• 한국산업보건학회지
• /
• 제23권2호
• /
• pp.50-56
• /
• 2013

Objectives: The present study investigated cytotoxicity and DNA damage in human lung cells in vitro. Methods: Neodymium oxide and lanthanum oxide were dispersed by ultrasonic treatments. The assay was performed with MRC-5 (Human male fetus lung cell). Cytotoxicity and comet assay of lanthanum oxide and neodymium oxide were measured after 24 and 48 hours incubation. Results: After 24 hours of exposure to rare earth metals, the cytotoxicities of lanthanum oxide in more than $1{\mu}M$ concentration groups were significantly increased when compared to the control group, but the cytotoxicities of neodymiun oxide in more than $100{\mu}M$ concentration groups were statistically increased. After 48 hours exposure, cytotoxicities of both materials were statistically increased in $100,000{\mu}M$ concentration groups. Olive tail moments of the lanthanum oxide treated group were significantly increased when compared to the control group. Conclusions: The cytotoxicity of lanthanum oxide was higher than that of neodymium oxide. The DNA of MRC-5 cells treated with lanthanum oxide for 48 hours were significantly damaged.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• 제28권3호
• /
• pp.551-562
• /
• 1995

To assess the status of safety accidents, authors reviewed and analysed the records of safety accidents of a welding material manufacturing factory at Pohang city from January 1989 to December 1993. The results are; 1. The total incidence of safety accidents was 295 spells for five years. 2. Average age of workers with accident was 35.7 years. Average duration of employment was 6.2 years and the duration of employment increased as the year increased. 3. There was no statistical significance on season, month, weekday and time by year in the incidence of safety accidents. The most frequent part of body injured was upper extremities and the most frequent type of injury was abrasion. 4. Mean admission rate of safety accidents was 12.6% and the ratio of treated spells as occupational injury was 7.8%. 5. The most frequent cause of injury was worker's mistake and the most frequent action for the prevention of further accidents was safety education. 6. The incidence rate of safety accidents on 1993 was 116.2 spells per 1,000 persons. Above results suggest that to prevent safety accidents, safety education should be done continuously, the environmental and human factors were controlled and more exact reporting system of safety accidents was needed.

• 약학회지
• /
• 제40권3호
• /
• pp.326-334
• /
• 1996

Effects of methanol extract of Astragali Radix (AR) on the immune responses were studied using ICR mice. Mice were divided into 4 groups (10mice/group), and methanol extracts of AR at doses of 0.05, 0.25 and 1.25g/kg were orally administered to ICR mice once a day for 2 weeks. Mice were immunized and challenged with sheep red blood cells (SRBC). The results of this study were summarized as follows; (1) Methanol extract of AR at 0.05, 0.25 and 1.25g/kg didn't affect the weight ratios of thymus to body, as compared with those in controls, but significantly increased spleen weight ratio. (2)Methanol extract of AR at 0.05 and 0.25g/kg significantly increased hemagglutination titer and splenic plaque forming cells corresponding to humoral immunity, as compared with those in controls, but their enhancements were somewhat lowered at a high dose (1.25g/kg). (3) Methanol extract of AR at 0.05 and 0.25g/kg siginificantly increased delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction resulted from cell-mediated immunity, as compared with those in controls, but not so significant increases were observed at a high dose (1.25g/kg). (4) Methanol extract of AR at 0.05 and 0.25g/kg significantly increased phagocytic activity and the number of circulating leukocyte compared with those in controls, but their enhancements were lowered at a high dose (1.25g/kg). These results suggest that methanol extract of Astragali Radix increased humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, phagocytic activity and the number of circulating leukocyte, dependent upon dose, but inhibited their enhancement effects were decreased at a high dose (1.25g/kg).

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• 제2권3호
• /
• pp.243-249
• /
• 2011

Objectives: Cement contains hexavalent chromium, which is a human carcinogen. However, its effect on cancer seems inconclusive in epidemiologic studies. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to elucidate the association between dust exposure in the cement industry and cancer occurrence. Methods: The cohorts consisted of male workers in 6 Portland cement factories in Korea. Study subjects were classified into five groups by job: quarry, production, maintenance, laboratory, and office work. Cancer mortality and incidence in workers were observed from 1992 to 2007 and 1997-2005, respectively. Standardized mortality ratios and standardized incidence ratios were calculated according to the five job classifications. Results: There was an increased standardized incidence ratio for stomach cancer of 1.56 (27/17.36, 95% confidence interval: 1.02-2.26) in production workers. The standardized mortality ratio for lung cancer increased in production workers. However, was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Our result suggests a potential association between cement exposure and stomach cancer. Hexavalent chromium contained in cement might be a causative carcinogen.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• 제10권4호
• /
• pp.246-252
• /
• 2002

In recent years, the safety of sunscreens has been challenged based on the reports of their adverse effect on users; dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis and photo allergic contact dermatitis. The unscientific idea that higher SPF sunsreen is good for health mealeads many users to tend to prefer higher SPF sunscreen. In the toxicological aspect, the need to investigate the safety of sunscreens is steadily increasing. However, there were few studies on the correlation between sun protection factor (SPF) and the safety of sunscreens. The objective of this study was to assess whether there was a correlation between SPF and the safety of sunscreens. We measured in vitro SPF index using homosalate as a standard and examined the toxicity tests such as primary skin irritation tests, ocular irritation test and skin sensitization test. Homosalate (HS), octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC), octyl salicylate (OS), octocrylene (OC) as UVB organic filter and benzophenone-3 (BP3), butyl methoxy dibenzoil methane (BMDM) as UVA organic filter, and titanium dioxide (TD), zinc oxide (ZO) as inorganic filters were used. The skin irritation indexes in rabbits treated with HS, OMC, OS, BP3, and BMDM were significantly increased as SPF indices were increased. Neither ocular irritation in rabbits nor skin sensitization in guinea pigs were increased. It suggests that there might be a good correlation between SPF and the skin irritation indices of organic UV filters and skin irritation might be one of most sensitive index to assess the safety of sunscreens.

• 한국안전학회지
• /
• 제23권3호
• /
• pp.12-16
• /
• 2008

For industrial centrifuges, the state of their welding areas, even with a naked-eye observation, offers potential safety problems such as inconsistent bead formation. STS304, which is used mainly in centrifuges, is made of metal alloys with chrome and nickel as the main ingredients, offering excellent corrosion resistance, thermal resistance, and high strength, and thus allowing it to be used for diverse purposes. This paper conducted tensile and fatigue tests of STS304 to improve the safety of centrifuges. In the findings, for the static behavior of the STS304 material, welded specimens increased their yield and tensile strength compared with the base test specimens, but decreased their elongation ratio. Also, the data dispersion phenomenon of welded specimens remarkably increased.

• 한국안전학회지
• /
• 제10권2호
• /
• pp.120-128
• /
• 1995

The fatigue failure of rail is a principal source of derailment accidents. The reduction of fatigue failures can be achieved by Intensive track maintenance and periodic safety assessments for the railway. For the safety assessments, it is required to have more accurate knowledge for fatigue behavior such as the crack initiation, propagation, crack growth rate and the remaining service life in rail. In this paper, the mean stress effects for the fatigue behavior of rail steel are studied. For this study, the fatigue test is conducted and some equations for fatigue evaluation are applied and compared. From the results, we can see that the fatigue crack growth rate is the more increased as the men stress Is the more increased, the mean stress effect is represented well by the combination of stress intensity factor range and maximum stress intensity factor and Crooker and Range's equation represented by ${\Delta}K, K_{max}$ is the best fit for fatigue evaluation and safety assessment of rail.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제50권2호
• /
• pp.218-222
• /
• 2018

An oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) layer was formed on Zircaloy-4 tubes by a laser beam scanning process to increase mechanical strength. Laser beam was used to scan the yttrium oxide ($Y_2O_3$)-coated Zircaloy-4 tube to induce the penetration of $Y_2O_3$ particles into Zircaloy-4. Laser surface treatment resulted in the formation of an ODS layer as well as microstructural phase transformation at the surface of the tube. The mechanical strength of Zircaloy-4 increased with the formation of the ODS layer. The ring-tensile strength of Zircaloy-4 increased from 790 to 870 MPa at room temperature, from 500 to 575 MPa at $380^{\circ}C$, and from 385 to 470 MPa at $500^{\circ}C$. Strengthening became more effective as the test temperature increased. It was noted that brittle fracture occurred at room temperature, which was not observed at elevated temperatures. Resistance to dynamic high-temperature bursting improved. The burst temperature increased from 760 to $830^{\circ}C$ at a heating rate of $5^{\circ}C/s$ and internal pressure of 8.3 MPa. The burst opening was also smaller than those in fresh Zircaloy-4 tubes. This method is expected to enhance the safety of Zr fuel cladding tubes owing to the improvement of their mechanical properties.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• 제4권1호
• /
• pp.63-70
• /
• 2013

Objectives: This study is planned to assess the trend of occupational injuries in Korea from 2001 to 2010. Methods: Ten years of occupational injuries, from 2001 to 2010, were analyzed in order to investigate the changing profiles according to the various characteristics of injuries; economic sectors, age of the injured, and type of injuries. The changing profile of occupational injuries was investigated by comparison with an index-created relative value based on the number of cases of reference category. Results: The fatalities of construction, forest, agriculture, and service show the increasing trend. The nonfatal occupational injuries of the manufacturing sector were higher than those of other sectors in every year but the fatal occupational injuries of construction workers were higher than those of the manufacturing sector. Occupational injuries occurring due to amputation and those of slip and trip increased. The number of occupational injuries for the worker groups of 24 years old and below decreased and 45 years old and above increased. In comparison to the figure of fall from height, the figures of slip and trip or caught in equipment are higher in every calendar year. Conclusion: This study find out construction, forest, agriculture, and service sectors, aged worker with 45 years old and over can be target population for the strategies of occupational safety.

• Safety and Health at Work
• /
• 제8권3호
• /
• pp.322-326
• /
• 2017

In 1992, the quality control program was introduced in Republic of Korea to improve the reliability of the work environment monitoring, which was introduced in the 1980s. The commission entrusted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute has conducted the program for industrial hygiene laboratories including designated monitoring institutions and spontaneously participating agencies. The number of institutions that participated in the program has increased from 30 to 161. The initial conformance ratio in the participants was 43% (organic solvents) and 52% (metals). Thereafter, the conformance ratio increased rapidly and it has remained in a stable state at more than 89% since 1996. As subject materials, 13 kinds of organic solvents and 7 kinds of metals were used. To improve the capability of measurement and analysis of private institutions, educational courses were conducted annually. An assessment at the actual sites of participants was additionally introduced into the program in 2013. Thus, the program turned into a system that administrates the overall process of participants. For the future, the scope of target materials will be extended through additional items. Thus, the reliability of the results of the work environment monitoring is expected to increase accordingly.