• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.78-85
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• 2009

In this study, the hazard rate of the indoor environment of Children's Educational Facilities in Seoul was conducted, in order to determine how the indoor environments of these facilities, where infants and children spend the most time of their away from home day, can effect their health. The way of measurement and analysis were done according to the Indoor Air Quality Standard Method, and the Risk Assessment was accomplished with several significant ways - Hazard Identification, Exposure Assessment, Dose-response Assessment, Risk Characterization, which are deighed by National Research Council (NRC). On each exposure factors, documentary and questionary research such as Epidemiological study and Toxicological study were conducted. The result of the CTE (Central tendency exposure) of Formaldehyde and Benzene by Monte-Carlo simulation was $6.79{\times}10^{-6}$, $2.50{\times}10^{-7}$ which in the case of Formaldehyde exceeded the permitted standard ($10^{-6}$) of the US EPA. The RME(Reasonable maximum exposure) was $7.31{\times}10^{-5}$, $2.65{\times}10^{-6}$ which did not exceed $10^{-4}$, the maximum permitted standards in the US EPA.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2012

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a medium to high degree of total physical activity and indoor physical activity were associated with reduced all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among elderly Korean women. Methods: A prospective cohort study was done to evaluate the association between physical activity and mortality. The cohort was made up of elderly (${\geq}65$ years of age) subjects. Baseline information was collected with a self-administered questionnaire and linked to death certificates retrieved from a database. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) levels. Results: Women who did not suffer from stroke, cancer, or ischemic heart disease were followed for a median of 8 years (n=5079). A total of 1798 all-cause deaths were recorded, of which 607 (33.8%) were due to cardiovascular disease. The group with the highest level of total physical activity and indoor physical activity was significantly associated to a reduced all-cause mortality (HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.51 to 0.71 and HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.50 to 0.67, respectively) compared to the group with the lowest level of total physical activity and indoor physical activity. Additionally, the group with the highest level of total physical activity and indoor physical activity was significantly associated to a lower cardiovascular disease mortality (HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.71 and HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.67, respectively) compared to the group with the lowest level of total physical activity and indoor physical activity. Conclusions: Our study showed that regular indoor physical activity among elderly Korean women has healthy benefits.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.239-248
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• 2009

The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science in the United States concluded in its 2004 report that excessive indoor dampness is a public health hazard and that its prevention should be a public health goal. Water damage in buildings, such as leaks from roofs, walls, or windows, may increase indoor moisture levels. Excessive dampness may promote microbial proliferation in indoor environments, increase occupants' exposure to microbial agents, and eventually produce adverse health effects in building occupants. Epidemiological studies to demonstrate the causal association between exposure to indoor microbial agents and health effects require reliable exposure assessment tools. In this review, I discuss various sampling and analytical methods to assess human exposure to biological agents in indoor environments, their strengths and weaknesses, and recent trends in research and practice in the USA.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.243-249
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• 2018

The indoor radon concentration was measured in the lecture room of the university and the radon concentration was converted to the amount related to the radon exposure using the dose conversion convention and compared with the reference levels for the radon concentration control. The effect of indoor radon inhalation was evaluated by estimating the life effective dose and the risk of exposure. To measure the radon concentration, measurements were made with a radon meter and a dedicated analysis Capture Ver. 5.5 program in a university lecture room from January to February 2018. The radon concentration measurement was carried out for 5 consecutive hours for 24 hours after keeping the airtight condition for 12 hours before the measurement. Radon exposure risk was calculated using the radon dose and dose conversion factor. Indoor radon concentration, radon exposure risk, and annual effective dose were found within the 95% confidence interval as the minimum and maximum boundary ranges. The radon concentration in the lecture room was $43.1-79.1Bq/m^3$, and the maximum boundary range within the 95% confidence interval was $77.7Bq/m^3$. The annual effective dose was estimated to be 0.20-0.36 mSv/y (mean 0.28 mSv/y). The life-time effective dose was estimated to be 0.66-1.18 mSv (mean $0.93{\pm}0.08mSv$). Life effective doses were estimated to be 0.88-0.99 mSv and radon exposure risk was estimated to be 12.4 out of 10.9 per 100,000. Radon concentration was measured, dose effective dose was evaluated using dose conversion convention, and degree of health hazard by indoor radon exposure was evaluated by predicting radon exposure risk using nominal hazard coefficient. It was concluded that indoor living environment could be applied to other specific exposure situations.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.242-249
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• 2007

Indoor air quality has become a topic of interest and concern. Especially changes in construction design and the increased use of synthetic products may result in an increasing of complaints and health effects about the quality of indoor air at home. In this study, nitrogen dioxide($NO_2$) and volatile organic compounds(VOCs) within new and established apartments on the basis of 4 years of building year were measured every 3 days consecutively during 60 days. We selected each 10 house in Seoul, Asan and Daegu, respectively, and produced risk numbers for hazard quotients, and predicted increases in incidence of cancer. The calculations were made for the adult with default exposure values and also made for a worst case scenario using Monte-Carlo simulation as describing the reasonable exposure(RME). Mean of Monte carlo analysis by benzene, in the construction under 4 years (male: $9.2{\times}10^{-5}$, female: $1.0{\times}10^{-4}$) and over 4 years (male: $6.8{\times}10^{-5}$, female: $8.3{\times}10^{-5}$) exceeded $10^{-6}$ of permitted standards in US EPA, RME of Monte carlo analysis. In construction under 4 yews (male: $9.9{\times}10^{-3}$, female: $9.6{\times}10^{-3}$) and over 4 years (male: $9.8{\times}10^{-3}$, female: $7.8{\times}10^{-3}$) exceeded $10^{-4}$ of maximum permitted standards in US EPA. The hazard index of non-carcinogenic pollutants by nitrogen dioxide, toluene, m,p-xylene and o-xylene, both male and female in apartment constructed under 4 yews and over 4 years was found less than the permitted standards of hazardous health effects in CTE. Significant cancer risks and non-cancer hazard quotients were predicted in under 4 yews of building year.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.142-150
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• 2015

A portable recoilless guided missile generates a strong back blast and impulsive noise at the nozzle when it launches. In the case of indoor operations, the hazard of the blast noise from a recoilless weapon increases due to limited indoor spaces. Also, the noise levels determine the operational feasibility of a weapon; therefore, it is important to predict the blast noise levels distribution in the indoor space in advance. In addition, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method generally used for fluid related simulations, requires high computing cost and time to simulate the whole domains. The domain includes both blast wave region and large and various indoor space region. Therefore, an efficient method for predicting the far-field noise level within a short time should be developed. This paper describes an analysis model for predicting the indoor noise distributions by considering the shape effect of the building within a short time. A new developed blast wave model was implemented using the noise source. Additionally, noise reflections at the closed surfaces such as walls and noise transmissions at the opened surfaces such as windows and doors were considered in calculating the noise levels. The predicted noise levels were compared with the experimental data obtained from the indoor launch test to validate the reliability of program.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.32 no.5 s.92
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• pp.398-403
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• 2006

Indoor air quality can be affected by indoor sources, ventilation, decay and outdoor levels. Understanding the effectiveness of indoor air quality control depends on knowledge of the characteristics of air pollutants in indoor air, especially their quantities and persistence, and the relevance of indoor sources to these factors. Toluene within new and established houses has been determined and factors significant to its presence have been identified. A total of 30 selected houses in Seoul, Asan and Daegu areas that were constructed within 4 years and over 4 years of construction were measured the concentration of toluene from July to September in 2004. Toluene emission decay of double-exponential model exhibited good fit of $Y=276.37e^{-1.21x}(R^{2}=0.34,\;P=0.06)$ for 2 years and then $Y=51.54e^{-0.11x}(R^{2}=0.40,\;P=0.0)$ from 23 years in new houses. In case of living in new houses, noncarcinogenic health effects of exposure to toluene was 1.38 of hazard quotient (HQ) comparing to toluene reference dose of 0.13 mg/kg-day.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.54-67
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• 2006

This study was performed to deduct the extension possibility of the standards establishment for $NO_2$, $O_3$, Asbestos, Radon, total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) excluded in the indoor air part of Industrial Safety Acts in Korea. The air pollutants were sampled for 30 office buildings from August to September, 2005 in the metropolitan area. The airborne concentrations of $NO_2$, $O_3$, Radon and TVOC were 0.0092 ppm, 0.0035 ppm, 0.57 pCi/L and $423{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. The management plan and reduction methods is required in the aspect of indoor air quality(IAQ) because the emission sources of those also exist in indoor as well as outdoor even though those were not exceeded the standards of the Ministry of Environment in Korea. The standard for TVOC in the new and remodeling office has to be established based on the risk assessment when hazard index exceeded "1" in the worst case scenario. In the state of art, the management of each volatile organic compounds has a difficulty due to not enough data for toxicological reference. Therefore, it is suggested that first of all, the standard for TVOC be established and then expanded to each materials for decision-making of improvement of IAQ in office.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.155-161
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• 2015

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas and a major indoor contribution of exposure to ionizing radiation in dwellings. $^{222}Rn$ is a health hazard gas what is responsible for thousand lung cancer deaths every year. In this study, indoor radon concentrations present in thirty representative houses in Mahallat city, Iran, were determined in order to estimate lung cancer risk associated with residential radon exposure. Long-term passive method, using CR-39, was used to measure the radon concentration. The results showed an association between the age of the dwellings and the indoor radon concentration that was found, in that the concentration of radon tended to increase as the age of the dwelling also increased. The indoor radon concentrations were calculated to be within the range of $23{\pm}2$ to $350{\pm}26Bq{\cdot}m^{-3}$, with an average of $158Bq{\cdot}m^{-3}$. The annual effective dose from inhaled radon and its decay products was calculated between $0.8{\pm}0.1$ and $12.3{\pm}0.9mSv{\cdot}y^{-1}$, with an average of $5.5mSv{\cdot}y^{-1}$. By taking into consideration the EPA recommendation and ICRP statement, the average annual risk of lung cancer from inhaled radon was calculated as 0.09%, 0.06%, 0.01%, and 0.03% for current smokers (CS), those who had ever smoked (ES), never smokers (NS) and the general population, respectively.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.2109-2113
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• 2008

As the standard of living is higher, the passengers using public transportations desire better qualities of environment as well as more comfortable indoor environment. In case of train, the passengers' comfort in passenger cabin is one of the most important elements to be competitive with other transport systems. The indoor air quality of the cabin should be managed properly, because many passengers travel for a long time in the small space of $144\;m^3$. For proper management of the air quality, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system is required for the ventilation of the compartment. To maintain comfortable environment in the compartment, the automatic ventilation system is needed to exchange the indoor air with fresh air or clean indoor air. In this study, we investigated the indoor air quality (PM-10, $CO_2$, and VOCs) in the compartment of train. In addition, type and pattern of PM-10 has been analyzed through the clustering analysis. Based on the analysis, we could found that the fine particulate matters in the compartment can be a serious hazard to human. To control the concentration of PM-10 and $CO_2$ air cleaners were developed. Through this study, it is expected that people who take a train will be in a more comfortable environment.