• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.242-256
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• 2017

In this paper, dispersion scenarios concerning various meteorological conditions and real urban structures were made to estimate the impacts of hazardous substance leakage accidents and to reduce damages. Based on the scenario of the hazardous substance dispersion, the characteristics of the risk in the pedestrian environment were analyzed in Gangnam, Seoul. The scenarios are composed of 48 cases according to the meteorological conditions of wind direction and wind speed. In order to analyze the dispersion characteristics of the hazardous substances, simulations were conducted using a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model with hydrogen fluoride releases. The validation for the simulated wind was conducted at a specific period, and all the calculated verification indices were within the valid range. As a result of simulated dispersion field at pedestrian level, it was found that the dispersion pattern was influenced by the flow, which was affected by the artificial obstacles. Also, in the case of the weakest wind speed of the inflow, the dispersion of the hazardous substance appeared in the direction of the windward side at the pedestrian level due to the reverse flow occurred at lower layers. Through this study, it can be seen that the artificial structures forming the city have a major impact on the flow formed in urban areas. The proposed approach can be used to simulate the dispersion of the hazardous substances and to assess the risk to pedestrians in the industrial complexes dealing with actual hazardous substances in the future.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.226-233
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• 2018

Small-scale wastewater discharge facilities account for 98% of all workplaces, but in the generation and emission of major pollutants, they account for 27.5 % and 23.5 %, respectively. Since the proportion of the emission load of the small-scale workplace is not large, the national environmental policy has been established mainly around large-scale wastewater discharge facilities. However, in the case of specific hazardous substances in water, the amount of the discharge load of the small-scale wastewater discharge facility was 2.4 times higher than that of the generation load. Certain types of specific hazardous substances in water, which have a higher discharge load than large-scale wastewater discharge facilities, account for 24 ~ 32 %. There are also cases in which the discharge load from a small-scale discharge facility is more than four times higher, depending on the specific kind of water pollutant. As a result of inspections, the violation rate of the small-scale wastewater discharge facility among the total violations by facilities is 93.9 ~ 97.5 %. As a result, the ecotoxicity value of small-scale wastewater discharge facilities was high in most industries, and there was a fluctuation in the measured value. This indicates that the ecological integrity of the water system can be largely influenced by small-scale wastewater discharge facilities. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the environmental management of small-scale wastewater discharge facilities, and in some cases, the effect of the improvement in quality may be more significant than in the management of large-scale wastewater discharge facilities.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2014

Background: Despite children's unique characteristics that distinguish them from adults, relatively few attempts have been made to measure exposure factors for characterization of children's exposure to hazardous chemicals in child-specific products (CSP). This study was conducted to establish the child-specific exposure factors for exposure and risk assessment of hazardous substances in CSP. Methods: We investigated the exposure factors (e.g., time use of child-products, time and frequency of object-to-body contact, time and frequency of object-to-mouth contact) influencing children's exposure to CSP (e.g., toys, playmats, oil pastels, etc.) in 650 children through a parent-completed questionnaire using a web-based survey. Participants were recruited in five age groups, <1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-6, and 6-12 years of age. Results: The child-specific exposure factors were presented as the mean, median, $95^{th}$ percentile, minimum, and maximum values. Time activity for play mats was the longest among CSP and infants spent more time on them than did elder age groups (189.3-224.7 min/day for <1-2 years vs. 91.2 min/day for 6-12 years). It is apparent that time and frequency of toy block- and plastic toy-to-mouth contact significantly decreased as a function of age. When the variation of CSP use patterns was compared by gender, the only variable that was statistically different between genders was time activity in child-products exposure space. Conclusion: We believe the five child-specific exposure factors suggested in the present study will be valuable for reducing uncertainty in the estimation of chemical exposure during risk assessment of CSP and furthermore, in the appropriate regulations to protect children's health.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.48-55
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• 2019

For preventing the accidents generated from the chemical materials, thus far, MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) data have been made to notify how to use and manage the hazardous and chemical materials in safety. However, it is difficult for users who handle these materials to understand the MSDS data because they are only listed based on the alphabetical order, not based on the specific factors such as similarity of characteristics. It is limited in representing the types of chemical materials with respect to their characteristics. Thus, in this study, a lots of MSDS data are visualized based on relationships of the characteristics among the chemical materials for supporting safety managers. For this, we used the textmining algorithm which extracts text keywords contained in documents and the Self-Organizing Map (SOM) algorithm which visually addresses textual data information. In the case of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States, the guide texts contained in MSDS documents, which include use information such as reactivity and potential risks of materials, are gathered as the target data. First, using the textmining algorithm, the information of chemicals is extracted from these guide texts. Next, the MSDS map is developed using SOM in terms of similarity of text information of chemical materials. The MSDS map is helpful for effectively classifying chemical materials by mapping prohibited and hazardous substances on the developed the SOM map. As a result, using the MSDS map, it is easy for safety managers to detect prohibited and hazardous substances with respect to the Industrial Safety and Health Act standards.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.44-47
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• 2017

Isothiazolinone derivatives are widely used in consumer products as disinfectants or preservatives, but there are growing concerns about their impact on human health. Therefore, rapid screening of these biocides is very important for proper control and regulation of potentially hazardous substances. To this end, low-temperature plasma (LTP) ionization mass spectrometry (MS) was investigated to demonstrate its potential for direct and selective analysis of isothiazolinones from sprayed aerosol samples. Benzisothiazolinone (BIT) was clearly identified from a commercial fabric deodorant using LTP ionization MS and MS/MS. LTP allowed selective ionization of BIT directly from the simply sprayed aerosol sample and illustrated its potential for fast screening without sample pre-treatments. Selective nature of LTP ionization, on the other hands, implicates use of LTP ionization MS as a general screening method for specific groups of hazardous chemicals in commercial products.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.185-200
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• 2022

The risk of various hazardous substances in aquatic environment comprises not only the concentration of substances in the environmental medium but also their accumulation in fish through complex food web and the health risks to humans through the fish. In Korea, the monitoring of residual toxicant in aquatic ecosystems began in 2016 following the enforcement of the Acts on registration and evaluation for the management of chemicals used in daily life (consumer chemical products), and attention has been paid to potentially hazardous substances attributed to them. Recently, studies have been carried out to investigate the distribution of these hazardous substances in the ecosystem and calculate their emission factors. These include the accumulation and transport of substances, such as detergents, dyes, fragrances, cosmetics, and disinfectants, within trophic levels. This study summarizes the results of recently published research on the inflow and distribution of hazardous substances from consumer chemical products to the aquatic environment and presents the scientific implication. Based on studies on aquatic environment monitoring techniques, this study suggests research directions for monitoring the residual concentration and distribution of harmful chemical substances in aquatic ecosystems. In particular, this study introduces the directions for research on trophic position analysis using compound specific isotope analysis and trophic magnification factors, which are needed to fulfill the contemporary requirements of selecting target fish based on the survey of major fish that inhabit domestic waters and assessment of associated health risk. In addition, this study provides suggestions for future biota monitoring and chemical research in Korea.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.114-125
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• 2016

In this study, 165 wastewater discharge facilities in 10 business types were investigated with regard to 24 specific hazardous substances that included heavy metals, VOCs, CN, and phenol in the Gwangju city. Cu in the range from from 0.008 to 35.420 mg/L was detected in all business types and the detection rate was 46.8 %. Other heavy metals, such as Cd, As, Hg, Pb, and Cr⁺⁶ were detected as well. However, their detection rates ranged between 0.6 and 1.8 %. CN and phenol were detected in one and five facilities, respectively. 12 species of VOCs were detected: chloroform 80.6 % (0.42 to 81.60 μg/L), benzene 16.4 % (1.49 to 3.31 μg/L), trichloroethylene 11.5 % (1.78 to 6.02 μg/L), 1,1-dichloroethylene 10.3 % (1.23 to 5.89 μg/L), and dichloromethane 8.5 % (0.28 to 968.86 μg/L) in the detection rate order. The concentration of VOCs was detected in trace amounts, except for dichloromethane that exceeded the effluent quality standard in three business types, namely, metal manufacturing, food industry, and car washing facility. Chloroform was detected in all business types, where 24.88 μg/L were detected in the laundry business and 53.41 μg/L in the water supply business; the mean concentration of chloroform in these two business types was higher than elsewhere. Therefore, for the disposal of non-degradable specific hazardous substances in industrial wastewater, it is necessary to introduce physical and chemical processes, such as activated carbon adsorption, fenton oxidation, ozone treatment, as well as photocatalyst and the UV radiation.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.347-355
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• 2014

In this study, the detection method was developed using molecular biological technique to distinguish authenticity of animal raw materials. The genes for distinction of species about animals targeted at Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), Cytochrome b (Cytb), and 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) genes in mitochondrial DNA. The species-specific primers were designed by that Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) product size was around 200 bp for applying to processed products. The target 24 raw materials were 2 species of domestic animals, 6 species of poultry, 2 species of freshwater fishes, 13 species of marine fishes and 1 species of crustaceans. The results of PCR for Rabbit, Fox, Pheasant, Domestic Pigeon, Rufous Turtle Dove, Quail, Tree Sparrow, Barn Swallow, Catfish, Mandarin Fish, Flying Fish, Mallotus villosus, Pacific Herring, Sand Lance, Japanese Anchovy, Small Yellow Croaker, Halibut, Jacopever, Skate Ray, Ray, File Fish, Sea Bass, Sea Urchin, and Lobster raw materials were confirmed 113 bp ~ 218 bp, respectively. Also, non-specific PCR products were not detected in compare species by species-specific primers. The method using primers developed in this study may be applied to distinguish an authenticity of food materials included animal raw materials for various processed products.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.483-491
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• 2013

Objectives: Electronic cigarettes are battery powered devices that convert a nicotine-containing liquid into an inhalable vapor. The device aerosolizes nicotine so that it is readily entrained into the respiratory tract, from where it enters the bloodstream. Information on the safety of E-cigarettes is required. Methods: Seventeen articles on studies analyzing toxic substances in the liquid and gas phases of electronic cigarettes were reviewed. Results: Tobacco-specific nitrosamines, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, known to be carcinogenic agents in humans or animals, were detected in the liquid and gas phases. In addition, diethyl phthalate, acetone, ethanol, cresol, xylene, propylene, styrene, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, pentaethylene glycol cis-3-hexen-1-ol, methyl cinnamate and undecane were identified in the liquid and gas phases of E-cigarettes. Propylene glycol, glycerin, 1-methoxy-2-propanol, 1-hydroxy-2- propanone, acetic acid, 1-menthone, 2,3-butanediol, menthol, carvone, maple lactone, benzyl alcohol, 2-methyl-2-pentanoic acid, ethyl mantel, ethyl cinnamate, myosamine, benzoic acid, 2,3-bipyridine, cotinine, hexadecanoic acid, and 1'1-oxybis-2-propanol were detected in the vapors of E-cigarettes. Conclusion: The hazardous compounds identified in the liquid and gas phases of E-cigarettes should be controlled for the lowest concentrations in the raw materials and production procedures.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.165-167
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• 2014

The Dutch construction industry has introduced a compulsory preemployment medical examination (PE-ME). Best-evidence contents related to specific job demands are, however, lacking and need to be gathered. After the identification of job demands and health problems in the construction industry (systematic literature search and expert meeting), specific job demands and related requirements were defined and instruments proposed. Finally, a work ability assessment was linked to the instruments' outcomes, resulting in the modular character of the developed PE-ME. Twenty-two specific job demands for all Dutch construction jobs were identified, including kneeling/squatting, working under time pressure, and exposure to hazardous substances. The next step was proposing self-report questions, screening questionnaires, clinical tests, and/or performance-based tests, leading to a work ability judgment. "Lifting/carrying" is described as an example. The new modular PE-ME enables a job-specific assessment of work ability to be made for more than 100 jobs in the Dutch construction industry.