• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2010

Based on a nationwide survey of the consumption of oriental medicine by the Korean population, we estimated the potential risk from the inadvertent ingestion of heavy metals such as Pb, Hg, As, and Cd as a result such consumption. Compared to the provisional daily intake limit, heavy metal intake through oriental medicine resulted in hazard quotients of less than one. The upper $90^{th}$ percentile exposure estimates for each metal also showed insignificant risk. In relation to inorganic forms that are known carcinogens the excess cancer risk was less than $1{\times}10^7$. Based on the results of this study exposure to Pb, Hg, As, or Cd through oriental medicine intake appeared to be negligible and would not cause a significant impact on health.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.1024-1039
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• 2023

In this study, we performed a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) of Salmonella through intake of egg consumption after cooking (dry-heat, moist-heat, and raw consumption). Egg samples (n = 201) from retail markets were analyzed for the presence of Salmonella. In addition, temperature and time were investigated during egg transit, storage, and display. A predictive model was developed to characterize the kinetic behavior of Salmonella in eggs, and data on egg consumption and frequency were collected. Eventually, the data was simulated to estimate egg-related foodborne illnesses. Salmonella was not found in any of the 201 egg samples. Thus, the estimated initial contamination level was -4.0 Log CFU/g. With R² values of 0.898 and 0.922, the constructed predictive models were adequate for describing the fate of Salmonella in eggs throughout distribution and storage. Eggs were consumed raw (1.5%, 39.2 g), dry-heated (57.5%, 43.0 g), and moist-heated (41%, 36.1 g). The probability of foodborne Salmonella illness from the consumption of cooked eggs was evaluated to be 6.8×10^-10. Additionally, the probability of foodborne illness not applied cooking methods was 1.9×10^-7, indicating that Salmonella can be reduced by cooking. Therefore, the risk of Salmonella infection through consumption of eggs after cooking might be low in S. Korea.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6965-6969
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• 2013

Background: Tobacco consumption has been identified as the single biggest cause of inequality in morbidity and mortality. Understanding pattern of socioeconomic equalities in tobacco consumption in India will help in designing targeted public health control measures. Materials and Methods: Nationally representative data from the India Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) conducted in 2009-2010 was analyzed. The survey provided information on 69,030 respondents aged 15 years and above. Data were analyzed according to regions for estimating prevalence of current tobacco consumption (both smoking and smokeless) across wealth quintiles. Multiple logistic regression analysis predicted the impact of socioeconomic determinants on both forms of current tobacco consumption adjusting for other socio-demographic variables. Results: Trends of smoking and smokeless tobacco consumption across wealth quintiles were significant in different regions of India. Higher prevalence of smoking and smokeless tobacco consumption was observed in the medium wealth quintiles. Risk of tobacco consumption among the poorest compared to the richest quintile was 1.6 times higher for smoking and 3.1 times higher for smokeless forms. Declining odds ratios of both forms of tobacco consumption with rising education were visible across regions. Poverty was a strong predictor in north and south Indian region for smoking and in all regions for smokeless tobacco use. Conclusions: Poverty and poor education are strong risk factors for both forms of tobacco consumption in India. Public health policies, therefore, need to be targeted towards the poor and uneducated.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.83-109
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• 1998

This study was carried out to identify the Important modifiable risk factors for reduced bone mass and to construct prediction model which can classify women with either low or high bone mass. Through the literature review, individual characteristics such as age, body weight, height, education level, family history, age of menarche, postmenopausal period, gravity, parity, menopausal status, and breast feeding period were identified and factors of life style such as past milk consumption, past physical activity, present daily activity, present calcium intake, alcohol intake, cigarette smoking, coffee consumption were identified as influencing factors of reduced bone mass in women. Four hundred and eighty women aged between 28 and 76 who had given measurement bone mineral density by dual energy x-ray absortiometry in lumbar vertebrae and femur from July to October, 1997 at 4 general hospitals in Seoul and Pusan were selected for this study. Women were excluded if they had a history of any chronic illness such as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, hyperthroidism, & gastrointestinal disorder and any medication such as calcium supplements, calcitonin, estrogen, thyroxine, antacids, & corticosteroids known affect bone. As a result of these exclusion criteria, four hundred and seventeen women were used for analysis. Multiple logistic regression model was developed for estimating the likelihood of the presence or absence of reduced bone mass. A SAS procedure was used to estimate risk factor coefficient. The results are as follows For lumbar spine, the variables significant were age, body weight, menopause status, daily activity, past milk consumption, and past physical activity(p<0.01), while for femoral Ward's triangle, age, body weight, level of education, past milk consumption, past physical activity(p<0.001). Past physical activity, present daily activity and past milk consumption are the most powerful modifiable predictors in vertebrae and femur among the predictors. When the model performance was evaluated by comparing the observed outcome with predicted outcome, the model correctly identified 74.1% of persons with reduced bone mass and 84.5% of persons with normal bone mass in the lumbar vertebrae and 82.9% of persons with reduced bone mass and 75.0% of persons with normal bone mass in the femoral Ward's triangle. On the basis of these results, a number of recommendations for the management of reduced bone mass may be made : First, those woman who are classified as high risk group of the reduced bone mass in the prediction model should examine the bone mineral density to further examine the usefulness of this model. Second, the optimal amount of milk consumption and a regular weight bearing exercise in childhood, adolescence, and early adult should be ensured.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.283-290
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• 2015

Purpose: The aims of this case-control study were to assess the correlation between some food habits in the last two decades and gastric cancer in East Azerbaijan of Iran. Materials and Methods: In this hospital based case control study, 616 patients (212 gastric cancer patients, 404 cancer free patients) were recruited. Food habits of patients over the past two decades were assessed with a structured questionnaire. We used conditional logistic regression analysis for estimating crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Results: In this study, over-eating, consumption of high fat milk and yogurt and especial types of cheese increased the risk of gastric cancer (All<0.05). Consumption of such especial cheeses such as Koze and Khiki increased the risk of gastric cancer by 12.6 fold (95% CI:1.99-79.36) and 7.36 fold (95% CI:1.33-40.54), respectively. In addition, high fat food, moldy food, and pickled vegetables consumption as well as reuse of cooking oil for frying were significantly associated with gastric cancer risk. Furthermore, intake of Ghorme (deep fried meat) was positively correlated with gastric cancer risk (OR:1.31;95%CI: 0.91-1.87). Conclusions: It can be confirmed that particular food habits which have been very common in East-Azerbaijan in the last two past decades increase risk of gastric cancer. According to our results and taking into account the long latency period of gastric cancer it can be concluded that nutrition education for a healthy diet should be performed from early childhood. However, further well designed cohort studies are needed to achieve more clear results.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.100-104
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• 2015

Adverse effect of veterinary antibiotics (VAs) released into environment has been issued recently and concerns about analysis and management for VAs in the environment were increased. Main objective of this research was to calculate predicted environmental concentration (PEC) of the VAs in soil based on avaiable statistical data and result of previous study such as consumption rate and physiological properties of VAs. Total of 5 VAs, Chlortetracycline (CTC), Oxytetracycline (OTC), Sulfadimethoxine (SDX), Sulfamethazine (SMT), and Tylosin (TYL) were examined. Result showed that calculated PEC value in manure and soil was ordered as SMT > TYL > SDX > CTC > OTC. Range of calculated value for manure and soil was 0.50-67.04 and $0.48-64.45mg\;kg^{-1}$ respectively. Comparing to measured concentration of VAs in manure and soil, lower concentration of VAs in manure and soil was evaluated due to fate and degradation of VAs in manure and soil. Overall, evaluated simple modeling for calculating PEC of VAs in manure and soil can be adapted for preliminary screening purpose in environmental risk assessment and more refined modeling is necessary to examine detailed assessment of VAs in manure and soil.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.14-20
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• 2009

As the consumption of LNG has increased, the capacity and number of LNG facilities are getting bigger and bigger. Such circumstances supports the need for a dedicated risk analysis model to help review and check major issues of the safer construction and operation of LNG storage facilities systematically. Therefore this study suggests an appropriate risk analysis model that enables us to evaluate hazards of LNG storage facilities more easily and systematically, and then to use its result in siting, design and construction stages of the facilities. ill order to develop the model, lots of existing studies and domestic and foreign codes and standards were fully reviewed and a series of case studies also were carried out. The suggested model consists of 4-stage evaluations: in selecting a site, in determining a layout, in designing and constructing the facilities, and in operating them. This model also suggests the weather condition necessary for estimating the consequence of accident-scenarios, and the easy, systematic approach to the analysis of their probability. We expect that the model may help secure LNG storage facilities' inherent safety in determining their site and layout.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.206-211
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Obesity, which is a known risk factor for many chronic diseases, has also been associated with vitamin D deficiency. This study explored the relationship between serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations and adiposity measures in a general Korean population using the most recent, nationally representative survey data. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study sample consisted of 4,771 Korean adults (${\geq}19years$) who participated in the fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Serum 25(OH)D was determined by radioimmunoassay. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and total body fat content were measured as adiposity measurements. Total body fat content was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: The serum 25(OH)D level was significantly higher in men than in women. Serum 25(OH)D concentration was positively correlated with energy intake, and it was negatively correlated with total body fat content (P < 0.0001) and percentage body fat (P < 0.0001) after adjustment for age in both sexes, while was inversely correlated with BMI only in women. In multivariable regression analysis, serum 25(OH)D was inversely associated with the total body fat content after adjustment for age, BMI, education, region, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and energy intake only in men (P = 0.0047). However, the serum 25(OH)D concentration was not associated with WC or BMI, indicators of adiposity after adjustment for potential risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Serum 25(OH)D concentration was independently associated with the total body fat content in a general Korean population, but it may be not associated with the indicators for estimating adiposity, such as WC or BMI.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.553-559
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• 2015

Research on micro-level assessment of the changes of socio-economic status following health interventions is very scarce. The use of household asset data to determine wealth indices is a common procedure for estimating socio-economic position in resource poor settings. In such settings information about income is usually lacking, and the collection of individual consumption or expenditure data would require in-depth interviews, posing a considerable risk of bias. In this study, we determined the socio-economic status of 213 households in a community population in an island in the north-western Tanzania before and 3 year after implementation of a participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation (PHAST) intervention to control schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections. We constructed a household 'wealth index' based housing construction features (e.g., type of roof, walls, and floor) and durable assets ownership (e.g., bicycle, radio, etc.). We employed principal components analysis and classified households into wealth quintiles. The study revealed that asset variables with positive factor scores were associated with higher socio-economic status, whereas asset variables with negative factor scores were associated with lower socio-economic status. Overall, households which were rated as the poorest and very poor were on the decrease, whereas those rated as poor, less poor, and the least poor were on the increase after PHAST intervention. This decrease/increase was significant. The median shifted from -0.4376677 to 0.5001073, and the mean from -0.2605787 (SD; 2.005688) to 0.2605787 (SD; 1.831199). The difference in socio-economic status of the people between the 2 phases was highly statistically significant (P<0.001). We argue that finding of this study should be treated with caution as there were other interventions to control schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections which were running concurrently on Kome Island apart from PHAST intervention.