• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.44-54
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• 2018

Objectives: To protect individuals working at the site as well as the surrounding general population from a chemical accident, several emergency exposure guidance levels have been used to set a level of concern for certain chemicals. However, a level of concern has not been established for many substances that are frequently used or produced in large quantities in Korean workplaces. In the present study, we investigated the guidance levels for protecting populations from chemical exposure and the estimation of level of concern using acute inhalation and oral toxicity data. Methods: The number of chemicals to which emergency exposure guidance levels (e.g., ERPG-2, AEGL-2, PAC-2, and IDLH) can be applied were determined among 822 hazardous chemicals according to the 'Technical Guidelines for the Selection of Accident Scenarios (revised December 2016)'. The ERPG and AEGL values were compared across all three tiers for the 31 substances that appeared on both lists. We examined the degree of difference between the emergency exposure guidance levels and the estimates of level of concern calculated from acute inhalation or acute oral toxicity data. Results: Among the 822 hazardous chemicals, emergency exposure guidance levels can be applied to 359 substances, suggesting that the estimates of level of concern should be calculated using acute toxicity data for 56.3% of the hazardous chemicals. When comparing the concordance rates of ERPG and AEGL for 31 substances, the difference between the two criteria was generally small. However, about 40% of the substances have values diverging by more than three-fold in at least one tier. Such discrepancies may cause interpretation and communication problems in risk management. The emergency exposure guidance levels were similar to the estimates of level of concern calculated using acute inhalation toxicity data, but the differences were significant when using acute oral toxicity data. These results indicate that the level of concern derived from acute oral toxicity data may be insufficient to protect the population in some cases. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the development of standardized guidance values for emergency chemical exposure in the Korean population should be encouraged. It is also necessary to analyze acute toxicity data and fill the information gaps for substances that are important in Korean workplace situations.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2018

BACKGROUND: The mobile vortex wet scrubber was developed to remove the harmful chemicals from accidental releases. However, there was a disadvantage that it was limitedly used for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as toluene according to the physicochemical properties. This study compared the removal efficiencies of an improved mobile scrubber on toluene and ammonia by applying diverse adsorption and absorption methods. METHODS AND RESULTS: The removal efficiencies on harmful chemicals were examined using various adsorption and absorption methods of water vortex process (C), phosphoric acid-impregnated activated carbon adsorption (PCA), pH-controlled water (pH 2.5) vortex process absorption with sulfuric acid (SWA) after ammonia exposure, granular activated carbon adsorption (GCA), and activated carbon mat adsorption (CMA) after toluene exposure. As a result, the best removal efficiency was shown in the SWA for ammonia and GCA for toluene. Also, the SWA and GCA methods were compared with different concentration levels. In the case of ammonia exposure (5, 10 and 25%), there was no difference by concentration levels, and the concentration in the outlet gradually increased, with pH change from acid to base. In the case of toluene exposure (50, 75 and 100%), the outlet concentration was higher relative to the exposure concentration in the initial 10 min, but the outlet concentration was remained steady after 10 min. CONCLUSION: The newly improved mobile scrubber was also effective in removing VOCs through adsorption techniques (activated carbon, activated carbon fiber, carbon mat filter etc.), as well as removing acid-base harmful chemicals by neutralization reaction.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2007

Purpose: To assess the epidemiology and the clinical features of Glufosinate herbicide in Korea. Methods: Data was prospectively collected during 1 year since August 2005 from 38 hospital in Korea. We analyzed the epidemiologic characters and clinical manifestations of Glufosinate poisoning. In addition, the characteristics of patients with severe central nervous system toxicity were separately analyzed to find poor prognosis relating factors. Results: During study periods, there were 715 persons of poisoning of herbicides and insecticides. 6.3% (45 persons) of the agricultural chemicals poisoning had Glufosinate poisoning. There were 36 cases of suicide attempts and 7 cases of accidental exposure, The major of poisoning route was oral ingestion (44 cases). 28.9 % of the study patients had not toxic symptoms. The most common symptoms were gastrointestinal symptoms relating surfactant irritation. 67.7% of central nervous symptoms occurred lately. 10 persons showed severe central nervous system toxicity. 4 persons of them showed poor outcomes (1 death, 3 hopeless discharged). Complications of respiratory failure and renal failure related with poor outcome. Conclusion: Majority of patients ingested Glufosinate for suicide attempt. 22.2% of patients with Glufosinate poisoning showed delayed serious central nervous system toxicity. Early supportive care of altered mentality may prevent late respiratory complications and improve the outcomes.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.169-174
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• 2017

Acute and chronic toxicities of methyl ethyl ketone and methanol were investigated on Paronychiurus kimi (Collembola), for evaluating the potential effects of accidental exposures of these chemical substances on the terrestrial environments. This study was undertaken to establish a toxicity database for these chemical substances, which was required for the preparation of the response compensation and liability act for agricultural production and environmental damage. The 7-d acute toxicity and 28-d chronic toxicity were conducted using the OECD artificial soil spiked with varying, serially diluted concentrations of methyl ethyl ketone and methanol. Mortality was recorded after 7-d and 28-d of exposures, and the number of juveniles were determined after 28-d of exposure in the chronic toxicity test. In both assessments, methanol was more toxic than methyl ethyl ketone in terms of mortality ($LC_{50}$) and reproduction ($EC_{50}$). The 7-d $LC_{50}$ of methyl ethyl ketone and methanol were 762 and $2378mg\;kg^{-1}$ soil dry wt., respectively, and the 28-d $LC_{50}s$ were 6063 and $1857mg\;kg^{-1}$ soil dry wt., respectively. The 28-d $EC_{50}$ of methyl ethyl ketone and methanol were 265 and $602mg\;kg^{-1}$ soil dry wt., respectively. Comparison of results obtained in this study with literature data revealed that P. kimi was more sensitive to methanol than other soil invertebrates. However, given the high volatility of the chemicals tested in this study, further studies are necessary to improve the current test guideline, or to develop new test guidelines for an accurate assessment of chemicals that require toxicity databases for chemical accidents.