• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제39권1호
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• pp.81-86
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• 2006

Background: A number of studies have reported associations between the ambient air pollution concentrations and various health outcomes. Especially, ozone is well known for primary risk factor of asthma attacks. The results of a recent study indicate that the size of the effect on health outcomes due to air pollution varied according to several conditions, including age, gender, race and the socioeconomic status. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the associations of ozone with the childhood asthma hospitalizations as stratified by the socioeconomic status (SES) at the community level in Seoul, Korea, 2002. Methods: SES at aggregated levels was measured on the basis of average regional health-insurance rate per citizen in the area. We applied the generalized additive model to analyze the effect of ozone on asthma after controlling for the potential confounding variables that were capable of influencing the results. Results: Our analysis showed that the number of children who were hospitalized for asthma increased as the SES of the residence area decreased. The estimated relative risks of hospitalization for asthma, as stratified by the SES of the community level, were 1.12 (95% confidence interval 1.00-1.25) in districts with the highest SES levels, 1.24 (95% CI=1.08-1.43) within the moderate SES levels, and 1.32 (95% CI=1.11-1.58) in the districts with the lowest SES levels. Conclusions: Our analysis showed that exposure to air pollution did not equally affect the health status of individuals. This suggests that not only the biological-sensitivity markers, but also the SES of the subjects should be considered as potentially confounding factors.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제35권4호
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• pp.249-258
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• 2009

The objectives of this study were to compare the relative risk of all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality associated with Asian dust events, and especially to investigate the effects on the susceptible population such as the elderly and children, which were based on the data in Seoul from 2000 to 2006. Both of the study periods with/without Asian dust days, respiratory-cause mortality was the highest, followed by cardiovascular-cause mortality and all-cause mortality in sequence among mortality related to air pollution for all-aged group. As to susceptible group, the relative risk of mortality is the highest for +65 yrs group among all-cause mortality. According to comparison of mortality with/without Asian dust days, the relative risk of all-cause mortality is larger in the model with Asian dust days than the one in the model without Asian dust days among all age group (except for under 15 yrs group) and all air pollutants. The relative risk of cause-specific mortality (except for ozone in under 15 yrs group in case of respiratory-cause mortality, and ozone in all age group and over 65 yrs group in case of cardiovascular-cause mortality) per IQR increase of each pollutant is larger in the model without Asian dust days.

• Toxicological Research
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.107-116
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• 2002

Arsenic (As) is a ubiquitous element found in several forms in foods and water. Although certain foods, such as marine fish, contain substantial levels of organic arsenic forms, they are relatively low in toxicity compared to inorganic forms. in contrast, arsenic in drinking water is predominantly inorganic and highly toxic. Chronic ingestion of arsenic-contaminated drinking water is therefore the major pathway posing potential risk to human hearth. since the early 1990s in Bangladesh ozone, arsenic exposure has caused more than 7,000 deaths and uncounted thousands shout symptoms of long-term arsenic poisoning. Significant portion of world populations are exposed to low to moderate levels of arsenic of parts per billion (ppb) to hundreds of ppb. As a consequence, the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. environmental health agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made arsenic their highest priority. Recently, the WHO, European Union (EU), and US. EPA lowered an acceptable level of 10 ppb for arsenic in drinking water In this article, various health effects of arsenic in drinking water were reviewed and the current status for risk assessment to regulate arsenic in drinking water was discussed.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제38권3호
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• pp.184-194
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• 2012

Objectives: We investigated the effects of air pollution on allergic diseases (allergic rhinitis, asthma, atopic dermatitis) in metropolitan cities in Korea, adjusting for meteorological factors. Methods: Data on daily hospital visits and hospital admissions for 2003-2010 was obtained from the National Health Insurance Cooperation. Meteorological data was obtained from the Korea Meteorological Administration. We then calculated daily mean temperature, daily mean humidity, daily mean air pressure at sea level, and diurnal temperature range. We used data on air pollution provided by the National Institute of Environmental Research. Maximum daily eight-hour average ozone concentrations and the daily mean $PM_{10}$ were used. We estimated excess risk and 95% confidence interval for the increasing interquatile range (IQR) of each air pollutant using Generalized Additive Models (GAM) that appropriate for time series analysis. Results: In this study, we observed an association between ozone and hospital visits for allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis in all metropolitan cities, adjusting for temperature, humidity, air pressure at sea level, diurnal temperature range, and day of the week. Ozone was associated with hospital visits for allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis across all metropolitan cities. However $PM_{10}$ was associated with allergic-related diseases in only select cities. Also, ozone and $PM_{10}$ were associated with hospital admission for asthma in all cities except Gwangju. Hospitalization for the other diseases failed to show consistent association with air pollutants. Conclusion: In the findings of this study, there was a significant association between air pollutants and allergic-related diseases. More detailed research subdivided age group or conducting meta-analyses combining data of all cities is required.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제34권3호
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• pp.253-261
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• 2001

Objectives : To evaluate the hypothesis that air pollution could increase emergency room visits for respiratory diseases, and if so, to quantify the strength of association between those. Methods : We compiled daily records of hospital emergency room visits for respiratory diseases in Seoul, from November 1. 1955 to October 31. 1996, by using medical utilization data of unscheduled visits. In addition, air quality and weather data for the same period was collected. And a case-crossover design was applied by adopting conditional logistic regression analysis to determine the relationship between air pollutants and emergency room visits for respiratory diseases. In particular, the control periods were chosen by a bidirectional paired matching technique 7, 14, and 21 days before and after the case periods. Results : Only ozone was associated with the increased number of emergency room visits for respiratory diseases. The relative risk according to a 30ppb increase of ozone concentration (24hr mean, lagged 1day) was 1.91(95% confidence interval = 1.78-2.05). Conclusion : There was a statistically significant association between the ambient ozone and daily emergency room visits for respiratory diseases.

• 한국항공운항학회지
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.79-92
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• 2023

Aluminum alloys are important materials in modern aircraft. Aircraft failures due to corrosion are fatal and costly. Thus, information about the atmospheric corrosion of aluminum is helpful for aviation safety. This study employed four corrosion models and 12 environmental variables to improve knowledge of aluminum atmospheric corrosivity: PACER LIME, ICP, ISO CORRAG, and a modified model of CORRAG. This study applied each model on 47 aircraft operating bases in Korea and compared the results. In the results, The risk of corrosion was different for each model. The cause was the difference in environmental variables according to the model. Especially, the effect of ozone, which has recently been increasing, was shown in the results of PACER LIME. These findings suggest that caution is needed when assessing atmospheric corrosion risk as a single model. Furthermore, it means that the application and integration of various models are needed to improve atmospheric corrosion risk assessment.

• 한국축산식품학회지
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• 제44권1호
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• pp.19-38
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• 2024

Meat contains high-value protein compounds that might degrade as a result of oxidation and microbial contamination. Additionally, various pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms can grow in meat. Moreover, contamination with pathogenic microorganisms above the infectious dose has caused foodborne illness outbreaks. To decrease the microbial population, traditional meat preservation methods such as thermal treatment and chemical disinfectants are used, but it may have limitations for the maintenance of meat quality or the consumers acceptance. Thus, non-thermal technologies (e.g., high-pressure processing, pulsed electric field, non-thermal plasma, pulsed light, supercritical carbon dioxide technology, ozone, irradiation, ultraviolet light, and ultrasound) have emerged to improve the shelf life and meat safety. Non-thermal technologies are becoming increasingly important because of their advantages in maintaining low temperature, meat nutrition, and short processing time. Especially, pulsed light and pulsed electric field treatment induce few sensory and physiological changes in high fat and protein meat products, making them suitable for the application. Many research results showed that these non-thermal technologies may keep meat fresh and maintain heat-sensitive elements in meat products.

• Toxicological Research
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.71-82
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• 2004

Changes in cell cycle control in the lungs and liver of the B6C3F1 mice (20 males per each group) exposed to ozone (0.5 ppm), 4-(N-methyl-N-nitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK, 1.0 mg/kg), and dibutyl phthalate (DBP, 5,000 ppm) after 52 weeks were examined through Western, Northern blot, and immunohistochemistry based on alterations in protein expression levels of G1/S checkpoints (cyclin D1, cyclin E, and PCNA), G2/M checkpoints (cyclin B1, cyclin G, and cyclin A), negative regulators (p53, p21, GADD45, and p27), and positive regulator (mdm2). Expression levels of cyclins D1, E, G, PCNA, mutant p53, and mdm2 proteins were higher in the lungs and livers treated with combination of toxicants than in those treated with ozone only. Expression levels of the wild-type and mutant p53, p21, GADD45, p27, and mdm2 proteins and mRNAs were higher in toxicant-treated groups than those of the control. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed staining intensities of the PCNA, cyclin D1, c-myc and mdm2 protein- treated lungs and livers were stronger than those of the control group. Our results showed that combined treatment of ozone with NNK/DBP altered the cell cycle control through instability of the wild-type p53 gene. Such pivotal p53-mediated cell cycle alterations may be responsible for the toxicity observed under our experimental condition. These results may be applied to risk assessment of mixture-induced toxicity.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• 제18권E1호
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• pp.21-28
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• 2002

Air quality issues in Korea rapidly changed at the beginning of the 1990s from primary to secondary pollutants starting in Seoul, the capital of Korea. The present frame of national air pollution monitoring networks was established between the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. Background monitoring was initiated in the middle of the 1990s in response to increasing public concern about the long-range transport of air pollutants. Apart from the national monitoring, both routine and intensive measurements of fine particles have been made for research purposes since the middle of the 1990s at several background sites. However, air pollution monitoring in urban areas for other purposes was relatively scarce as national monitoring has been concentrated in these areas. Although ozone pollution has become a significant issue in major metropolitan areas every summer, only a little information on ozone precursors is available. During the past few years, the number of national monitoring stations has greatly increased. The government has a plan to gradually expand monitoring items as well as stations. It is anticipated that highly detailed information on both photochemical reactants and products will be available within the next several years. More emphasis will be placed on toxic substances based on risk assessment in monitoring for both research and policy making.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.139-142
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• 2001

Acetanilide is a High Production Volume Chemical, which is produced about 2,300 tons/year in Korea as of 1998 survey. Most is used as an intermediate for synthesis of pharmaceuticals and dyes, and the chemical is one of seven chemicals of which human and environmental risk are being assessed by National Institute of Environmental Research under the frame of OECD SIDS program. The Atmospheric Oxidation Program for Microsoft Windows (AOPWIN) is used to estimates the rate constant for the atmospheric, gas－phase reaction between photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals and organic chemicals. It is also used to estimates the rate constant for the gas－phase reaction between ozone and olefinic/acetylenic compounds. The rate constants estimated by the program are then used to calculate atmospheric half－lives for organic compounds based upon average atmospheric concentrations of hydroxyl radicals and ozone. AOPWIN requires only a chemical structure to make these predictions. Structures are entered into AOPWIN by SMILES (Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry System) notations. In this study, one of environmental fate/distribution of the chemical elements, photodegradation of acetanilide was estimated using AOPWIN model based on SMILES notation and chemical name data.