Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (한국산업보건학회지)

Korean Industrial Hygiene Association (한국산업보건학회)
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Investigating the potential exposure risk to indium compounds of target manufacturing workers through an analysis of biological specimens

생물학적 노출평가를 통한 타겟 제조업 근로자의 공정별 인듐 노출위험성 조사

  • Won, Yong Lim (Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency) ;
  • Choi, Yoon Jung (Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency) ;
  • Choi, Sungyeul (Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency) ;
  • Kim, Eun-A (Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency)
  • 원용림 (한국산업안전보건공단 산업안전보건연구원) ;
  • 최윤정 (한국산업안전보건공단 산업안전보건연구원) ;
  • 최성렬 (한국산업안전보건공단 산업안전보건연구원) ;
  • 김은아 (한국산업안전보건공단 산업안전보건연구원)
  • Received : 2014.06.24
  • Accepted : 2014.08.29
  • Published : 2014.09.30
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Abstract

Objectives: Along with the several cases of pulmonary disorders caused by exposure to indium that have been reported in Japan, China, and the United States, cases of Korean workers involved in processes that require handling of indium compounds with potential risk of exposure to indium compounds have also been reported. We performed biological monitoring for workers in various target manufacturing processes of indium, indium oxide, and indium tin oxide(ITO)/indium zinc oxide(IZO) in domestic factories. Materials: As biological exposure indices, we measured serum concentrations of indium using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and Krebs von den Lungen 6(KL-6) and surfactant protein D(SP-D) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. We classified the ITO/IZO target manufacturing process into powdering, mixing, molding, sintering, polishing, bonding, and finishing. Results: The powdering process workers showed the highest serum indium level. The mixing and polishing process workers also showed high serum indium levels. In the powdering process, the mean indium serum concentration in the workers exceeded $3{\mu}g/L$, the reference value in Japan. Of the powdering, mixing, and polishing process workers, 83.3%, 50.0%, and 24.5%, respectively, had values exceeding the reference value in Japan. We suppose that the reason of the higher prevalence of high indium concentrations in powder processing workers was that most of the particles in the powdering process were respirable dust smaller than $10{\mu}m$. The mean KL-6 and SP-D concentrations were high in the powdering, mixing, and polishing process workers. Therefore, the workers in these processes who were at greater risk of exposure to indium powder were those who had higher serum levels of indium, as well as KL-6 and SP-D. We observed significant differences in serum indium, KL-6, and SP-D levels between the process groups. Conclusions: Five among the seven reported cases of "indium lung" in Japan involved polishing process workers. Polishing process workers in Korea also had high serum levels of indium, KL-6, and SP-D. The outcomes of this study can be used as essential bases for establishing biological monitoring measures for workers handling indium compounds, and for developing health-care guidelines and special medical surveillance in Korea.

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References

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