Excess mortality related to high air temperature: Comparison of the periods including 1994 and 2018, the worst heat waves in the history of South Korea.

Climate change has caused extreme weather events, including frequent summer heat waves. We examined how the effects of high air temperatures on mortality have changed between the two study periods (1991-1995 and 2015-2019), including 1994 and 2018, the worst heat wave years in the meteorological history of South Korea. Temperature data from the Korea Meteorological Administration and mortality data from Statistics Korea were used in this study.

Spatial associations of daily PM concentration with cardiovascular and pulmonary morbidity in Korea.

Air pollution, particularly fine particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM), contributes to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and poses significant public health risks worldwide. This study evaluated the short-term effects of PM on hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with additional analyses to identify vulnerable populations based on regional characteristics.

Cancer Incidence Among Residents Near Coal-Fired Power Plants Based on the Korean National Health Insurance System Data.

Background: Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, posing a significant threat to human health and life expectancy. Numerous existing studies explored the correlation between coal-fired power plants and cancer development. Currently, Chungcheongnam-do Province hosts 29 coal-fired power plants, constituting half of the total 58 plants across South Korea.

Associations of cold exposure with hospital admission and mortality due to acute kidney injury: A nationwide time-series study in Korea.

Background: Emerging evidence supports an association between heat exposure and acute kidney injury (AKI). However, there is a paucity of studies on the association between cold exposure and AKI.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the associations of cold exposure with hospital admission and mortality due to AKI and to explore whether these associations were influenced by age and sex.

Effect modification of consecutive high concentration days on the association between fine particulate matter and mortality: a multi-city study in Korea.

Objectives: Although there is substantial evidence for the short-term effect of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on daily mortality, few epidemiological studies have explored the effect of prolonged continuous exposure to high concentrations of PM2.5.

Associations between cold spells and hospital admission and mortality due to diabetes: A nationwide multi-region time-series study in Korea.

Background: Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme cold events in the mid-latitudes. However, although diabetes is one of the most critical metabolic diseases due to its high and increasing prevalence worldwide, few studies have investigated the short-term association between cold exposure and diabetes-related outcomes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between cold spells and their characteristics (intensity, duration, and seasonal timing) and hospital admission and mortality due to diabetes.

Cancer risk in the residents of a town near three industrial waste incinerators in Korea: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Three industrial waste incinerators (IWIs) were built in 1999, 2001, and 2010, within a 3 km radius of a town with a population of around 5000 in Korea. This study evaluated whether residents near these three IWIs had increased cancer incidence than those from other areas in Korea using regional health data.

Methods: Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated using the frequency of cancer cases in the National Cancer Registry of the exposed area (Buki-myeon), Chungcheongbuk-do (Chungbuk, state including Buki-myeon), and whole Korea from 1999 to 2017.

Cancer cluster among small village residents near the fertilizer plant in Korea.

Objectives: In Jang-jeom, a small village in Hamra-myeon, Iksan-si, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea, residents raised concerns about a suspected cancer cluster that they attributed to a fertilizer plant near the village. We aimed to investigate whether the cancer incidence in the village was higher than that in the general Korean population when the factory was in operation (2001-2017) and whether living in the village was associated with a higher risk of cancer.

Methods: Using national population data and cancer registration data of South Korea, we estimated the standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) in the village to investigate whether more cancer cases occurred in the village compared to other regions.

Clinical presentation of young people (10-24 years old) with brain tumors: results from the international MOBI-Kids study.

Introduction: We used data from MOBI-Kids, a 14-country international collaborative case-control study of brain tumors (BTs), to study clinical characteristics of the tumors in older children (10 years or older), adolescents and young adults (up to the age of 24).

Methods: Information from clinical records was obtained for 899 BT cases, including signs and symptoms, symptom onset, diagnosis date, tumor type and location.

Results: Overall, 64% of all tumors were low-grade, 76% were neuroepithelial tumors and 62% gliomas.

Associations of Maternal Cell-Phone Use During Pregnancy With Pregnancy Duration and Fetal Growth in 4 Birth Cohorts.

Results from studies evaluating potential effects of prenatal exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields from cell phones on birth outcomes have been inconsistent. Using data on 55,507 pregnant women and their children from Denmark (1996-2002), the Netherlands (2003-2004), Spain (2003-2008), and South Korea (2006-2011), we explored whether maternal cell-phone use was associated with pregnancy duration and fetal growth. On the basis of self-reported number of cell-phone calls per day, exposure was grouped as none, low (referent), intermediate, or high.

Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure at Home and Attributable Problem Behaviors in Korean Children and Adolescents for 2012-2014 in a Nationally Representative Survey.

Background: This study aimed to examine the environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure at home and associated problem behaviors in Korean children and adolescents.

Methods: Approximately 2,167 children aged 3-18 years were included in the study after excluding 163 active smokers from the Korean Environmental Health Survey in Children and Adolescents (2012-2014). ETS data were obtained using a questionnaire; problem behaviors were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist administered to parents.

Maternal cell phone use during pregnancy and child cognition at age 5 years in 3 birth cohorts.

Background: There have been few studies of children's cognitive development in relation to mothers' cell phone use, and most were limited to outcomes at age 3 years or younger. We examined the relationship between maternal cell phone use during pregnancy and cognitive performance in 5-year old children.

Methods: This study included data from 3 birth cohorts: the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) (n = 1209), Spanish Environment and Childhood Project (INMA) (n = 1383), and Korean Mothers and Children's Environment Health Study (MOCEH) (n = 497).

Estimation of Cancer Incidence and Mortality Risks Attributed to Diagnostic Medical Radiation Exposure in Korea, 2013.

Background: Radiation exposure from medical procedures has been rapidly increasing. We purposed to estimate the fraction of cancer incidence and mortality attributed to diagnostic medical radiation exposure in Korea.

Methods: Using information on diagnostic medical radiation exposure from various sources including national health examination (National Health Insurance Service), private health examination, and conscription health examination; the annual mean exposed organ dose (mGy) from all diagnostic medical radiation use, grouped by sex and 5-year age ranges up to 80 years, was calculated.

Mercury Exposure in Association With Decrease of Liver Function in Adults: A Longitudinal Study.

Objectives: Although mercury (Hg) exposure is known to be neurotoxic in humans, its effects on liver function have been less often reported. The aim of this study was to investigate whether total Hg exposure in Korean adults was associated with elevated serum levels of the liver enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT).

Methods: We repeatedly examined the levels of total Hg and liver enzymes in the blood of 508 adults during 2010-2011 and 2014-2015.

The relationship between spontaneous abortion and female workers in the semiconductor industry.

Background: This study investigated the relationship between job type and the risk for spontaneous abortion to assess the reproductive toxicity of female workers in the semiconductor industry.

Methods: A questionnaire survey was administered to current female workers of two semiconductor manufacturing plants in Korea. We included female workers who became pregnant at least 6 months after the start of their employment with the company.

Maternal cell phone use during pregnancy and child behavioral problems in five birth cohorts.

Introduction: Previous studies have reported associations between prenatal cell phone use and child behavioral problems, but findings have been inconsistent and based on retrospective assessment of cell phone use. This study aimed to assess this association in a multi-national analysis, using data from three cohorts with prospective data on prenatal cell phone use, together with previously published data from two cohorts with retrospectively collected cell phone use data.

Methods: We used individual participant data from 83,884 mother-child pairs in the five cohorts from Denmark (1996-2002), Korea (2006-2011), the Netherlands (2003-2004), Norway (2004-2008), and Spain (2003-2008).

Short-term Effect of Fine Particulate Matter on Children's Hospital Admissions and Emergency Department Visits for Asthma: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objectives: No children-specified review and meta-analysis paper about the short-term effect of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on hospital admissions and emergency department visits for asthma has been published. We calculated more precise pooled effect estimates on this topic and evaluated the variation in effect size according to the differences in study characteristics not considered in previous studies.

Association of current phthalate exposure with neurobehavioral development in a national sample.

Background: Previous studies have indicated that phthalate exposure may influence the development of children, but the current data are limited, and controversy remains regarding the sex-specific and age-specific effects of phthalate exposure.

Methods: We investigated the sex- and age-specific associations of current phthalate exposure with neurobehavioral development scores in a nationally representative sample of 6-18-year-olds participating in the Korean Environmental Health Survey in Children and Adolescents (KorEHS-C). Neurobehavioral development was assessed using the Korean Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL, N=1723) and the Korean Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale (ARS, N=867).

Associations of Low Environmental Exposure to Multiple Metals with Renal Tubular Impairment in Korean Adults.

Recently several studies reported that the renal toxicity of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) may exist in even a low level exposure. In terms of the deterioration of tubular function, it affects the loss of divalent metals and leads to other complications, so renal tubular effect of heavy metals should be well managed. Considering the exposure to heavy metals in reality, it is hard to find the case that human is exposed to only one heavy metal.