• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.71-76
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• 2014

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and potential EDCs are mostly man-made, found in various materials such as pesticides, additives or contaminants in food, and personal care products. The high energy ionizing radiation has the ability to remove the EDCs with a very high degree of reliability and in a clean and efficient manner. The ionizing radiation interacts with EDCs both directly and indirectly. Direct interaction takes place with EDCs and the structure of EDCs is destroyed or changed. During indirect interaction, radiolysis products of water result in the formation of highly reactive intermediates which then react with the target molecules, culminating in structural changes. To confirm the radiation reduction of EDCs in industrial sludge, a pilot scale experiment up to 50 kGy of electron beam (EB) was conducted with samples from the textile dyeing industries. The experimental result showed the over 90% of reduction of Nonylphenol (NP) and Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) at around 10 kGy of absorbed doses.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.183-195
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• 2020

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are chemicals present in the environment that interfere with the normal hormone functions of various organisms and cause genetopathy, deformities, or cancer. This study surveyed the awareness of EDCs with 242 cooking staff at 242 meal service facilities for children located in a part of Gyeonggi Province. To minimize infants' exposure to EDCs, the subjects were provided with information on EDCs for two months. The behavior of reducing exposure to EDCs was analyzed according to the awareness of EDCs and work ethics. In addition, the effects before and after being provided with the information were evaluated. According to the results, the levels of awareness of EDCs and work ethics' scores of the cooking staff were high with 3.95 and 4.39 points, respectively, out of five points. In addition, a higher awareness of EDCs and a higher work ethics' score were associated with an improved behavior of reducing exposure to EDCs (P<0.05). The overall cooking and cleaning behavior for reducing exposure to EDCs showed improvement after providing information (P<0.01). Therefore, these results suggest that it is important to provide continuous education to enhance the awareness of EDCs, work ethics, and behavior to reduce exposure to EDCs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.117-121
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• 2005

In order to monitor the levels and seasonal variations of EDCs, samples of the discharged effluent from sewage & wastewater treatment plants and river waters were collected. The target EDCs including bisphenol A and alkylphenols were determined by Laser-induced fluorescence(LIF) as in-situ monitoring technique. The category of EDCs showed similar fluorescence spectra and nearly equal decay time. This point makes it hard to distinguish each EBCs from the EDCs mixture by LIF and LIF results were expressed only by the total EDCs. However, LIF monitoring results and GC-MS results was comparable. The correlation coefficient between EDCs concentration acquired from GC-MS and fluorescence intensity from LIF was significant. This study supports the feasibility of the application of LIF into EDCs monitoring In aquatic system.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.132-139
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• 2017

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) interfere with endocrine system in organisms, and have different mode of actions compared to conventional chemicals. Therefore, EDCs specific ecotoxicity tests and assessments have been globally developed by some organizations such as OECD, ASTM, and USEPA. In Korea, researches on EDCs and monitoring of EDCs in domestic environments were also continued. However, Korean ecotoxicity test guidelines for EDCs are not suggested till date. The purpose of this study is to review and analyze international ecotoxicity test guidelines for EDCs and the compare ecotoxicity methods and toxicity endpoints among standard test guidelines. We found that there are very limited EDCs specific soil ecotoxicity test guidelines (only in ASTM) compared to aquatic ecotoxicity test guidelines. Currently, fish, amphibian, waterflea, copepoda, earthworm, white worm, springtail, nematode, mite, and midge are suggested as standard ecotoxicity test species for EDCs. Reproduction, hormones, growth, vitellogenin, sex retio and development were proposed as endpoints for EDCs ecotoxicity. This study provided the comparison of EDCs specific ecotoxicity methods and endpoints between standard test guidelines, and suggested the further research to develop the method for assesseing ecotoxicity of EDCs.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.337-347
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• 2023

Purpose: Despite the health impacts of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) beginning in the early stages of life, there is little research on the perception of EDCs among Korean mothers, who are primarily responsible for protecting children. This study aimed to explore how mothers with young children perceived EDCs for their concerns, the issues they faced, and the way they dealt with them. Methods: An exploratory qualitative design was utilized. Twelve mothers who were recruited from snowball sampling participated in voluntary interviews. Individual in-depth interviews lasting approximately 47 to 60 minutes were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis as suggested by Graneheim and Lundman. Results: Four categories, 10 subcategories, and 25 condensed meaning units were identified by interpreting mothers' underlying meanings. The four categories were 'Knowledgeable yet contrasting ideas regarding EDCs,' 'Negative health impact, but more so for children,' 'Inaction or trying to minimize exposure,' and 'Need for early, reliable resources and social change.' Mothers were knowledgeable about EDCs and actively needed further education and support. While they tended to focus more on the health impact of EDCs on their children and were optimistic about their health risks, paying less attention to their preventive behaviors. Conclusion: Healthcare professionals must consider mothers' perceptions of EDCs in future education and interventions regarding EDCs impact on women's life stages such as puberty, pregnancy, and childrearing. Also preventive strategies that can be applied to their daily lives are needed.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.202-215
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• 2023

Purpose: This study attempted to determine the factors related to behaviors of reducing exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (BRE to EDCs) in pregnancy, based on the PRECEDE model. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with participants (N=239) who met the medical records and eligibility criteria from the Women's Hospital and Public Health Center. Data were collected using a specially-designed questionnaire based on the PRECEDE model and included BRE to EDCs predisposing factors, reinforcing factors, and enabling factors. The data were analyzed using the chi-square test, independent t-test, one way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients and a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results: In Model I it was found that participation in prenatal education influenced the BRE to EDCs significantly; and a regression showed that the determinant variables accounted for 3.4%. In Model II, the predisposing factors of perceived barriers of BRE to EDCs and environmental self-efficacy were added. It was shown that they significantly influenced BRE to EDCs in the order named, and a regression revealed that increases in the determinant variables accounted for 22.5%. In Model III, to which enabling factors were added, the information acquisition experience of BRE to EDCs interacted significantly with BRE to EDCs and a regression showed an increase in the determinant variables accounting for 25.3%. Conclusion: The results of this study, the content of endocrine disruptors must be included in the prenatal care education program for pregnant women, and it should be composed of contents that can reduce the perceived obstacle to BRE to EDCs, enhance the environmental self-efficacy, and provide the information in regard to reducing exposure to EDCs.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.30-43
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to enhance health management and prevention strategies for precocious puberty by comparing the knowledge, motivation, and behaviors related to reducing exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) between mothers of children with precocious puberty and those of typically developing children. Methods: Participants were 66 mothers of children with precocious puberty from a hospital and 71 mothers of typically developing children from an elementary school. The research questionnaire assessed knowledge of EDCs, motivation, self-efficacy, and behaviors towards reduced exposure to EDCs, in addition to general characteristics of children with precocious puberty. Data analysis utilized descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation. Results: There were statistically significant differences in self-efficacy (p=.015) and behavior (p=.001) regarding reduced exposure to EDCs between the two groups. Behaviors toward reduced exposure to EDCs were positively associated with knowledge of EDCs, motivation, and self-efficacy among mothers of children with precocious puberty. Additionally, these behaviors correlated positively with knowledge of EDCs, motivation, self-efficacy, and the child's birth weight and waist circumference among mothers of typically developing children. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that mothers of children with precocious puberty exhibited less proactive behavior in reducing exposure to EDCs compared to mothers of typical children. Therefore, it is important to foster interest in the impact of environmental factors, beyond characteristic factors, on behaviors aimed at reducing exposure to EDCs.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.76-89
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• 2018

Background: Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) has been considered one of the main causes of a range of endocrine diseases in modern society. An EDC priority list considering exposure, toxicity, and societal concern should be established for EDC management. Methods: The chemical ranking and scoring (CRS) system for EDCs was based on exposure, toxicity,and societal concern. The exposure score system was based on usage, circulation volume, bioaccumulation, and detection in consumer products. The toxicity score system was based on carcinogenicity and reproductive and developmental toxicity. The societal concern score system was based on domestic or international regulations and mass media reports. Results: A total of 165 EDCs were considered in the CRS system. The top-five priority EDCs were Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), Benzene, Bisphenol A, Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and Trichloroethylene. Phthalates, bisphenols and parabens were identified as priority chemical groups. Conclusion: We developed a CRS system for EDCs to identify priority EDCs for management. This will be a foundation to provide an EDC management plan based on scientific decision-making.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.412-421
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• 2017

Objectives: To establish a system for integrated risk assessment of EDCs in Korea, infrastructure for providing toxicity data of ecological media should be established. Some systems provide soil ecotoxicity databases along with aquatic ecotoxicity information, but a well-structured ecotoxicity database system is still lacking. Methods: Aquatic and soil ecotoxicological information were collected by a toxicologist based on a human readable data (HRD) format for collecting ecotoxicity data that we provided. Among these data, anomalies were removed according to database normalization theory. Also, the data were cleaned and encoded to establish a machine-readable data (MRD) ecotoxicity database system. Results: We have developed a multi-purpose ecotoxicity database model focusing on EDCs, ecological species, and toxic effects. Also, we have constructed a web-based data searching system to retrieve, extract, and download data with greater availability. Conclusions: The results of our study will contribute to decision-making as a tool for efficient ecological risk assessment of EDCs in Korea.

• Annals of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.182-195
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• 2018

Increasing prevalence of childhood obesity poses threats to the global health burden. Because this rising prevalence cannot be fully explained by traditional risk factors such as unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, early-life exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is recognized as emerging novel risk factors for childhood obesity. EDCs can disrupt the hormone-mediated metabolic pathways, affect children's growth and mediate the development of childhood obesity. Many organic pollutants are recently classified to be EDCs. In this review, we summarized the epidemiological and laboratory evidence related to EDCs and childhood obesity, and discussed the possible mechanisms underpinning childhood obesity and early-life exposure to non-persistent organic pollutants (phthalates, bisphenol A, triclosan) and persistent organic pollutants (dichlorodip henyltrichloroethane, polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Understanding the relationship between EDCs and childhood obesity helps to raise public awareness and formulate public health policy to protect the youth from exposure to the harmful effects of EDCs.