초록
Objectives: To protect researchers using chemicals, it is necessary to monitor whether the working environment is well managed through the performance evaluation of the local exhaust system in the research laboratory. These results need to be reflected in the work environment management policy of research laboratories in the future. Methods: By measuring the capture velocities of fume hoods and arm hoods, which are the most commonly used local exhaust systems in research laboratories in a domestic research institute, we tried to confirm the degree to which the actual capture velocity values and legal standards were satisfied. The capture velocities were measured using a hot wire wind speedometer (TSI 9565-P, USA, 2016 with all exhaust systems in operation in the laboratory. As for the measurement position for each local exhaust system, in the case of the fume hood, the wind speed in the center of the opening surface was measured after opening 50% of the door of the hood. For the arm hood the capture velocities were measured at a distance of 10 cm vertically from the opening surface of the hood Conclusions: The total number of arm hoods measured was 546, and the average capture velocity was 0.61 m/sec with an S.D of 0.49. Among them, 99 satisfied the capture velocity standard of 1m/sec, meaning only 18.1% of the total satisfied with the standard. The total number of fume hoods measured was 625, and the average control wind speed was 0.48 m/sec with an S.D. of 0.17. Among them, the number of fume hoods that satisfied the capture velocity standard of 0.4 m/sec was 518, meaning 82.9% of the total satisfied the standard. Therefore, research institutes that operate local exhaust systems to protect researchers from chemicals should further strengthen the capture velocity management of hoods, and government agencies need to reflect this in work environment management policies based on further evaluation results.
