• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.203-215
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• 2010

This study is an overview of toxicities and measurement techniques of ultrafine particles (UFPs), and their exposure controls. UFPs are ubiquitous in many working situations. Exposure to UFPs is possibly causing adverse health symptoms including cardio-respiratory disease to humans. In order to measure exposure levels of airborne UFPs, there are current available measurement guidelines, instruments and other techniques (i.e. contour mapping, control banding). However, these risk assessment techniques including measurement techniques, controls and guidelines are dependent on background levels, metrics (e.g. size, mass, number, surface area, composition), environmental conditions and controls. There are no standardized measurement methods available and no generic and specific occupational exposure standards for UFPs. It is thought that there needs to be more effort to develop Regulations and Exposure Standards for generic UFPs should be based on more exposure data, health surveys, toxicological data and epidemiological data. A carefully considered hierarchy of controls can also reduce the maximum amount of airborne UFPs being emitted from diverse sources in industries.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2011

The growing interest in nanotechnology has resulted in increasing concern and a number of published environmental and workplace measurements for assessing occupational exposure to engineered nanomaterials. However, the amount of previous exposure data remains limited. Furthermore the data available was collected with extensive variation in terms of exposure measurement strategy, which limits the ability to pool the data in the future. In response, this paper reviewed several pertinent issues related to exposure measurement strategy to suggest a harmonized measurement strategy which would make exposure data more useful in the future, e.g. correlation between exposure metrics, relationship between activity and exposure, task-based or shift-based assessment, background concentration, limitation of personal exposure monitoring and other determinants of exposure/modeling. An improved sampling strategy for nanomaterial exposure assessment should be considered in order to maximize the use of the data from various real time monitoring instruments.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.3-5
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• 2023

Objective: This study introduces exposure concentrations of time-weighted average standard (TWA) evaluation and short-time exposure standard (STEL) evaluation for trichloroethylene in the cleaning process. Methods: Trichloroethylene measurement was conducted according to the KOSHA Guide (A-24-2019) method. It was carried out twice. Results: As a result of the first measurement, TWA concentration exceeded 4 times the exposure standard and STEL concentration exceeded 16 times, but the inaccuracy and breakthrough of the collection time could not be considered, so the second measurement was conducted. The second measurement result was lower than the first measurement result, but exceeded the exposure standards (TWA, STEL). Conclusions: We were able to confirm that the exposure level of workers in the cleaning process using trichloroethylene exceeded the exposure standard. And it is also considered necessary to grasp the approximate concentration using a detector tube in the preliminary survey.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1-6
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• 2013

This study was conducted to compare the value of the working environment measurement with the expected exposure value drawn by using a program, thereby going to investigate whether it is available to the risk assessment of domestic workplace. We used the ECETOC TRA program which is one of the exposure predictive models. Four kinds of substances were measured in two workplace which was exposed to organic solvents and one kind of substance was measured in three workplace which was exposed to dusts and then an exposure assessment of chemical risk factors was conducted. The result value of the working environment measurement, solid substance exceeded standard in one site, and it was found that the other solid and liquid substances were within the standard. The value of the exposure assessment program showd the same result; it was higher than the value of the working environment measurement, suggesting that due to its nature, the exposure assessment program is run only on the worst situation. Therefore, it was found that when the exposure assesment program is used, variables should be substituted only after accurately assessing the workplace and it is a good idea to assess the risk beforehand with the exposure assessment program in the case of the workplace which employs no more than 5 people and where it is hard to assess the working environment.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.532-540
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• 2013

Background: Exposure factors for consumer products have been developed since the 1980s. Such exposure factors are important in risk assessment. Since the exposure/use patterns of consumer products in a country may reflect its respective cultural, meteorological, and socio-economic circumstances, unique Korean exposure factors for consumer products are needed. Such exposure factors are required for newly-enacted chemical regulations in Korea. For this review, published papers and survey reports on exposure factors of consumer products were examined for their assessment methodologies. Results: Investigation into exposure factors for consumer products used a variety of methods: home visit, online, telephone, and mail surveys using questionnaires; face to face interviews; modeling using a constructed database; and direct measurement. To collect more accurate exposure information or to check the reliability of the sampling method, some studies were repeated using the same questionnaire, in-home observation, direct measurement of usage, and videotaping. In Korea, nationwide exposure surveys were conducted five times over five years to obtain Korean exposure factors. However, with the exception of the $5^{th}$-year study, the surveys were online questionnaires and only the $5^{th}$-year study validated the accuracy of exposure information by re-visits and direct measurement. Conclusion: Accurate exposure factors are an essential part of risk assessment to assure safe use of consumer products. For better and safer management of consumer products, accurate exposure factors in Korea should be assessed for various exposure pathways.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2012

Objectives: The aim of this study is to review occupational hygiene activities, including work environment measurement as required by the industrial safety and health laws of Korea, and suggest improvements required to establish an effective exposure surveillance system. Methods: The controversial limitations of exposure surveillance examining the work-association of several types of cancers in semiconductor workers were reviewed. Results: The bulk of the exposure surveillance system was found to focus purely on work environment measurements without providing other important exposure surrogates, such as job title, operation, exposure duration, etc. The current work environment measurement system is limited in terms of the efficient assessment of the exposure status of workers due to a lack of exposure information. Conclusion: The introduction of a national standard classification of occupations and job titles into the exposure and health effect surveillance system should be discussed in order to retrospectively assess exposure characteristics.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.100-107
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• 2018

Objectives: This study examines exposure to hazardous substances in the working environment caused by exposure to toxic substances produced in the aluminum die casting process in the automobile manufacturing industry. Materials and Methods: The exposure concentration levels, detection rates and time-trend of 15 hazardous factors in the aluminum die casting process over 10 years(from 2006 to 2016) were used as a database. Results: The study found that hazardous factors in the aluminum die casting process were mostly metals. The rate for detected samples was 70.6%(405 samples), and that for not detected samples was 29.4%. The noise for an eight-hour work shift showed a 49.7% exceedance rate for TLV-TWA. Average noise exposure was 89.0 dB. The maximum exposure level was 105.1 dB. Conclusion: The high numbers of no-detection rates for hazardous substance exposure shows that there is no need to do a work environment measurement. Therefore, alternatives are necessary for improving the efficiency and reliability of the work environment measurement. Moreover, to prevent noise damage, reducing noise sources from automation, shielding, or sound absorbents are necessary.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.230-237
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• 2021

Background: Noise-induced hearing loss is a well-known occupational disease that affects many fish harvesters from many fisheries worldwide, whose risk factor is prolonged exposure to hazardous noise levels. To date, academic research activities and regulatory bodies have not provided any comparative analysis among the existing methods to assess noise exposure levels of fish harvesters. This paper provides a comparison of four relevant assessment methods of noise exposure, examining the results of a measurement campaign performed onboard small fishing vessels from Newfoundland and Labrador. Methods: We traveled onboard 11 vessels engaged in multiple fisheries from Newfoundland and Labrador and performed extensive noise exposure surveys using the simplified International Maritime Organization method, the full-day measurement method, and the two methods provided by ISO 9612:2009, the task-based method and job-based method (JBM). Results: The results showed that the four methods yield similar values when the noise components are dominated by the engine and auxiliaries (steady-state sources); when noise components are dominated by the fishing gear, task-based method and the simplified International Maritime Organization method estimates are less accurate than JBM, using full-day measurements as baseline. Conclusion: The JBM better assesses noise exposure in small-scale fisheries, where noise exposure has significant variance and uncertainties on the exposure levels are higher.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.255-265
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• 2021

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.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.14-17
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• 2024

Objectives: This is a case of air exposure assessment conducted after researchers complained of headaches and odor due to residual substances from fire extinguishing agents spread throughout the laboratory due to a malfunction of the fire extinguishing facility. Methods: A component analysis was conducted on the residual substances of a fire extinguishing agent spread in a laboratory using Py-GC-MS (pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry) at the research institute's own central equipment research center. As a result of the component analysis, several types of substances were detected. Among these, five types of substances subject to work environment measurement in the aromatic hydrocarbon series, which can affect headaches and odor, were selected as substances subject to exposure assessment in the air, and the measurement and analysis methods of the target substances were conducted in accordance with the KOSHA Guide for each substance. Conclusions: The measurement results showed that all 5 types of substances were not detected at locations A, B, and C. This is believed to be the result of the residual substances in the fire extinguishing agent being measured when approximately two months had elapsed after being exposed to the test bench, and the substances already exposed had volatilized and disappeared. In this survey, it is believed that the measurement process is more important than the measurement results.