• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.37 no.11
• /
• pp.619-630
• /
• 2015

This study was conducted to propose the methodology of human risk assessment specialized to domestic mine areas and to quantify the human risk of heavy metal (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) contamination around two abandoned metal mines. To attain the goals, we established a relevant exposure scenario, including 7 exposure pathways and extracted a variety of exposure factors reflecting the characteristics of inhabitants around abandoned metal mine areas. Finally, carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks were compared between two areas, exposure pathways, heavy metal contaminants, and receptors. The total excess carcinogenic risks of two mine areas of concern were calculated to be larger than the acceptable carcinogenic risk ($1{\times}10^{-6}$), indicating those two areas are not safe for carcinogenic hazard. In addition, the hazard indices of two areas were computed to be higher than unit risk (1), suggesting that the areas of concern have non-carcinogenic risk. Ingestion of crop and intake of groundwater were evaluated to be main exposure pathways contributing to carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks within the areas. Also, the results show that carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic hazards were mostly attributed to As and As, Cd, and Pb, respectively.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.10 no.1_2
• /
• pp.1-14
• /
• 1995

The purpose of this research is to assess the health risk of pollutants in drinking water and recommend the guidelines and management plans for maintaining good quality of drinking water. This study has been funded as a national project for three years from 1992 to 1995. This study(the second year, 1993-1994) was conducted to monitor 32 species of carcinogenic chemicals such as volatile organic compounds(VOCs), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), pesticides and heavy metals of drinking water at some area in six cities of Korea, and evaluate health risk due to these chemicals through four main steps of risk assessment in drinking water. In hazard identification, 32 species of carcinogenic chemicals were identified by the US EPA classification system. In the step of exposure assessment, sampling of raw, treated and tap water from the public water supply system had been conducted from 1993 to 1994, and 32 chemicals were analyzed. In dose-response assessment, cancer potencies, unit risk estimates and virtually safe doses of carcinogens were obtained by TOX-RISK (Version 3.1). In risk characterization of detected chemicals, health risk due to carcinogens such as vinyl chloride, carbon tetrachloride, dichloromethane, 1, 2-dichloromethane, chloroform, benzene and arsenic of tap water in several cities exceeded 10$^{-5}$ level. We suggest that non-regulated chemicals which exceed 10$^{-5}$ excess cancer risk level, such as vinyl chloride, carbon tetrachloride and 1, 2-dichloroethane, should be monitored periodically and be regulated by the Drinking Water Management Act, and database for exposure parameter of our own situation should be established.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.49-60
• /
• 2021

Objectives: Laboratories have various latent physical, chemical, biological, and ergonomical factors according to the diversification and fusion of research and development activities. This study aims to investigate the chemical exposure concentrations of college laboratories and evaluate their health risks, and use them as basic data to promote the health of college students. Methods: The sampling and analysis of harmful chemicals in the air in laboratories were performed using Method 1500 of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)의 Method 1500. The harmful chemicals in the laboratories were divided into carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic chemicals. Risk assessment was performed using the cancer risk (CR) for carcinogenic chemicals and using the hazard index (HI) for non-carcinogenic chemicals. Results: The harmful chemicals in college laboratories consisted of acetone, diethyl ether, methylene chloride, n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran, toluene, and xylenes. They showed the highest concentrations in laboratories A (acetone 0.001~2.34ppm), B (chloroform 0.95~6.35ppm), C (diethyl ether 0.08~8.68ppm), and D (acetone 0.07~14.96ppm). The risk assessment result for non-carcinogenic chemicals showed that the HI of methylene chloride was 2.052 for men and 2.333 for women, the HI of N-hexane was 4.442 for men and 5.05 for women. Thus, the HI values were higher than 1. The risk of carcinogenic chemicals is determined by an excess cancer risk (ECR) value of 1.0×10^-5, which means that one in 100,000 people has a cancer risk. The ECRs of chloroform exceeded 1.0×10^-5 for both men and women, indicating the possibility of cancer risk. Conclusion: College laboratories showed the possibility of non-carcinogenic health risks for methylene chloride, n-hexane, tetrahydrofuran (THF), toluene, and xylenes, and carcinogenic health risks for chloroform, methylene chloride. However, this study used the maximum values of measurements to determine the worst case, and assumed that the subjects were exposed to the corresponding concentrations continuously for 8 hours per day for 300 days per year. In consideration of the nature of laboratory environment in which people are intermittently exposed, rather than continuously, to the chemicals, the results of this study has an element of overestimation.

• Management Science and Financial Engineering
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.13-23
• /
• 2015

This study addresses the question as to whether the option prices have useful predictive information on the direction of stock markets by investigating a forecasting power of volatility curvatures and skewness premiums implicit in S&P 500 index option prices traded in Chicago Board Options Exchange. We begin by estimating implied volatility functions and risk neutral price densities every minute based on non-parametric method and then calculate volatility curvature and skewness premium using them. The rationale is that high volatility curvature or high skewness premium often leads to strong bullish sentiment among market participants. We found that the rate of return on the signal following trading strategy was significantly higher than that on the intraday buy-and-hold strategy, which indicates that the S&P500 index option prices have a strong forecasting power on the direction of stock index market. Another major finding is that the information contents of S&P 500 index option prices disappear within one minute, and so one minute-delayed signal following trading strategy would not lead to any excess return compared to a simple buy-and-hold strategy.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.15-22
• /
• 2015

Dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid (GC), is clinically administered to woman at risk for premature labor to induce fetal lung maturation. However, exposure to repeated or excess GCs leads to intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and subsequently increases risk of psychiatric and cardio-metabolic diseases in later life through fetal programming mechanisms. GCs are key mediators of stress responses, therefore, maternal nutrient restriction or psychological stress during pregnancy also causes negative impacts on birth and neurodevelopment outcome of fetuses, and other congenital defects, such as craniofacial and skeletal abnormalities. In this study, to examine the effect of prenatal stress on fetal skeletal development, dexamethasone (1 mg/kg [DEX1] or 10 mg/kg [DEX10] maternal body weight per day) was administered intraperitoneally at gestational day 7.5~9.5 and the skeletons were prepared from embryos at day 18.5. Seven out of eighteen (39%) embryos treated with DEX10 showed axial skeletal abnormalities in either the T13 or L1 vertebrae. In addition, examination of the sternum revealed that xiphoid process, the protrusive triangular part of the lower end of the sternum, was bent more outward or inward in DEX group embryos. In conclusion, our findings suggest a possible link to the understanding of the effect of uterine environment to the fetal skeletal features.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.1057-1060
• /
• 2014

Adiposity is a well-recognized risk factor of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and recently there is increasing evidence that excess body weight is an avoidable cause of cancer, including gastrointestinal, endometrial, esophageal adenocarcinoma, colorectal, postmenopausal breast, prostate, and renal malignancies. The mechanisms whereby adiposity is associated with tumor development remains not well understood. There are some most studied hypothesized mechanisms such as, high levels of insulin and free levels of insulin-like growth factors, sex hormones, adipocytokines, and inflammatory cytokines, adiposity-induced hypoxia, and so on. The potential mechanisms and conclusions in adiposity associated with increased risk for developing malignancy, and the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms will be studied very well in the near future.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.57 no.3
• /
• pp.101-109
• /
• 2014

The use of glucocorticoids (GCs) in the perinatal period is suspected of being associated with adverse effects on long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes for preterm infants. Repeated administration of antenatal GCs to mothers at risk of preterm birth may adversely affect fetal growth and head circumference. Fetal exposure to excess GCs during critical periods of brain development may profoundly modify the limbic system (primarily the hippocampus), resulting in long-term effects on cognition, behavior, memory, co-ordination of the autonomic nervous system, and regulation of the endocrine system later in adult life. Postnatal GC treatment for chronic lung disease in premature infants, particularly involving the use of dexamethasone, has been shown to induce neurodevelopmental impairment and increases the risk of cerebral palsy. In contrast to studies involving postnatal dexamethasone, long-term follow-up studies for hydrocortisone therapy have not revealed adverse effects on neurodevelopmental outcomes. In experimental studies on animals, GCs has been shown to impair neurogenesis, and induce neuronal apoptosis in the immature brains of newborn animals. A recent study has demonstrated that dexamethasone-induced hypomyelination may result from the apoptotic degeneration of oligodendrocyte progenitors in the immature brain. Thus, based on clinical and experimental studies, there is enough evidence to advice caution regarding the use of GCs in the perinatal period; and moreover, the potential long-term effects of GCs on brain development need to be determined.

• CELLMED
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.12.1-12.5
• /
• 2021

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has become one of the major public health problems for both mothers and children globally. Internationally, the frequency of excess weight and obesity has risen dramatically in women of childbearing age. There seems to be a greater risk of having GDM in overweight or obese women, resulting in problems during pregnancy, birth and neonatal development. Hospital management is a problem for obese pregnant females with GDM and places extra burdens on the healthcare sector. GDM can result in possible risks to the wellbeing of the mother, fetus, and infant, as well as clinically significant negative effects on the mental health of the mother. For females and their developing babies, diabetes may cause problems during pregnancy. Unsatisfactory diabetes control enhances the risk of complications and other birth related issues during pregnancy. It may also cause a woman to suffer severe complications. Numerous maternal and fetal effects are associated with GDM and multiple detection and management methods are also pursued globally in order to reduce the burden of health. An overview of gestational diabetes treatment is given in this review.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.73-77
• /
• 2022

Recently, as the number of years of operation has increased for more than 30 years, interest in evaluating the remaining life of major power facilities such as transformers and ultra-high voltage cables is increasing. In particular, the risk of failure is increasing because the underground transmission XLPE cable has been built since 1980 and has been operating in excess of 30 years of design life or close proximity. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an algorithm to evaluate the residual life of the XLPE cable considering the load to determine the risk of failure. Since load data is large amount of data, it is necessary to make the variable load information equivalent to the time unit first in order to calculate the remaining life of the system quickly. In overseas literature, transformers are reported to be standardized for variable load equivalent conversion formulas, but they have not been reported for ultra-high voltage cables. Therefore, in this paper, whether the equivalent conversion formula of a transformer can be applied to XLPE cables was reviewed through accelerated degradation tests under equivalent and variable temperature conditions, and considerations were studied when evaluating the remaining operating life of XLPE cables based on the experimental results.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.53-62
• /
• 2008

In the present study, the concentration levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCBs) in the environments in Korea are estimated based on some measured data in Korea, in comparison with the data from the other countries. Even though PCBs were banned as electrical fluids in 1970s in Korea, PCBs are still detected in the environment. PCBs levels in Korea are greatly lower than those in other countries, which are gradually decreased as well. However, the measured data are not sufficient in both numbers and quality, to estimate the average PCBs levels in Korea. The regulation limit on polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCBs) is 2mg/kg (ppm), which is too low compared to 50 ppm of many other countries including U.S. With this strict regulation, there are many problems expected, for example, in the analysis of PCBs in the transformers using in the field as well as the safe treatment of PCBs. The risk assessment on the PCBs in the environment is surely necessary prior to the change in the limit. Also the PCBs concentration monitoring in the environmental media (i.e. air, water, soil and sediment) and exposure assessment will be essential for the accurate risk assessment. If the PCB-waste guideline maintain as 2 ppm after 10 years, the excess cancer risk of PCBs exposure by ambient air, drinking water and soil was $10^{-8}$. But if the guideline mitigate as 50 ppm after 10 years, the cancer risk was increased by $10^{-7}$. The ecological risk quotient by regulation change was not exceed '1'.