• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.90-97
• /
• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the contamination level of uniforms with nasal colonization of Staphylococcus aureus before and after the clinical practice of nursing students. Methods: This study was a survey research, conducting microbial culture by smearing the front surface and the pockets of uniforms, and the nasal cavity both before and after clinical practice on 70 nursing students. For the analysis, descriptive statistics, chi-square test, paired t-test were used for statistical analysis using SPSS 19.0. Results: The contamination level of uniforms increased more significantly after clinical practice on the front surface (p=.008) and pockets (p=.031) than before clinical practice, and Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterobacter aerogenes were detected. Conclusion: Through the results above, it is believed that it is reasonable to do the laundering of clinical uniforms of nursing students once a week. Because it is possible to disseminate disease germs with the contamination of clinical practice uniforms in a hospital environment, it is necessary to offer education for the laundering of uniforms with appropriate management.

• Proceedings of the SCSK Conference
• /
• 2003.09b
• /
• pp.524-526
• /
• 2003

Lipsticks are cosmetics which do not contain water and are usually preserved with parabens. When submitted to the Challenge Test, theses products did not reach the CTFA criteria, which means that microbiological contamination could occur before the end of its shelf life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the contamination level of 130 lipsticks after its use. Microorganisms were isolated from 14,6 % of the samples. However, only in two samples (1,5%) the contamination level exceeded the 100 CFU/g level, which means that, although the preservative system was not efficient to eliminate bacteria, the lack of free water was enough to prevent the microbial development. Total bacteria and fungi were determined by conventional methodology, according to CTFA Microbiological Guidelines. The microbes were then isolated and characterized as normal skin flora microorganisms. This suggest that products were contaminated by the constant application of lipsticks by consumers. This could lead to cross contamination when the same product is shared by several people. Extra care should be taken into account when this type of products are available to be tested by several consumers in demonstration displays.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.472-480
• /
• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate Staphylococcus epidermidis contamination on hands of 20 dental hygienists and 140 equipment surface of 20 dental clinics in a local area, from July to August 2017. The degree of S. epidermidis contamination was measured using a hand plate and a rodac plate and then cultured at $35^{\circ}C$ for 24 hours. Based on hand plate criteria, hand contamination was classified into low, middle, and high groups. Analysis of the variance (ANOVA) of the contamination level of the hand parts of the group surface contamination level of the dental clinic equipment was descriptive statistics after clustering lock count. S. epidermidis contamination was moderate in 55% of the hands of dental hygienists. The area of contamination was 29.45 colony-forming units (CFU) on the palm, followed by the middle finger 7.8 CFU, ring finger 6.4 CFU, and thumb 6 CFU. Medical equipment surface contamination was showed that 3-way handle 4.45 CFU, computer mouse 3.37 CFU, mirror handle 1.60 CFU were higher than other areas. The group with high hand contamination had a high positive correlation with the S. epidermidis contamination of the hand. S. epidermidis contamination level was higher on hands than on the medical equipment surface contamination. Therefore, medical staff should recognize the importance of hand hygiene which should be practiced in the manner suggested by World Health Organization. In addition, the medical team needs to be responsible for performing infection control tasks, implementing infection management guidelines and providing systematic education on infectious disease management.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.11-17
• /
• 2023

Waste generated during the dismantling of nuclear power plants is not only diverse in types such as metal, concrete, soil, but also in a large amount, requiring systematic and efficient management. It is very important to quickly and accurately measure radioactive contamination of wastes generated simultaneously at the decommissioning site, classify them by level, and make decisions so that they can be disposed of in accordance with related laws and regulations. In this paper, for the technical and economic aspects of recycling of radioactive metal waste generated during the dismantling of nuclear power plants, we propose a management system that can measure the radioactive contamination by shape of metal waste at the decommissioning site and automatically classify it according to the presence or absence of contamination. Accordingly, a system for collecting information on metal samples such as weight measurement and shape acquisition of metal waste, measurement of radioactive contamination and identification of nuclides, and an automatic classification system according to radioactivity measurement results were described.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.143-156
• /
• 2007

This study has researched the management status and the pollution level of water, soil, stream sediments of 11 abandoned coal mines out of a total of 12 within Obong-Dam area except Bukyung mine, which was submerged when constructing Obong-Dam, and selected areas which are in needs to have pollution control facilities in the first place. From the results of examination on the runoff at the waste rock pile and mineheads, the runoff from Sueun mine (pH, Fe, Al), Samwon mine (pH, Al), Wangdo mine (pH, Al), Mose mine (pH, Fe, Al) and Daeryeong mine (pH) exceeded the permissible discharge standards of the water quality, but the water at merging point with Obong-Dam after joined with Doma branch satisfied both Water Quality Standards and Drinking Water Quality Standards. In regard to groundwater contamination, it is found that areas where exceeded the Drinking Water Quality Standards are Wangdo mine (pH), Jangjae mine (pH, Zn), Daeryeong mine (pH) whereas all areas satisfied Soil Contamination Warning Standards of Soil Environmental Conservation Law. When comparing a research result on underwater sediments of branches of abandoned mines to the EPA Guidelines for classification of great lakes harbor sediments, Dongguk Gaerim (Fe), Jungwon mine (Fe), Daebo mine (Mn), Samwon mine (Mn) and Daeryeong mine (Mn) showed mid-level of contamination, whereas Sueun (Fe, Mn), Daebo mine (Fe), Woosung mine (Fe, Mn), Wangdo mine (Fe, Mn), Mose mine (Fe) and Daeryeong mine (Fe) showed high-level of contamination. In addition, contamination levels of underwater sediments in Wangsan and Doma branch where abandoned mine's branches merge together, Wangsan branch showed no contamination at all whereas Doma branch shows mid-level of contamination which reflect the Doma branch is affected by waste rock pile and minehead runoff of the abandoned mines in the Doma branch area. It is concluded that Mose mine and Sueun mine required treatment of acid mine drainage. and Wangdo, Jungwon, and Samwon mines were in need of mine tailing and erosion control work. The Samwon mine additionally required a control system for closed minehead runoff. Although the Samwon mine reached a high concentration of Al, Mn $Ca^{2+}$, $SO{_4}^{2-}$ in the runoff, the levels decreased after it was combined with a tributary. It has been concluded that after further monitoring of the cause of pollution, a preventive measure system may be needed to be built.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.114-118
• /
• 2009

PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) brush cleaning method is a typical cleaning method for semiconductor cleaning process especially post-CMP cleaning. PVA brush contacts with the wafer surface and abrasive particle, generating the contact rotational torque of the brush, which is the removal mechanism. The brush rotational torque can overcome theoretically the adhesion force generated between the abrasive particle and wafer by zeta potential. However, after CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) process, many particles remained on the wafer because the brush was contaminated in previous post-CMP cleaning step. The abrasive particle on the brush redeposits to the wafer. The level of the brush contamination increased according to the cleaning run time. After cleaning the brush, the level of wafer contamination dramatically decreased. Therefore, the brush cleanliness effect on the cleaning performance and it is important for the brush to be maintained clearly.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.121-134
• /
• 2004

This study has tried to develop the modified DRASTIC Model by supplying the parameters, such as structural lineament density and land-use, into conventional DRASTIC model, and to predict the potential of groundwater contamination using GIS in Hwanam 2 District, Gyeonggi Province, Korea. Since the aquifers in Korea is generally through the joints of rock-mass in hydrogeological environment, lineament density affects to the behavior of groundwater and contaminated plumes directly, and land-use reflect the effect of point or non-point source of contamination indirectly. For the statistical analysis, lattice-layers of each parameter were generated, and then level of confidence was assessed by analyzing each correlation coefficient. Groundwater contamination potential map was achieved as a final result by comparing modified DRASTIC potential and the amount of pollutant load logically. The result suggest the predictability of contamination potential in a specified area in the respects of hydrogeological aspect and water quality.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.73-78
• /
• 2008

For a given soil-contaminated site, a level of soil contamination is characterized and decisions on risk may be made from the risk assessment. The study evaluated critical design factors for the determination of sample size in the sampling design plan and the assessment of soil contaminant- leaching to groundwater. Two variables, the minimum relative detectable difference (T) and coefficient of variation (CV) were evaluated for the sample size determination. The minimum number of samples can be appropriately determined by CV under a T value greater than or equal to 0.2. Soil-contaminant leaching to groundwater was evaluated by using the Soil Screening Level equation of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Risk Based Screening Level equation of American Society for Testing and Materials, with the same input parameters. The groundwater concentrations estimated from soil contaminant concentrations were significantly affected by the Darcy velocity of groundwater and the organic content of soil.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
• /
• v.5 no.5
• /
• pp.194-198
• /
• 2004

The influences of the deep-level concentration of p-type Si substrates on the optical properties of nano-porous silicon (PS) are investigated by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and photoluminescence (PL). Utilizing a Si substrate with Fe contaminations significantly enhanced the PL intensity of PS. All the PS samples formed on Fe-contaminated silicon substrates had stronger PL yield than that of reference PS without any intentional Fe contamination but the emission peak is not significantly changed. For the PS 1000 sample with Fe contamination of 1,000 ppb, the maximum PL intensity showed about ten times stronger PL than that of the reference PS sample. From PL and DLTS results, the PL efficiency strongly depends on the Fe-related trap concentration in Si substrates.

• Clinical Endoscopy
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.33-40
• /
• 2022

Background/Aims: Multiple outbreaks of multidrug-resistant organisms have been reported worldwide due to contaminated duodenoscopes. In 2015, the United States Food and Drug Administration recommended the following supplemental enhanced surveillance and reprocessing techniques (ESRT) to improve duodenoscope disinfection: (1) microbiological culture, (2) ethylene oxide sterilization, (3) liquid chemical sterilant processing system, and (4) double high-level disinfection. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to assess the impact of ESRT on the contamination rates. Methods: A thorough and systematic search was performed across several databases and conference proceedings from inception until January 2021, and all studies reporting the effectiveness of various ESRTs were identified. The pooled contamination rates of post-ESRT duodenoscopes were estimated using the random effects model. Results: A total of seven studies using various ESRTs were incorporated in the analysis, which included a total of 9,084 post-ESRT duodenoscope cultures. The pooled contamination rate of the post-ESRT duodenoscope was 5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.3%-10.8%, inconsistency index [I²]=97.97%). Pooled contamination rates for high-risk organisms were 0.8% (95% CI: 0.2%-2.7%, I²=94.96). Conclusions: While ESRT may improve the disinfection process, a post-ESRT contamination rate of 5% is not negligible. Ongoing efforts to mitigate the rate of contamination by improving disinfection techniques and innovations in duodenoscope design to improve safety are warranted.