• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.71-81
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• 2015

Objectives: Photochemical ozone pollution is associated with increased mortality risk. This study aims to assess the population exposure to ozone according to population characteristics for high ozone days in the Busan metropolitan region (BMR). Methods: The ozone exposure assessment in this study was performed using the WRF-CMAQ simulated ozone concentrations and the population data in the BMR. The settled and daytime population and their activity were considered to conduct the static and dynamic ozone exposure assessment. Results: Applying a static exposure assessment, in case that high ozone occurred throughout Busan area, the highest exposure levels were evaluated in urban neighborhoods. In case of ozone pollution in outer Busan, because sensitive groups have been relatively higher exposure, this case was also evaluated as part of that should not be overlooked. The dynamic exposure was higher than static exposure because the number of population exposed to ozone of high concentration is increased. This approach is important in a regard consider that daytime population distribution when high ozone occur. Conclusion: This study shows the different population exposure according to various ozone distributions for each episode day. Considering demographic characteristic such as population density and activity should be important to understanding the population exposure assessment when ozone pollution occurs.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.131-137
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• 2022

Public interest has been increasing the focus on the management of exposure to pollutants and the related health effects. This study reviewed exposure assessment methodologies and addressed future directions. Exposure can be assessed by direct (exposure monitoring) or indirect approaches (exposure modelling). Exposure modelling is a cost-effective tool to assess exposure among individuals, but direct personal monitoring provides more accurate exposure data. There are several population exposure models: stochastic human exposure and dose simulation (SHEDS), air pollutants exposure (APEX), and air pollution exposure distributions within adult urban population in Europe (EXPOLIS). A South Korean population exposure model is needed since the resolution of ambient concentrations and time-activity patterns are country specific. Population exposure models could be useful to find the association between exposure to pollutants and adverse health effects in epidemiologic studies. With the advancement of sensor technology and the internet of things (IoT), exposure assessment could be applied in a real-time surveillance system. In the future, environmental health services will be useful to protect and promote human health from exposure to pollutants.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1994.02a
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• pp.426-430
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• 1994

The assessment of exposure is an important component of the risk assessment process. Exposure information is used in risk assessment in at least two ways: 1) in the identification of hazards and the epidemiologic research investigating exposure-response relationships and 2) in the development of population exposure estimates. In both of these cases, the value of a chemical risk assessment is enhanced by improvements in the quality of exposure assessments. The optimum exposure assessment is the direct measurement of population exposure; however, such measurements are rarely available. Recent developments in methods for exposure assessment allow estimates to be made that are valid representations of actual exposure. The use of these exposure estimates to classify exposures correctly enhances the likelihood that causal associations between exposure and response will be correctly identified and that population risks will be accurately assessed.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.18-30
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• 2012

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to estimate the exposure level to extremely low frequency-magnetic fields (ELF-MF) among a selected Korean population using 24-hour personal exposure measurement. Methods: Participants were randomly selected for the measurement of MF exposure under the assumption that the subjects are representative of the overall Korean population. Levels of personal exposure to MF were measured according to the subject's daily activities. Results: The 24-hour time-weighted average (TWA) of 250 participants was $1.56{\pm}4.56$ mG (GM, GSD: 0.79, 2.46 mG). Personal exposure levels for females were higher than for males. The highest personal exposure level was shown in the age group between 20-60 years old. Personal exposure levels according to job category were higher for the non-occupational group than for the occupational group. Conclusions: Our results showed MF exposure exceeding 2 mG per day among 11.3% of the Korean population, indicating a somewhat higher percentage compared to the EMF RAPID Program's results for the U.S population.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.298-305
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• 2022

Background: The concentration of air pollutants as measured by the Air Quality Monitoring System (AQMS) is not an accurate population exposure level since actual human activities and temporal and spatial variability need to be considered. Therefore, to increase the accuracy of exposure assessment, the population should be considered. However, it is difficult to obtain population data due to limitations such as personal information. Objectives: The existing population defined in this study is the number of people in each region's grid. The purpose is to provide a methodology for evaluating exposure to PM_2.5 through existing population data provided by the National Geographic Information Institute. Methods: The selected study period was from October 26 to October 28, 2021. Using PM_2.5 concentration data measured at the Sensor-based Air Monitoring Station (SAMS) installed in Guro-gu and Wonju-si, the concentration for each grid was estimated by applying inverse distance weights through QGIS version 3.22. Considering the existing population, population-weighted average concentration (PWAC) was calculated and the exposure level of the population was compared by region. Results: The outdoor PM_2.5 concentration as measured through the SAMS was high in Wonju-si on all three days. Wonju-si showed an average 22% higher PWAC than Guro-gu. As a result of comparing the PWAC and outdoor PM_2.5 concentration by region, the PWAC in Guro-gu was 1~2% higher than the observed value, but it was almost the same. Conversely, observations of Wonju-si were 10.1%, 11.3%, and 8.2% higher than PWAC. Conclusions: It is expected that the Geographic Information System (GIS) method and the existing population will be used to evaluate the exposure level of a population with a narrow activity radius in further research. In addition, based on this study, it is judged that research on exposure to environmental pollutants and risk assessment methods should be expanded.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.142-153
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• 2019

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine environmental chemical exposure related to residential and personal lifestyle characteristics in the adult Korean population. The observations of this study can provide information useful for developing reduction approaches for exposure to chemicals among the general adult population. Methods: The second stage of the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNHES) was conducted from 2012 to 2014, with 6,478 persons participating. Using the results of the survey, the relationship between exposure levels of heavy metals and organic chemicals and exposure factors, e.g. residential and personal lifestyle characteristics, were analyzed. Results: The exposure levels of VOCs and PAHs were significantly lower in participants living at a distance of more than 100 m from roads versus living closer to roads. Home ventilation lowered VOC and PAH exposure but did not lower chemical exposure from household products. Use of public transportation showed lower exposure to heavy metals, VOCs, and PAHs. Current smoker was significantly higher for levels of heavy metals, VOCs, and PAHs, and the exposure trend was similar for current drinkers. Physical activity was related with higher exposure to phthalates and environmental phenols. Conclusion: Our observations based on a nationally representative population for Korea show that exposure to chemicals varies by residential and personal lifestyle, and this should be considered for developing appropriate mitigation measures and policies. Given the health concerns surrounding environmental chemicals, it is necessary to develop comprehensive measures to reduce chemical exposure.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.6-15
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• 2024

Background: People's activities have been restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes in activity patterns may lead to a decrease in fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) concentrations. Additionally, the level of population exposure to PM_2.5 may be changed. Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the impact of population movement and meteorological factors on the distribution of PM_2.5 concentrations before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. Methods: The study area was Guro-gu in Seoul. The research period was selected as January to March 2020, a period of significant population movement changes caused by COVID-19. The evaluation of the dynamic population was conducted by calculating the absolute difference in population numbers between consecutive hours and comparing them to determine the daily average. Ambient PM_2.5 concentrations were estimated for each grid using ordinary kriging in Python. For the population exposure assessment, the population-weighted average concentration was calculated by determining the indoor to outdoor population for each grid and applying the indoor to outdoor ratio to the ambient PM_2.5 concentration. To assess the factors influencing changes in the ambient PM_2.5 concentration, a statistical analysis was conducted, incorporating population mobility and meteorological factors. Results: Through statistical analysis, the correlation between ambient PM_2.5 concentration and population movement was positive on both weekends and weekdays (r=0.71, r=0.266). The results confirmed that most of the relationships were positive, suggesting that a decrease in human activity can lead to a decrease in PM_2.5 concentrations. In addition, when population-weighted concentration averages were calculated and the exposure level of the population group was compared before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, the proportion of people exceeding the air quality standard decreased by approximately 15.5%. Conclusions: Human activities can impact ambient concentrations of PM_2.5, potentially altering the levels of PM_2.5 exposure in the population.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.98-104
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• 2018

Macroscopic accident analyses have been conducted to incorporate transportation safety into long-term transportation planning. In macro-level accident prediction model, exposure variable(e.g. a settled population) have been used as fundamental explanatory variable under the concept that each trip will be subjected to a probable risk of accident. However, a settled population may be embedded error by exclusion of active population concept. The objective of this research study is to develop macro-level accident prediction model using floating population variable(concept of including a settled population and active population) collected from mobile phone data. The concept of accident prediction models is introduced utilizing exposure variable as explanatory variable in a generalized linear regression with assumption of a negative binomial error structure. The goodness of fit of model using floating population variable is compared with that of the each models using population and the number of household variables. Also, log transformation models are additionally developed to improve the goodness of fit. The results show that the log transformation model using floating population variable is useful for capturing the relationships between accident and exposure variable and generally perform better than the models using other existing exposure variables. The developed model using floating population variable can be used to guide transportation safety policy decision makers to allocate resources more efficiently for the regions(or zones) with higher risk and improve urban transportation safety in transportation planning step.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.290-295
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• 2018

Background: There is little information on the dose-response relationship between exposure to occupational carcinogenic agents and mesothelioma. This study aimed to investigate this association as well as the existence of agents other than asbestos that might cause mesothelioma. Methods: The Swedish component of the Nordic Occupational Cancer (NOCCA) study consists of 6.78 million individuals with detailed information on occupation. Mesothelioma diagnoses recorded in 1961-2009 were identified through linkage to the Swedish Cancer Registry. We determined cumulative exposure, time of first exposure, and maximum exposure intensity by linking data on occupation to the Swedish NOCCA job-exposure matrix, which includes 29 carcinogenic agents and corresponding exposure for 283 occupations. To assess the risk of mesothelioma, we used conditional logistic regression models to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results: 2,757 mesothelioma cases were identified in males, including 1,416 who were exposed to asbestos. Univariate analyses showed not only a significant excess risk for maximum exposure intensity, with a hazard ratio of 4.81 at exposure levels 1.25-2.0 fb/ml but also a clear dose-response effect for cumulative exposure with a 30-, 40-, and 50-year latency time. No convincing excess risk was revealed for any of the other carcinogenic agents included in the Swedish NOCCA job-exposure matrix. Conclusion: When considering asbestos exposure, past exposure, even for short periods, might be enough to cause mesothelioma of the pleura later in life.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2014

Risk assessment considers the situations and characteristics of the exposure environment and host. Various physiological variables of the human body reflects the characteristics of the population that can directly influence risk exposure. Therefore, identification of exposure factors based on the Korean population is required for appropriate risk assessment. It is expected that a handbook about general exposure factors will be used by professionals in many fields as well as the risk assessors of the health department. The process of developing the exposure factors handbook for the Korean population will be introduced in this article, with a specific focus on the general exposure factors including life expectancy, body weight, surface area, inhalation rates, amount of water intake, and soil ingestion targeting the Korean population. The researchers used national databases including the Life Table and the 2005 Time Use Survey from the National Statistical Office. The anthropometric study of size in Korea used the resources provided by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards. In addition, direct measurement and questionnaire surveys of representative samples were performed to calculate the inhalation rate, drinking water intake, and soil ingestion.