Comprehensive Evaluation of Hazardous Chemical Exposure Control System at a Semiconductor Manufacturing Company in South Korea.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the hazardous chemical exposure control system in a semiconductor manufacturing company and recommend an appropriate exposure surveillance system for hazardous agents. We reviewed compliance-based chemical exposure data compiled between 2012 and 2014 by the study company. The chemical management system, characteristics of chemical use and hazardous gas monitoring system were also investigated.

Silica exposure and work-relatedness evaluation for occupational cancer in Korea.

Crystalline silica has been classified as a definite carcinogen (Group 1) causing lung cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). In Korea, crystalline silica has been the most common causal agent for workers to apply to the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (KWCWS). We used KWCWS data to evaluate workers' crystalline silica exposure levels according to their occupations and industries, and reviewed research papers describing the dose-response relationship between cumulative exposure levels and lung cancer incidence.

Real-time measurement of fibers using an HY-differential mobility analyzer with an optical particle counter (KOFAM).

This study investigated the applicability of an HY-differential mobility analyzer with an optical particle counter (HY-DMA/OPC), named as KOFAM, for counting fibrous matters in real time. Fibers separated from particles by the HY-DMA were counted with an OPC. To assess the KOFAM performance, the proposed method and the conventional gold standard phase contrast microscopy (PCM) method were compared in terms of variables such as recovery, relative difference, coefficient of determination, and conformity.

Exposure monitoring of graphene nanoplatelets manufacturing workplaces.

Graphenes have emerged as a highly promising, two-dimensional engineered nanomaterial that can possibly substitute carbon nanotubes. They are being explored in numerous R&D and industrial applications in laboratories across the globe, leading to possible human and environmental exposures to them. Yet, there are no published data on graphene exposures in occupational settings and no readily available methods for their detection and quantitation exist.

Performance of PCR-reverse blot hybridization assay for detection of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium leprae.

Drug resistance in Mycobacterium leprae is a significant problem in countries where leprosy is endemic. A sensitive, specific, and high-throughput reverse blot hybridization assay (REBA) for the detection of genotypic resistance to rifampicin (RIF) was designed and evaluated. It has been shown that resistance to RIF in M.

Occupational Exposure to Diesel Particulate Matter in Municipal Household Waste Workers.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to determine the following: 1) the exposure levels of municipal household waste (MHW) workers to diesel particulate matter (DPM) using elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), total carbon (TC), black carbon (BC), and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) as indicators; 2) the correlations among the indicators; 3) the optimal indicator for DPM; and 4) factors that influence personal exposure to DPM.

Methods: A total of 72 workers in five MHW collection companies were assessed over a period of 7 days from June to September 2014.

Exposure assessment suggests exposure to lung cancer carcinogens in a painter working in an automobile bumper shop.

A 46-year-old man who had worked as a bumper spray painter in an automobile body shop for 15 years developed lung cancer. The patient was a nonsmoker with no family history of lung cancer. To determine whether the cancer was related to his work environment, we assessed the level of exposure to carcinogens during spray painting, sanding, and heat treatment.

Assessment of nanoparticle exposure in nanosilica handling process: including characteristics of nanoparticles leaking from a vacuum cleaner.

Nanosilica is one of the most widely used nanomaterials across the world. However, their assessment data on the occupational exposure to nanoparticles is insufficient. The present study performed an exposure monitoring in workplace environments where synthetic powders are prepared using fumed nanosilica.

Diagnostic validity of macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness deviation map algorithm using cirrus HD-OCT in preperimetric and early glaucoma.

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic validity of macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (mGCIPL) thickness deviation map algorithm using Cirrus high definition-optical coherence tomography to discriminate between normal controls and patients with preperimetric or early glaucoma.

Patients And Methods: Seventy-two normal controls, 37 patients with preperimetric glaucoma and 70 patients with early glaucoma were enrolled. mGCIPL thickness and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness were measured by Cirrus high definition-optical coherence tomography.

A case report of lung cancer in a horse trainer caused by exposure to respirable crystalline silica: an exposure assessment.

Here, we present a case of lung cancer in a 48-year-old male horse trainer. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such case report to include an exposure assessment of respirable crystalline silica (RCS) as a quartz. The trainer had no family history of lung cancer.