• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.81-93
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• 2002

There were no specific effects for test materials on Sprague-Dawiey (S.D.) rats in clinical symptoms, amounts of food intakes, weight changes, laboratory findings, and pathology after whole body 1, 1-Dichloro-1-fluoroethane (used as coolant, metal cleaner and solvents) exposure (0, 1,500, 3,000, and 6,000 ppm) for 13 weeks (6 hour/day, 5 days/week). However, the loss of capillary vessels in eyeball (pupil) was observed in a female rat among 6,000 ppm group. Though there was a tendency for MCHC (Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration) in rat to be decreased (p<0.05), it was not regarded as abnormal because the values were within normal limits. In asthma-stimulation related evaluations. there was also a tendency for inflammatory cell counts in bronchoalveolar lavages to be increased. But it had no statistical significance, and also no dependency on sex and the exposed concentration . Based on this result, the non observed effect level (NOEL) induced by 1, 1-Dichloro-1-fluoroethane inhalation was evaluated in groups with 3,000 ppm below (S.D. Rats, 13 weeks). Finally, it was concluded that the short term exposal of 1, 1-Dichloro-1-fluoroethane is not considered as a asthma stimulant by inhalation despite of some study limitations such as test animals use and short-term exposure.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.215-221
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• 2011

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the exposure level of hazardous chemical agents for dental technicians in Ulsan. Methods: We measured airborne total dusts and metals such as Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt, and Chromium in 10 dental laboratories by the NIOSH Methods 0500 and 7300, respectively. Methyl methacrylate (MMA), a key ingredient in acrylic resin, was also monitored using passive samplers for long-term sampling and Tenax tubes for short-term sampling. Results: Measured levels of all items were below 10% of the Korean exposure limit except for Nickel. The geometric mean concentration and geometric standard deviation of total dust, Nickel, and MMA were $0.14mg/m^3$ (2.16), $165.3{\mu}g/m^3$ (3.31), and 0.2 ppm (2.5) respectively. Airborne Nickel concentration of two dental laboratories exceeded the exposure limit ($1000{\mu}g/m^3$). The major emission sources of Nickel were metal trimming and casting processes. Conclusions: We found that Nickel, a carcinogen, should be controled most urgently to protect dental technicians.

• Journal of the Korean Medical Association
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• v.61 no.12
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• pp.749-755
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• 2018

Particulate matter is an air pollutant emitted from both natural and anthropogenic sources, and its adverse health effects have been well documented in time-series analyses and cohort studies. The effect size of particulate matter exposure-a roughly 0.5% increase in mortality for each $10{\mu}g/m^3$ increment of short-term exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ${\leq}10{\mu}m$ and approximately a 10% increase for each $10{\mu}g/m^3$ increment of long-term exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ${\leq}2.5{\mu}m$-is small compared to other risk factors, but the exposure is involuntary and affects the entire population, which makes particulate matter pollution an important public health issue. The World Health Organization and Korean government have both established guidelines for particulate matter concentrations, but the Korean guideline is less stringent than that of the World Health Organization. The annual mean concentration of particulate matter in Korea is decreasing, but the trend seems to be slowing. In addition to policy efforts to reduce particulate matter emission, personal approaches such as the use of face masks and air purifiers have been recommended. Personal approaches may not solve the fundamental problem, but can provide temporary mitigation until efforts to reduce emission make progress.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.282-291
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• 2020

Inhaled solvents such as toluene are of particular concern due to their abuse potential that is easily exposed to the environment. The inhalation of toluene causes various behavioral problems, but, the effect of short-term exposure of toluene on changes in emotional behaviors over time after exposure and the accompanying pathological characteristics have not been fully identified. Here, we evaluated the behavioral and neurochemical changes observed over time in mice that inhaled toluene. The mice were exposed to toluene for 30 min at a concentration of either 500 or 2,000 ppm. Toluene did not cause social or motor dysfunction in mice. However, increased anxiety-like behavior was detected in the short-term after exposure, and depression-like behavior appeared as delayed effects. The amount of striatal dopamine metabolites was significantly decreased by toluene, which continued to be seen for up to almost two weeks after inhalation. Additionally, an upregulation of serotonin 1A (5-HT_1A) receptor in the hippocampus and the substantia nigra, as well as reduced immunoreactivity of neurogenesis markers in the dentate gyrus, was observed in the mice after two weeks. These results suggest that toluene inhalation, even single exposure, mimics early anxiety-and delayed depression-like emotional disturbances, underpinned by pathological changes in the brain.

• International Journal of Safety
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 2004

Some of the petroleum products contain benzene which is well known as a confirmed human carcinogen. For example, gasoline products contain benzene ranging up to several percents by weight. High exposures to the benzene and other organic solvents would be likely to occur during intermittent tasks and or processes rather than continuous jobs such as sampling, repair, inspection, and loading/unloading jobs. The work time for these jobs is various. However, most of work time is very short and the representative time interval is 15 minutes. Thus, it is preferable to do exposure assessment for 15 minute time weighted average which is known as a short time exposure level(STEL) by ACGIH rather than for 8-hours TWA. It is particularly significant to the exposure monitoring for benzene since it has been known that the exposure rate plays an important role to provoke the leukemia. Due to the large variations, a number of processes/tasks, the traditional sampling technique for organic solvents with the use of the charcoal and sampling pumps is not appropriate. Limited number of samples can be obtained due to the shortage of sampling pumps. Passive samplers can eliminate these limitations. However, low sampling rates resulted in collection of small amount of the target analysts in the passive samplers. This is originated the nature of passive samplers. Field applications were made with use of passive samplers to compare with the charcoal tube methods for 15 minutes. Gasoline loading processes to the tank lorry trucks at the loading stations in the petroleum products storage area. Good agreements between the results of passive samplers and those of the charcoal tubes were achieved. However, it was found that special cautions were necessary during the analysis at very low concentration levels.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.9 no.4 s.35
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• pp.349-356
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• 2006

At present, the selecting system and analytic estimation criterion on repair materials and methods of the deteriorated RC structures have not yet been set up in domestic. Under these circumstances, deterioration such as shrinkage crack, corrosion of rebar has been often occurred after repair, and this finally results in too frequent repairs. In this study, three types of repair methods were experimentally investigated by the accelerating test in a combined deterioration chamber and long-term field exposure test. Three types of repair methods applied in this study belong to a group of polymer cement mortar, which is commonly used in repair works. According to the results of this study, durability of repair mortar layers and corrosion properties of recovered rebar could be investigated in short period by the accelerating test in a combined deterioration chamber, which can simulate the condition of repeated high-and-low temperature and repeated dry-and-wet environment, spraying chloride solution and emitting $CO_2$ gas. After 36 month long-term filed exposure test in the coastal area, harmful macro-cracks are observed in the polymer cement mortar layer of some repair methods. These crack are considered to result from drying shrinkage of polymer cement mortar. Also, after 36 month exposure, amount of corrosion area and weight loss of rebar are found to be different according to the types of repair methods.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.59-65
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• 2022

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), one of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), is an endocrine disruptor and carcinogenic. This study was conducted to investigate the metabolic changes of zebrafish short-term exposure to BaP using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In our results, the multivariate analysis showed that the metabolic responses were differed according to the exposure concentration. Also, it was observed that exposure to high concentration of BaP (162 ㎍/L and 1620 ㎍/L) increased the levels of creatine, histidine, and inosine in zebrafish, which means high concentration of BaP exposure affected the energy metabolism and immune function in zebrafish.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.273-278
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• 2010

Tropical inhabitants are able to tolerate heat through permanent residence in hot and often humid tropical climates. The goal of this study was to clarify the peripheral mechanisms involved in thermal sweating pre and post exposure (heat-acclimatization over 10 days) by studying the sweating responses to acetylcholine (ACh), a primary neurotransmitter of sudomotor activity, in healthy subjects (n=12). Ten percent ACh was administered on the inner forearm skin for iontophoresis. Quantitative sudomotor axon reflex testing, after iontophoresis (2 mA for 5 min) with ACH, was performed to determine directly activated (DIR) and axon reflex-mediated (AXR) sweating during ACh iontophoresis. The sweat rate, activated sweat gland density, sweat gland output per single gland activated, as well as oral and skin temperature changes were measured. The post exposure activity had a short onset time (p<0.01), higher active sweat rate [(AXR (p<0.001) and DIR (p<0.001)], higher sweat output per gland (p<0.001) and higher transepidermal water loss (p<0.001) compared to the pre-exposure measurements. The activated sweat rate in the sudomotor activity increased the output for post-exposure compared to the pre-exposure measurements. The results suggested that post-exposure activity showed a higher active sweat gland output due to the combination of a higher AXR (DIR) sweat rate and a shorter onset time. Therefore, higher sudomotor responses to ACh receptors indicate accelerated sympathetic nerve responsiveness to ACh sensitivity by exposure to environmental conditions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2005

This study was carried out to evaluate the characteristics of petroleum refinery workers' exposure to organic solvents. Exposure assessment was conducted by full shift-based long term personal sampling(TWA-P) and task-based short term personal sampling(STEL-P) strategy. Major organic solvents that workers can be exposed are various, varying from C3~C12, and this study focused on 11 kinds including benzene, considering toxicity and concentration level. In comparison with two sampling results, STEL-P shows a significant(p<0.001) excess of exposure level rather than TWA-P. As the potential risk index for benzene is calculated as 16, benzene should be set the highest priority for control in petroleum refinery industry. The tasks with the highest benzene exposure level were de-watering(AM;99.8 ppm), draining(AM;19.6ppm), sampling(AM;16.2ppm), and manual gauging(AM;15.02ppm). Petroleum refinery workers' exposure pattern to organic solvents differs by tasks performed, and some task has a high risk of temporary extreme exposure. Therefore, traditional 8-hour TWA sampling strategy have possibility of underestimation of exposure level of workers in petroleum refinery.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Fire Science and Engineering Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.21-29
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• 2002

With regard to the personnel safety and other safety when the gas suppressants are discharged into the area where occupants exist, the short term and long term effects to the health of people are discussed mainly with the Carbon dioxide agent and Halon Replacement agents system. To gain the benefits of CO2 extinguishing systems while minimizing risk to people serious attention must be given to personnel safety in the design, installation, and maintenance of CO2 systems. Training of personnel is essential. A major factor in the use of a clean agent fire suppressant in a normally occupied area is toxicity. While all halocarbon agents are tested for long-term health hazards, the primary endpoint is acute or short-term exposure, The primary acute toxicity effects of the halocarbon agents described here are anesthesia and cardiac sensitization. For inert gases, the primary physiological concern is reduced oxygen concentration.