Safety and Health at Work

Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (산업안전보건연구원)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Estimates of the Number of Workers Exposed to Diesel Engine Exhaust in South Korea from 1993 to 2013

  • Choi, Sangjun (Department of Occupational Health, Catholic University of Daegu) ;
  • Park, Donguk (Department of Environmental Health, Korea National Open University) ;
  • Kim, Seung Won (Department of Public Health, Keimyung University) ;
  • Ha, Kwonchul (Department of Biohealth Science, Changwon National University) ;
  • Jung, Hyejung (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Catholic Kwandong University) ;
  • Yi, Gwangyong (Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency) ;
  • Koh, Dong-Hee (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Catholic Kwandong University) ;
  • Park, Deokmook (Ministry of Employment and Labor) ;
  • Sun, Oknam (Ministry of Employment and Labor) ;
  • Uuksulainen, Sanni (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health Work Environment)
  • Received : 2016.02.16
  • Accepted : 2016.06.14
  • Published : 2016.12.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to estimate the number of workers exposed to diesel engine exhaust (DEE) by industry and year in the Republic of Korea. Method: The estimates of workers potentially exposed to DEE in the Republic of Korea were calculated by industry on the basis of the carcinogen exposure (CAREX) surveillance system. The data on the labor force employed in DEE exposure industries were obtained from the Census on Establishments conducted by the Korea National Statistical Office from 1993 to 2013. The mean values of prevalence rates adopted by EU15 countries were used as the primary exposure prevalence rates. We also investigated the exposure prevalence rates and exposure characteristics of DEE in 359 workplaces representing 11 industries. Results: The total number of workers exposed to DEE were estimated as 270,014 in 1993 and 417,034 in 2013 (2.2% of the total labor force). As of 2013, the industry categorized as "Land transport" showed the highest number of workers exposed to DEE with 174,359, followed by "Personal and household services" with 70,298, "Construction" with 45,555, "Wholesale and retail trade and restaurants and hotels" with 44,005, and "Sanitation and similar services" with 12,584. These five industries, with more than 10,000 workers exposed to DEE, accounted for 83% of the total DEE-exposed workers. Comparing primary prevalence rates used for preliminary estimation among 49 industries, "Metal ore mining" had the highest rate at 52.6%, followed by "Other mining" with 50.0%, and "Land transport" with 23.6%. Conclusion: The DEE prevalence rates we surveyed (1.3-19.8%) were higher than the primary prevalence rates. The most common emission sources of DEE were diesel engine vehicles such as forklifts, trucks, and vans. Our estimated numbers of workers exposed to DEE can be used to identify industries with workers requiring protection from potential exposure to DEE in the Republic of Korea.

Keywords

References

  1. Lloyd AC, Cackette TA. Diesel engines: environmental impact and control. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 2001;51:809-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/10473289.2001.10464315
  2. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Agents classified by the IARC monographs [Internet]. IARC. 2012. Available from: http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/.
  3. Kauppinen T, Pajarskiene B, Podniece Z, Rjazanov V, Smerhovsky Z, Veidebaum T, Leino T. Occupational exposure to carcinogens in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic in 1997. Scand J Work Environ Health 2001;27:343-5. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.623
  4. Kauppinen T, Toikkanen J, Pedersen D, Young R, Ahrens W, Boffetta P, Hansen J, Kromhout H, Maqueda Blasco J, Mirabelli D, de la Orden-Rivera V, Pannett B, Plato N, Savela A, Vincent R, Kogevinas M. Occupational exposure to carcinogens in the European Union. Occup Environ Med 2000;57:10-8. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.57.1.10
  5. Blanco-Romero LE, Vega LE, Lozano-Chavarria LM, Partanen TJ. CAREX Nicaragua and Panama: Worker exposures to carcinogenic substances and pesticides. Int J Occup Environ Health 2011;17:251-7. https://doi.org/10.1179/oeh.2011.17.3.251
  6. Peters CE, Calvin BG, Hall AL, Davies HW, Demers PA. CAREX Canada: An enhanced model for assessing occupational carcinogen exposure. Occup Environ Med 2015;72:64-71. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2014-102286
  7. Mannetje AT, Pearce N, McLean D, Douwes J, Dryson E, Walls C, Ellison-Loschmann L, Blair A, Kromhout H, Slater T, Boffetta P. Workplace exposure to carcinogens in New Zealand (HRC 08/569). Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University; 2013.
  8. KOSTAT. Korea Standard Industrial Classification (KSIC) [Internet]. Statistics Korea; 2007 [cited 2016 Jan 16]. Available from: http://kosis.kr/ups/ups_01List.jsp?pubcode-ZY. [in Korean].
  9. Jones RS, Tsutsumi M. Sustaining growth in Korea by reforming the labour market and improving the education system. OECD Economics Department Working Papers. Paris (France): OECD Publishing; 2009.
  10. Partanen T, Chaves J, Wesseling C, Chaverri F, Monge P, Ruepert C, Aragon A, Kogevinas M, Hogstedt C, Kauppinen T. Workplace carcinogen and pesticide exposures in Costa Rica. Int J Occup Environ Health 2003;9:104-11. https://doi.org/10.1179/oeh.2003.9.2.104
  11. Kauppinen T, Uuksulainen S, Saalo A, Makinen I, Pukkala E. Use of the finnish information system on occupational exposure (FINJEM) in epidemiologic, surveillance, and other applications. Ann Occup Hyg 2014;58:380-96.
  12. International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). European vehicle market statisticdpocketbook 2013 [Internet]. 2013 [cited 2016May 30]. Available from: http://www.theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/EU_vehiclemarket_pocketbook_2013_Web.pdf. [in Korean].
  13. Ministry of Environment. White papers on environment 2002 [Internet]. 2003 [cited 2016 May 30]. Available from: http://library.me.go.kr.
  14. Ministry of Environment. White papers on environment 2013 [Internet]. 2013 [cited 2016 May 30]. Available from: http://library.me.go.kr. [in Korean].
  15. Pronk A, Coble J, Stewart PA. Occupational exposure to diesel engine exhaust: A literature review. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2009;19:443-57. https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2009.21

Cited by

  1. 대구지역 택배서비스업 종사자의 디젤엔진배출물 노출 평가 vol.27, pp.4, 2016, https://doi.org/10.15269/jksoeh.2017.27.4.361
  2. 서울시 소재 대학교 차량 요금정산소 수납원의 블랙카본 노출 평가 vol.29, pp.4, 2016, https://doi.org/10.15269/jksoeh.2019.29.4.464
  3. Development of Korean CARcinogen EXposure: An Initiative of the Occupational Carcinogen Surveillance System in Korea vol.65, pp.5, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1093/annweh/wxaa135