• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2019

Objectives: This study examined the safety of tattoo ink by analyzing the phenol contents in tattoo inks and its risk assessment of selected phenol. Methods: A sample of 30 tattoo inks was purchased, the phenol contents were analyzed, and a risk assessment on dermal exposure from tattooing was carried out. Hazard identification was collected from toxicity data on systemic effects caused by dermal exposure to phenol, and the most sensitive toxicity value was adopted. Exposure assessment ($Exposure_{phenol}$) was calculated by applying phenol contents and standard exposure factors, while dose-response assessment was based on the collected toxicity data and skin absorption rate of phenol, assessment factors (AFs) for derived no-effect level ($DNEL_{demal}$). In addition, the risk characterization was calculated by comparing the risk characterization ratio (RCR) with $Exposure_{phenol}$ and $DNEL_{dermal}$ Results: The phenol concentration in the 30 products was from 1.4 to $649.1{\mu}g/g$. The toxicity value for systemic effects of phenol was adopted at 107 mg/kg. $Exposure_{phenol}$ in tattooing was from 0.000087 to 0.040442 mg/kg. $DNEL_{dermal}$ was calculated at 0.0072 mg/kg (=toxicity value 107 mg/kg ${\div}$ AFs 650 ${\times}$ skin absorption rate 4.4%). Thirteen out of 30 products showed an RCR between 1.02 and 5.62. The RCR of all red inks was above 1. Conclusions: Phenol was detected in all of the 30 tattoo inks, and the RCR of 13 products above 1 indicates a high level of risk concern, making it necessary to prepare safety management standards for phenol in tattoo inks.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.291-297
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• 2023

Objectives: An epidemiological investigation was requested for a worker who developed COPD and IPF after long-term molding and firing at a domestic tile manufacturing site. We would like to share the results of the exposure assessment and the estimation of past work. Methods: The content of crystalline silica in four raw materials was analyzed, and the respirable fraction of crystalline silica and dust generated in the air from molding and firing workers and other processes were measured. The measurement and analysis method referred to the NIOSH method. Results: The crystalline silica content of the raw material was 24~47%. The concentration of crystalline silica in the molding and firing process workers and the surrounding area was at the level of the exposure standards set by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and ACGIH, and the respirable and total dust exposure levels were generally low. The crystalline silica concentration of the area samples measured to estimate past work was about twice as high as the exposure standard of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (0.05 mg/m3), and the exposure levels of respirable dust were also quite high at 0.903 and 1.332 mg/m3. Conclusions: It was confirmed that tile molding and firing workers are currently exposed to a fairly high level of crystalline silica, and a high level is also confirmed in area samples to estimate past work. In the past, it is judged that the level of exposure would have been much higher due to differences in production volume, working method, presence/absence of local ventilation facilities, and process layout. When working in such a working environment for a long time, respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, COPD, and IPF can occur.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.263-272
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• 1997

A Radiation Alarm Monitor has been developed and manufactured in order to protect radiation workers from over-exposure. A visual and audible alarm system has been attached to initiate evacuation when accident occurs such as an unexpected change of radiation level or an over-exposure. The Radiation Alarm Monitor installed with microprocessor can record the information of radiation field change between 90 min. before the alarm and 30 min. after the alarm and also provide the data to an IBM compatible computer to analyze the accidents and to set a counterplan. It features a wide detection range of radiation field(10 mR/h-100 R/h), radiation field data storage, portability, high precision (${\pm}5%$) due to self-calibration function, and adaption of a powerful alarm system. According to ANSI N42.17A, the most stringent test standards, performance tests were carried out under various conditions of temperature, humidity, vibration, and electromagnetic wave hindrance at Korea Research Institute of Standards & Science (KRISS). As a result, the Radiation Alarm Monitor passed all tests.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.10-19
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• 2023

Fall accidents account for the highest accident fatality rate in the construction industry. In addition, wearing and using a safety belt is the most realistic and important preventive measure to reduce fall accidents. Safety belts are protective devices worn by individual workers; they prevent workers from falling and allow for time to rescue the workers. However, the legal standards for safety belts only stipulate the materials, specifications, and strength of parts; there is no provision for an auxiliary rope fixing method to fix the safety belts safely. Due to this reason, workers in industrial sites arbitrarily fix and use the auxiliary rope. Currently, the most used method to fix the auxiliary rope is to tie a knot, which significantly lowers the strength of the material compared to the standard strength. Moreover, many construction sites are located outdoors, so the strength of the materials used in the auxiliary rope is inevitably reduced due to various external environmental conditions. Therefore, to solve this problem, this study was conducted to evaluate the strength of the material of the auxiliary rope for fixing the safety belt and the knot-tying method for the auxiliary rope. In this study, the exposure conditions for the effects of temperature and moisture were set to reflect the characteristics of the construction industry. The results of this study are expected to be used for standards establishment and the safe use of the auxiliary rope for safety belts in actual field applications.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.14-28
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• 1985

The development of mono energetic photon sources using $K_{\alpha}$ fluorescence X-ray of pure material was carried out in the energy range below 100 keV. The monoenergetic photons are very useful in the calibration of the radiation measuring instruments and can be produced as the $K_{\alpha}$ fluorescence X-ray by irradiating the bremsstrahlung to the thin pure metal foils called ‘radiators’. In this experiment, several radiators such as $_{47}Ag,\;_{50}Sn,\;_{68}Er,\;_{70}Yb,\;and\;_{82}Pb$ provide the wide monoenergetic photon energy ranging from 20 keV to 80 keV. By the spectrometry with HpGe LEPS, spectral purity factors which measure the monochrometicity for the $K_{\alpha}$ fluorescence X-ray, were determined as $0.64{\sim}0.94$. Dosimetry for the purpose of the determination of the exposure rate with a 600cc thin window ionization chamber, which was calibrated by the standard free-air ionization chamber, was performed. Exposure rates ranging $8.3{\sim}232.5mR/h$ was obtained according to the $K_{\alpha}$ fluorescence X-ray energy for each radiator.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2016

The bottom of dikes must be kept impermeable to control hazardous chemicals spilled from storage tanks. Currently, insufficient related chemical control laws lead to a possibility to spread through the bottom. Generally, due to the high cost of installation and periodical maintenance, many businesses prefer to install the bottom with general concrete. But, since the impermeability of concrete is dependent on the kind of materials and chemical reaction, all concrete cannot be considered as impermeable material. Thus, it is necessary to make the installation standards of the dike bottom clear in order to avoid the argument over the impermeability and prevent the chemical accident. This study has suggested the standards of impermeable concrete by conducting 7-day exposure test to crude oil with the pilot dikes. The results have showed that the standards have the better impermeable performance compared with the germany standard, which have been penetrated at the maximum penetration depth of 1.9 cm. This study is expected to contribute to both the risk reduction of penetrating into the bottom and the cost reduction of spending to make the bottom of dikes impermeable.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.18-28
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• 2009

Many countries have recently established legal regulations and soil quality standards for soil protection, This study investigated the role of soil quality standards in soil protection policy and methods of selecting standard substances from various types of chemicals. In most countries, soil quality standards act as guidance for further detail surveyor risk assessment from comparing soil concentration with the soil quality standards. Soil quality standards of Switzerland, Demark and Japan were used as enforcement tools. Priority substances for the standards were first selected from frequently detected chemicals in contaminated sites. Those substances were extensively evaluated for toxic effects, exposure potential and availability in chemical analysis.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.147-152
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• 2008

Due to the development and expansion of industries and medical standards, the number of workers who handle organic solvents within hospitals is increasing. The authors in this study intended to investigate the actual conditions of the handling of the solvents and to encourage the recognition that the exposure to such solvents may be possible because of insensitivity to safety. In order to investigate the actual conditions of exposure of workers within hospitals, the experimental group included the three sections (Pathology department, Central Supply Room, and Operating Room), which handle organic solvents most frequently. Meanwhile, university interns were selected to be the control group. This study was conducted between May 1 to May 30, 2007, and urine was taken as samples. Hippuric acid, mandelic acid, methylhippuric acid, and phenylglyoxylic acid were analyzed through gas chromatography, and a total of 52 subjects of the experimental and the control groups were performed of the analysis. As for the results of the analysis of the experimental group, the exposure to benzene was $42.27{\pm}3.70mg/g$ creatinine, that of xylene was $1.30{\pm}0.18g/g$ creatinine, and that of toluene was $2.36{\pm}0.24g/g$ creatinine. Meanwhile, the results of the analysis of the control group showed that the exposure to benzene was $15.54{\pm}2.85mg/g$ creatinine, that of xylene was $0.52{\pm}0.02g/g$ creatinine, and that of toluene was $0.85{\pm}0.20g/g$ creatinine. The amount of exposure to benzene, xylene, and toluene was shown to be under the maximum permitted level, but as for Pathology department, it was required to educate on working conditions, to educate workers on prevention management about their health, and to install fume hood and exhaust system to improve the environments.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.452-458
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• 2020

In this study we aimed to find out pesticide types with probability for underestimation of dietary exposure to pesticide residues in Korea by comparing the residue definitions between Korea and Codex standards. In addition, we sought to establish priorities regarding the necessity of review concerning pesticide types and their impacts based on the risk assessment and dietary exposure underestimation. As a result, we found that according to the residue definition information, 44 pesticides have probability for underestimation in terms of dietary exposure assessments. Among them, 24 pesticides have priority for review of dietary exposure underestimation and its impacts on risk assessment, based on the ADI values of pesticides, Korean MRL information and toxicological information of metabolite. The 24 pesticides were as follows: acibensolar-S-methyl, chlorfenapyr, chlorothalonil, cyantraniliprole, cyclaniliprole, cyflumetofen, dithiocarbamates, fenamidone, fenpyroximate, fluazifop-P-butyl, fluopicolide, flupyradifuron, fluxapyroxad, glyphosate, hexythiazox, isoprothiolane, isopyrazam, myclobutanil, penthiopyrad, propiconazole, spinetoram, spiromesifen, spirotetramat, trifloxystrobin. Furthermore, chlorfenapyr, chlorothalonil, dithiocarbamates and fenamidone may have considered a top priority for review due to greater toxicity of metabolite. This study could be of great use for improvement on risk assessment approaches in South Korea regarding pesticide residues in food commodities.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.843-852
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• 2017

Recently, as the WHO IARC has classified radio frequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic (group 2B) to humans, there is increasing concern about the health effects of overexposure from electromagnetic fields. Especially, the workers are exposed to higher level of electromagnetic radiation than the general public. As a result, in Europe, the protection guidelines for the worker are developed and the exposure of the worker is strictly controlled. In this paper, the EU directive, standards and guidelines of the EMF exposure for the worker were reviewed, and the exposure assessment of EMF was performed for the arc welding. Based on that, we propose a way to introduce a national policy to protect the workers from EMF exposure in working environment.