• 한국산업보건학회지
• /
• 제11권1호
• /
• pp.70-77
• /
• 2001

This study was conducted to identify the current status of occupational safety and health by checklist and to evaluate the airborne exposure to chemicals and to provide the appropriate recommendation for safety and health of laundries. A total of 20 laundries located in tile Gyungi district area were surveyed from July 20 to September 15, 2000. The prevalence of laundries having a stove and gas range were found to be 25 % and 55 %, respectively. Smoking is not allowed in 60 % of the laundries. Only 10 % of dry-cleaners were isolated. Ventilation systems in laundries had not been annually inspected. Most of the workers didn't put on respirators, MSDS were not available, and storage bottles did not contain warning labels. The bulk samples of dry cleaning agent include many chemicals that are not controlled by the MOL in Korea. The detected airborne organic solvents in the laundries were benzene, toluene, p-xylene, m-xylene, o-xylene, perchloroethylene, and 2-butoxy ethanol. The airborne concentrations of organic solvents were much less than the occupational exposure limits proposed by the Ministry of Labor(MOL) in Korea. But the concentrations of benzene exceeded the TLV of ACGIH. This study showed that the current status of occupational safety and health was not appropriate for workers in laundries. It is recommended that laundry workers should be educated for the treatment and storage of hazardous organic solvents to improve the occupational safety and health of the working environment as well as MSDS usage. Also, extended research and survey for the organic solvents that are not controlled by the MOL has to be conducted.

• 한국산업보건학회지
• /
• 제1권1호
• /
• pp.8-15
• /
• 1991

In order to visualize the distribution of workplace of which mixed solvent level in air exceeded the TLV of 1.0 (ACGIH), 17 thinners used in 44 painting workplaces were analysed with gas chromatography, and their levels in air were compaired with. 1. For detection rate of solvents in thinner was highest in case of toluene (76.4%), and decreased in orders of xylene (70.6%), methylisobutyl ketone (35.3%), acetone (35.3%), methyl ethyl ketone (23.5%), isopropylacohol (17.6%), n-hexane (17.6%), styrene (11.8%), and ethylacetate (11.8%). Average number of solvents detected was 3.0. 2. Detection rates of organic solvent by component category was highest in cases of aromatic hydrocarbons (52.9%), and decreased in orders of ketones (31.4%), alcohols (5.9%), n-hexane (5.9%) and esters (3.9%). The rate by regulatory category, the second category component was detected in 93.9% of total. 3. There was significant correlation (r=0.929, p<0.01)between detection rates of solvents in thinner and in air. 4. Among the total of 44 painting workplace, the rate of them of which level of mixed solvents in air was exceeded was highest in case of aromatic hydrocarbons (29.5%), and decreased in orders of ketones (6.8%), alcohol (2.3%), n-hexane (2.3%), and was highest in guitar painting (71.4%) workplace in case of aromatic hydrocarbons by component category.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• 제27권3호
• /
• pp.137-141
• /
• 2011

This study was conducted to assess the exposure risk through inhalation to baby powder for babies and adults under simulated conditions. Baby powder was applied to a baby doll and the amount of baby powder consumed per application was estimated. The airborne exposure to baby powder during application was then evaluated by sampling the airborne baby powder near the breathing zones of both the baby doll and the person applying the powder (the applicator). The average amount of baby powder consumed was 100 mg/application, and the average exposure concentration of airborne baby powder for the applicator and baby doll was 0.00527 mg/$m^3$ (range 0.00157~0.01579 mg/$m^3$) and 0.02207 mg/$m^3$ (range 0.00780~0.04173 mg/$m^3$), respectively. When compared with the Occupational Exposure Limit of 2 mg/$m^3$ set by the Korean Ministry of Labor and the Threshold Limit Value (TLV) of 2 mg/$m^3$ set by the ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists), the exposure concentrations were much lower. Next, the exposure to asbestos-containing baby powder was estimated and the exposure risk was assessed based on the lung asbestos contents in normal humans. As a result, the estimated lung asbestos content resulting from exposure to asbestos-containing baby powder was found to be much lower than that of a normal Korean with no asbestos-related occupational history.

• International Journal of Safety
• /
• 제3권1호
• /
• pp.27-31
• /
• 2004

Some of the petroleum products contain benzene which is well known as a confirmed human carcinogen. For example, gasoline products contain benzene ranging up to several percents by weight. High exposures to the benzene and other organic solvents would be likely to occur during intermittent tasks and or processes rather than continuous jobs such as sampling, repair, inspection, and loading/unloading jobs. The work time for these jobs is various. However, most of work time is very short and the representative time interval is 15 minutes. Thus, it is preferable to do exposure assessment for 15 minute time weighted average which is known as a short time exposure level(STEL) by ACGIH rather than for 8-hours TWA. It is particularly significant to the exposure monitoring for benzene since it has been known that the exposure rate plays an important role to provoke the leukemia. Due to the large variations, a number of processes/tasks, the traditional sampling technique for organic solvents with the use of the charcoal and sampling pumps is not appropriate. Limited number of samples can be obtained due to the shortage of sampling pumps. Passive samplers can eliminate these limitations. However, low sampling rates resulted in collection of small amount of the target analysts in the passive samplers. This is originated the nature of passive samplers. Field applications were made with use of passive samplers to compare with the charcoal tube methods for 15 minutes. Gasoline loading processes to the tank lorry trucks at the loading stations in the petroleum products storage area. Good agreements between the results of passive samplers and those of the charcoal tubes were achieved. However, it was found that special cautions were necessary during the analysis at very low concentration levels.

• 한국환경보건학회지
• /
• 제37권2호
• /
• pp.94-101
• /
• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the noise exposures of firefighters according to their time-dependent activity patterns. Methods: Personal exposure levels were measured for six days and nights using noise dosimeters; three days and nights for on-duty tasks, the other days and nights for off-duty activities. Results: The total amount of time spent in the workplace was 13,677 min (67%), outside areas 4,833 min (23%), in transit 1,002 min (5%), and other indoor area 807 min (4%) during a working period. However, during off-days they spent 10,858 min (76%) at home, 1,382 min (10%) outdoors, 1,225 min (9%) other indoors, and 493 min (3%) in transit. As a result of individual exposure levels, TWA did not exceed 90 dBA of the occupational exposure limit for the majority of the firefighters, whereas the levels of Lmax were 119 dBA, which were higher than the noise levels of firefighters in USA. Sometimes during dispatching the levels of Lpeak exceeded the ACGIH exposure standard (140 dBC). The Leq levels in transit were higher than the levels in home and other indoors even though the activity time is short. Conclusions: This paper characterized the noise exposure patterns of firefighters in Korea. We suggest that special noise sources, including sirens and speaker phones, should be readjusted to reduce noise exposure.

• 한국산업보건학회지
• /
• 제16권3호
• /
• pp.193-201
• /
• 2006

This study was performed to investigate employee exposures to waste anesthetic gases, such as enflurane and sevoflurane in operating rooms of general surgical, children's and dental clinics of a large hospital located in Seoul and to analyze factors affecting the concentrations of waste anesthetic gases. The results of the study are summarized below. 1. Based on results of personal and area samples for airborne enflurane, all of the employees investigated in this study were exposed to airborne enflurane concentrations below the ACGIH-threshold limit value (TLV) of 75 ppm. 2. However, based on results of personal samples for sevoflurane, employees of two (2) out of eleven (11) operating rooms were exposed to sevoflurane concentrations in excess of the NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL) of 2 ppm. A similar trend was found in the area samples. 3. To investigate the source of sevoflurane emissions, airborne sevoflurane concentrations were measured on an anesthesia machine, a drug cabinet and a desk. It was indicated that the geometric means were 0.93 ppm, 0.83 ppm and 0.72 ppm, respectively. 4. Factors affecting waste anesthetic gas concentrations were the age of anesthesia machine, the volume of operating room and the extent of ventilation (p<0.05). 5. It is recommended that the use of anesthesia equipments be properly controlled, the operating room be well ventilated, and the airborne concentrations of anesthetic gases be continuously monitored.

• 한국산업보건학회지
• /
• 제10권2호
• /
• pp.53-67
• /
• 2000

Coke-oven workers are regularly exposed to coke oven emissions (COE), which consist primarily of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and volatile organic components. This study assessed the exposure of coke-oven workers to COE and PAH. The results of this study are as follows. 1. Among the 136 samples on coke-oven workers 33.1% exceeded the occupational exposure limit to the Coal Tar Pitch Volatiles ($0.2mg/m^3$) established by the Korean Ministry of Labor and American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists(ACGIH). 2. The coke-oven workers were classified into twelve job categories and there was statistically significant difference among the airborne concentrations of COE and PAH in twelve job categories(p<0.001). 3. There was no significant difference of the airborne concentrations of COE between NIOSH method and OSHA method applied. 4. There was a significant correlation between the airborne concentrations of total PAH and COE(r=0.733, p<0.01). 5. The percentage of naphthalene in total PAH was 55.9% and the highest among those of 16 PAHs. There was a significant correlation between the airborne concentrations of naphthalene and total PAH(r=0.90, p<0.01) and this study recommends naphthalene as the index component of PAH.

• 한국산업보건학회지
• /
• 제20권1호
• /
• pp.53-62
• /
• 2010

일샵 종사자들의 1) 공기 중 화학물질에 대한 노출정도를 파악하고 2) 공기 중 미량으로 존재하는 아세톤 및 톨루엔과 요 중 아세톤 및 마뇨산과의 연관성을 분석하여 후자들이 아직도 생물학적인 지표로 유용한지를 알아보고자 본 연구를 실시하였다. 경인 지역소재 9개의 네일숍에 근무하는 20명의 종사자들을 노출군으로 선정하였으며 이 작업과 무관한 일반 여성 20명을 대조군 선정하였다. 작업장 공기는 한 네일숍에 3개씩 총 27개의 시료를 가능한 한 작업자의 호흡영역에서 가장 가까운 곳에서 지역시료로 채취하였다. 공기 중 유기증기 13개 물질, 포름알데히드, 요 중 아세톤, 요 중 마뇨산을 가스크로마토그래프, 자외선분광광도계 그리고 GC/MS를 이용하여 분석하였다. 유기증기 13개 물질 중 아세톤과 톨루엔은 모든 네일샵에서 검출되었다. 각 네일샵 공기 중 유기증기의 노출정도를 기하평균(GM)과 복합물질간 상가작용을 이용하여 평가를 하였을 때 노동부 노출기준의 10%, ACGIH의 13% 수준에 불과하여 네일샵 종사자들의 유기증기에 대한 직업적인 노출정도는 매우 낮은 것으로 판단되었다. 요 중 아세톤과 마뇨산은 공기 중 아세톤과 툴루엔과 약한 상관성을 보였다(아세톤의 상관 계수 r=0.49, 톨루엔의 상관계수 r=0.45). 그러나 요 중 아세톤의 농도가 노출군과 대조군 간에 통계적으로 유의하지 않았으며 마뇨산은 대조군에 비해 노출군에서 약간 높은 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 저자들은 공기 중 아세톤과 톨루엔의 농도가 낮은 작업장에서 요 중 아세톤과 마뇨산을 생물학적 지표로 삼는 것은 적절하지 못한 것으로 결론지었다.

• 한국산업보건학회지
• /
• 제20권1호
• /
• pp.63-69
• /
• 2010

This study was conducted to compare the concentration of various air contaminants in nine different laboratories during routine activities. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) were sampled and analyzed using NIOSH Method 1500 and asbestos fibers were sampled and analyzed using NIOSH Method 9002 and 7400. Detectable levels of acetone, toluene and ethanol were found in all the laboratories and xylene and n-hexane were detected in eight of the nine laboratories. All the VOC concentrations were well below the Korean Ministry of Labor's Exposure Limit and American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists' (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Values (TLVs). Total VOC concentrations at the university laboratories were significantly higher than those at governmental agency laboratories. Airborne fiber concentrations were below 0.01 fibers/cc, while the concentration of chrysotile was 2% in insulation materials sprayed on the ceiling of one laboratory. While all the governmental agency laboratories (n=4) had fume hoods, two out of the five university laboratories did not have fume hoods. The capture velocity of half of the fume hoods were below the maintenance standard(0.4 m/sec). In conclusion, the study suggests that the current controls in place at both university and government agency laboratories are not sufficient in limiting exposure to harmful chemicals to non-detectable levels, though they appear to be adequate in protecting workers to levels below applicable occupational exposure limits. The study also suggests that researchers working in university laboratories may be exposed to greater levels of contaminant than those working in government agency laboratories.

• 한국환경보건학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국환경보건학회 2002년도 춘계 국제 학술대회
• /
• pp.37-39
• /
• 2002

Geometric mean of airborne welding fume concentration at technical high schools was 4.80mg/㎥(N.D∼35.39mg/㎥) and the percentage of samples exceeded TLV of the Korean ministry of labor was 43.6％, Geometric mean of airborne Mn concentration was 0.06mg/㎥(N.D∼0.42mg/㎥) and the percentage of samples exceeded TLV of ACGIH was 15.4％. In case of airborne Mn concentration, there is a significant difference among schools (P＜0.05). Mn concentrations in blood of the exposed and control groups were 1.84$\mu\textrm{g}$/㎗ and 1.91$\mu\textrm{g}$/㎗, respectively. Mn concentrations in urine of the exposed and control groups were 1.36$\mu\textrm{g}$/$\ell$ and 0.57$\mu\textrm{g}$/$\ell$, respectively. In case of Mn concentrations in urine, there is a significant difference between both groups(P＜0.001) and among schools(P＜0.05). Mn concentrations in blood and urine of exposed group were not over BEIs of the Korean ministry of labor. Mn levels in blood and urine were not significantly affected by smoking, drinking and residence. There was no correlation between Mn concentration in air and blood, but there was a statistically significant correlation between Mn concentration in air and urine(r=0.323). There was no a Statistically significant correlation between Mn concentration in blood and urine.