Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (한국산업보건학회지)

Korean Industrial Hygiene Association (한국산업보건학회)
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Analysis of Exposure Levels for Inorganic Acids in Korea

무기산류에 대한 국내 작업환경측정 현황 분석

  • 박해동 (한국산업안전보건공단 산업안전보건연구원) ;
  • 박승현 (한국산업안전보건공단 산업안전보건연구원) ;
  • 정기효 (울산대학교 안전보건전문학과)
  • Received : 2021.08.12
  • Accepted : 2021.09.27
  • Published : 2021.09.30
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Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the exposure characteristics of inorganic acids. Methods: We analyzed exposure data (n = 363,146) for six inorganic acids (hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen bromide, hydrogen chloride, phosphoric acid, nitric acid, and sulfuric acid) collected between 2017 and 2019 in South Korea. Measurement characteristics and exposure levels (ELs) were analyzed by inorganic acid, industry category, enterprise size, and measurement year. Results: Measurement percentage dominated in time-weighted average (TWA, 91%) compared to short term exposure limit (STEL) and Ceiling. Most of the measurements (79.7%) were collected from the manufacturing category of industry. Medians of ELs were mostly low (≤3% of the threshold limit), with the exception of sulfuric acid (4.6% of TWA and 10.5% of STEL). The percentages of exceeding 1% of the occupational exposure limits (OELs) in TWA were relatively high for sulfuric acid (35.8%) and hydrogen chloride (16.5%) compared to the other acids (4.2%-6.6%). In addition, the percentages of exceeding 1% of OELs in STEL or Ceiling were higher for sulfuric acid (22.9%), hydrogen chloride (12.3%), and nitric acid (8.2%) compared to the other acids (1.2%-1.9%). The small-sized enterprises showed higher ELs in TWA; contrarily, the large-sized enterprises had higher ELs in STEL or Ceiling. Conclusions: The measurement characteristics and ELs identified in this study could be useful for establishing safety and health policies for inorganic acids.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 연구는 산업안전보건연구원의 자체연구과제로 수행한 결과입니다.

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