chemical exposure among vulnerable populations in Korea. Objectives: This study investigated chemical exposure among underprivileged populations. We measured urinary metabolites of phthalates in urban disadvantaged communities and investigated their correlations with residential environment factors and relative socioeconomic vulnerability. Methods: Urine samples were collected from 64 residents in a disadvantaged community in Seoul. A total of eight phthalate metabolites were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Analytical method used by the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS) was employed. Covariate variance analysis and general linear regression adjusted with age, sex and smoking were performed. Results: Several phthalate metabolites, namely monomethyl phthalate (MMP), monoethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), and mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP) had higher levels than those reported in the adults of 4th KoNEHS. Notably, the MnBP level was higher in the lower socioeconomic group (geometric mean [GM]=47.3 ㎍/g creatinine) compared to non-recipients (GM=31.9 ㎍/g creatinine) and the national reference level (GM=22.0, 28.2 and 32.2 ㎍/g creatinine for adults, 60's and 70's, respectively.). When age, sex and smoking were adjusted, MEP and MnBP were significantly increased the lower socioeconomic group than non-recipients (p=0.014, p=0.023). The lower socioeconomic group's age of flooring were higher than non-recipients, not statistically significant. Conclusions: These results suggest that a relatively low income and aged flooring could be considered as risk factors for increased levels of phthalate metabolites in socioeconomic vulnerable populations.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.20-26
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• 2001

personal nitrogen dioxide(NO$_2$) exposures for 31 professional drivers were measured using passive sampler and time activity diary in Asan and Chunan area, and were estimated using time-weighted average model. Mean concentrations of driver’s indoor and outdoor were 24.7$\pm$10.7 ppb and 23.3$\pm$8.3 ppb, respectively with indoor/outdoor of 1.1. Mean personal NO$_2$ exposure was 30.3$\pm$9.7 ppb. Personal NO$_2$ exposures were strongly correlated with indoor car NO$_2$ levels ($R^2$=0.80) rather than residential indoor NO$_2$ level ($R^2$=0.55). and outdoor NO$_2$ level ($R^2$=0.50). The driver’s NO$_2$ exposure using LP-gas with 24.4$\pm$8.0 ppb were statistically different from those using diesel with 36.3$\pm$14.1 ppb(p<0.01). The effect of driver’s smoking for personal NO$_2$ exposure was not found. It was considered that the main NO$_2$in driver is transportation. Since drivers mostly spent their times in indoor and inside car, time-weighted average model could be used to estimated personal NO$_2$ exposure using time activity diary, Though we did not measure all microenvironments, the estimated personal NO$_2$ exposures with 26.9$\pm$10.2 ppb were statistically correlated with measured personal NO $_2$ exposures30.3$\pm$9.7 ppb ($R^2$=0.89). The mean and standard deviation of personal NO$_2$ exposure using Mote-Carlo simulation were 26.6$\pm$7.2 ppb.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제41권5호
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• pp.345-354
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• 2008

Objectives : Our objective is to review and summarize the previous studies on the health effects of exposure to oil spills in order to make suggestions for mid- and long-term study plans regarding the health effects of the Hebei Spirit oil spill occured in Korea. Methods : We searched PubMed to systemically retrieve reports on the human health effects related to oil spill accidents. The papers' reference lists and reviews on the topic were searched as well. Results : We found 24 articles that examined seven oil spill accidents worldwide over the period from 1989 to August 2008, including the Exxon Valdes, Braer, Sea Empress, Erika, Nakhodka, Prestige and Tasman Spirit oil spills. Most of the studies applied cross-sectional and short-term follow-up study designs. The exposure level was measured by assessing the place of residence, using a questionnaire and environmental and personal monitoring. Studies on the acute or immediate health effects mainly focused on the subjective physical symptoms related to clean-up work or residential exposure. Late or mid-term follow-up studies were performed to investigate a range of health effects such as pulmonary function and endocrine, immunologic and genetic toxicity. The economic and social impact of the accidents resulted in the socio-psychological exposure and the psychosocial health effects. Conclusions : Studies of the health effects of exposure to oil spills should consider a range of health outcomes, including the physical and psychological effects, and the studies should be extended for a considerable period of time to study the long-term chronic health effects.

• 한국환경과학회지
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• 제8권3호
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• pp.319-323
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• 1999

This study was designed to evaluate the exposure to benzene by residents in neighborhoods near a major roadways, by persons waiting buses, and by drivers and service station attendants while refueling. It was confirmed that the outdoor air benzene concentrations near the major roadways were higher than those further away from the sources. However, neither the indoor air nor breath concentrations were different for two specified residential areas. Smoking was confirmed as an important factor for the indoor air benzene levels. Persons waiting buses, drivers and service station attendants were exposed to elevated benzene levels compared to even the residents in neighborhoods near a major roadways. The mean benzene concentration at bus stop was 2.7 to 6.9 times higher than the mean ambient air concentration. The mean benzene concentrations in the breathing zone of drivers and service station attendants were 95 to 160 and 120 to 202 times higher than the mean ambient air concentrations, respectively.