• Title/Summary/Keyword: university laboratories

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Task-based Exposure Assessment among Laboratory workers in Organic Synthesis Laboratories (유기합성실험실 연구자의 단위작업별 노출 평가)

  • Choi, Youngeun;Chu, Yeonhee;Lee, Ikmo;Park, Jeongim
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.29 no.1
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    • pp.1-12
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    • 2019
  • Objective: Significant concerns have been raised over chemical exposure and potential health risks such as increased cancer mortality among laboratory workers. The aim of this study was to investigate the overall exposure and unit task exposure levels of researchers in organic synthesis laboratories at universities. Methods: Seventy-seven personal Time-weighted average(TWA) samples and 139 task-based samples from four organic synthesis laboratories at two universities were collected over three days. The concentrations of acetone, chloroform, dichloromethane(DCM), diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, n-hexane, tetrahydrofuran(THF), benzene, toluene, and xylene were determined using the GC-FID. Results: The most frequently used chemicals in the laboratories were acetone, DCM, n-hexane, methanol, and THF. Carcinogens such as benzene, chloroform, and DCM were used in one or more laboratories. The TWA full-shift exposures of researchers to acetone was the highest(ND-59.3 ppm). Benzene was observed above the occupational exposure limit in 18-40% of the samples. The levels of exposure to organic solvents were statistically different by task(p<0.05), while washing task was the highest. Washing was not perceived as a part of the real lab tasks. Rather it was considered as simple dish-washing or experimental preparation and performed in an open sink where exposure to organic solvents was unavoidable. TWAs and task-based concentrations were compared by substance, which suggests that TWA-based assessment could not reflect short-term and high concentration exposures. Conclusions: Laboratory workers may be exposed to various organic solvents at levels of concern. TWA-based measurement alone cannot guarantee holistic exposure assessment among lab workers as their exposures are very dependent on their tasks. Further investigation and characterization for specific tasks and overall chronic exposures will help protect lab workers from unnecessary exposure to chemicals while they perform research.

Visual Image Effects on Sound Localization in Peripheral Region under Dynamic Multimedia Conditions

  • Kono, Yoshinori;Hasegawa, Hiroshi;Ayama, Miyoshi;Kasuga, Masao;Matsumoto, Shuichi;Koike, Atsushi;Takagi, Koichi
    • Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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    • 2002.07a
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    • pp.702-705
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    • 2002
  • This paper describes effects of visual information influencing sound localization in the peripheral visual Held under dynamic conditions. Presentation experiments of an audio-visual stimulus were carried out using a movie of a moving patrol car and its siren sound. The tallowing results were obtained: first, the sound image on the timing at the beginning of the presentation was more strongly captured by the visual image than that at the end, i.e., the "beginning effect" was occurred; second, in the peripheral regions, the "beginning effect" was strongly appeared in near the fixation point of eyes.

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Lifetime improvement of Organic Light Emitting Diode by Using LiF Thin Film and UV Glue Encapsulation

  • Hsieh, Huai-En;Huang, Bohr-Ran;Juang, Fuh-Shyang;Tsai, Yu-Sheng;Chang, Ming-Hua;Liu, Mark.O.;Su, Jou-yeh
    • 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2007.08b
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    • pp.1703-1705
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    • 2007
  • Before the ultra-violet glue encapsulation, the research evaporated LiF thin film on device surface to be the extra packaging layer for improving the lifetime of organic light-emitting diode. The formula of UV glue was specially developed. We found 100 nm LiF is the optimum thickness. The best lifetime obtained by using LiF and special UV glue is 2.4 times longer than those by commercial UV glue.

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A Study on Heavy Metal Concentrations in Waste Water Produced in the Casting Pickling Process at Dental Technical Laboratories (치과기공소 주조체 산세척과정에서 발생하는 폐수내 중금속 농도)

  • Jeong, Da-i;Sakong, Joon
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.44 no.1
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    • pp.55-62
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    • 2018
  • Objectives: This study set out to measure the heavy metal concentrations in waste water produced in the casting pickling process at dental technical laboratories and examine the actual state of its treatment. Methods:The investigator measured the concentrations of each heavy metal at 55 dental technical laboratories using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission system. Results: The annual usage of electrolytes was under 10 L in 50 (90.9%), and was 10L or more in five (9.1%) laboratories. Among the laboratories, 15 (27.3%) commissioned the treatment of waste,12 (21.8%) treated the waste with general sewage,and 28 (50.9%) treated the waste in aseptic tank. The arithmetic $mean{\pm}standard$ deviation and the geometric mean of chrome(Cr) were $75.3{\pm}50.9$ and 58.3 mg/L; those of cobalt (Co) were $112.3{\pm}106.7$ and 66.1 mg/L; those of nickel (Ni) were $62.9{\pm}83.5$ and 8.9 mg/L; those of molybdenum (Mo) were $17.1{\pm}13.4$ and 12.0 mg/L; those of iron (Fe) were $31.5{\pm}44.1$ and 6.2 mg/L; those of lead (Pb) were $0.3{\pm}0.3$ and 0.3 mg/L; those of beryllium (Be) were $3.6{\pm}3.6$ and 2.0 mg/L. The hydrogen ion concentration was under pH 2 across all the samples. Conclusions: The findings show that the dental technical laboratories were not doing well with the separation, storage, collection, and treatment of the electrolytes they discarded, and that most of the electrolytes were introduced through the general sewage or aseptic tank. The causes of this include alack of perception among the practitioners at dental technical laboratories and contracted companies avoiding collection for economic reasons. There is a need for education to improve the perceptions of waste water treatment among the practitioners at dental technical laboratories. Environment-related departments should be stricter with legal applications in the central and local governments. It is also required to provide proper management of commissioned treatment.

A Study on Introduction of Accreditation Program for Industrial Hygiene Laboratories in Korea (국내 작업환경측정기관 인정제도 도입을 위한 현황 조사 연구)

  • Park, Deok Mook;Park, Jeonglm;Shin, Yong Chul;Cha, Jeong Young;Jeong, Jee Yeon;Kim, Boo Wook;Paik, Nam Won
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.15 no.3
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    • pp.232-238
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    • 2005
  • There are growing needs for improving the general performances of the domestic working environment evaluation organizations. For this purpose, introduction of laboratory accreditation program has been suggested. This study was conducted as a part of this effort. With a questionnaire developed in accordance with the ISO/IEC 17025, the current status of industrial hygiene (IH) laboratories in terms of manpower, management and technical aspects. The results of this study were as follows: 1. The average working staffs' number of the working environment evaluation organizations was $6.8{\pm}3.3$ persons. In addition, 49% of all organizations are run by less than 5 persons. This suggests that manpower of Korean IH laboratories is very limited. 2. IH laboratories surveyed in this study obtained 53% of the points by the international standard. And there is significant correlation between the number of staffing and total scores (P<0.05). 3. The period of work experience is one of the most important factors to determine the working capability. The average year of work experience of the laboratories' directors was $13.5{\pm}5.3$ years. Directors with more wok experiences obtained higher scores on the questions that ask to prove the appropriateness of the research methodology (p<0.05). 4. As for academic qualifications of laboratory directors, 14% had Ph.D., 31% with Master's, 29% with Bachelor's, and 4% had Associate degree. There was significant correlation between the total scores and the general managers' academic background (p<0.05). The 27% of laboratory directors have majored in either industrial hygiene or health, 8% majored in medicine, another 8% majored environmental studies, and 6% majored in chemistry. 5. Only 14% of all IH laboratories surveyed employ directors with Certified Industrial Hygienist licence, 41% have general managers with Certified Associate Industrial Hygienist (Level 1) licence, and 45% of all laboratories either employ directors without relevant qualification or did not respond. When the laboratory manger holds relevant qualification, laboratory health and safety management was better (p<0.05). 6. When compared to the general international standard in terms of the management, and 55% in terms of technological level.

A Study on Health Risk Assessment by Exposure to Organic Compounds in University Laboratory (대학 실험실에서의 유기화합물 노출에 의한 건강위험성 평가에 관한 연구)

  • Sim, Sanghyo;Won, Jung-II;Jeon, Hasub;Kim, Dowon
    • The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.49-60
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    • 2021
  • Objectives: Laboratories have various latent physical, chemical, biological, and ergonomical factors according to the diversification and fusion of research and development activities. This study aims to investigate the chemical exposure concentrations of college laboratories and evaluate their health risks, and use them as basic data to promote the health of college students. Methods: The sampling and analysis of harmful chemicals in the air in laboratories were performed using Method 1500 of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)의 Method 1500. The harmful chemicals in the laboratories were divided into carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic chemicals. Risk assessment was performed using the cancer risk (CR) for carcinogenic chemicals and using the hazard index (HI) for non-carcinogenic chemicals. Results: The harmful chemicals in college laboratories consisted of acetone, diethyl ether, methylene chloride, n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran, toluene, and xylenes. They showed the highest concentrations in laboratories A (acetone 0.001~2.34ppm), B (chloroform 0.95~6.35ppm), C (diethyl ether 0.08~8.68ppm), and D (acetone 0.07~14.96ppm). The risk assessment result for non-carcinogenic chemicals showed that the HI of methylene chloride was 2.052 for men and 2.333 for women, the HI of N-hexane was 4.442 for men and 5.05 for women. Thus, the HI values were higher than 1. The risk of carcinogenic chemicals is determined by an excess cancer risk (ECR) value of 1.0×10-5, which means that one in 100,000 people has a cancer risk. The ECRs of chloroform exceeded 1.0×10-5 for both men and women, indicating the possibility of cancer risk. Conclusion: College laboratories showed the possibility of non-carcinogenic health risks for methylene chloride, n-hexane, tetrahydrofuran (THF), toluene, and xylenes, and carcinogenic health risks for chloroform, methylene chloride. However, this study used the maximum values of measurements to determine the worst case, and assumed that the subjects were exposed to the corresponding concentrations continuously for 8 hours per day for 300 days per year. In consideration of the nature of laboratory environment in which people are intermittently exposed, rather than continuously, to the chemicals, the results of this study has an element of overestimation.

In Situ Observation of Initial Rusting Process of Steel Containing Al Using Synchrotron Radiation X-Rays

  • Morimoto, J.;Yamashita, M.;Uchida, H.;Doi, T.;Kamimura, T.;Miyuki, H.;Konishi, H.;Mizuki, J.
    • Corrosion Science and Technology
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.112-118
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    • 2008
  • We observed initial rusting process of steel containing Al under wet/dry cyclic condition with NaCl solution film using in situ X-ray diffraction spectroscopy at SPring-8 synchrotron radiation facility. It was found that mass fraction of iron oxides such as ${\alpha}-FeOOH$, ${\beta}-FeOOH$ and ${\gamma}-FeOOH$ varied with Al content. Some kinds of Al oxides were also found at the initial stage of corrosion. Those corrosion products might affect the corrosion process and corrosion rate of the steel.

New Butyrylcholinesterase Inhibitory Triterpenes from Salvia santolinifolia

  • Mehmood Sajid;Riaz Naheed;Nawaz Sarfraz Ahmed;Afza Nighat;Malik Abdul;Choudhary Muhammad Iqbal
    • Archives of Pharmacal Research
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    • v.29 no.3
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    • pp.195-198
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    • 2006
  • Slavins A (1) and B (2), the new amyrin type triterpenes, have been isolated from the chloroform soluble fraction of Salvia santolinifolia and assigned structures on the basis of spectral studies including 2D NMR. Both the compounds displayed inhibitory potential against the enzyme butyrylcholinesterase.