Asbestos exposure among Seoul metropolitan subway workers during renovation of subway air-conditioning systems

Air quality in underground spaces has seldom been evaluated in Korea. Accordingly, the current study recently evaluated asbestos exposure among Seoul metropolitan subway workers during the renovation of the subway's air-conditioning system. To identify possible routes of asbestos exposure, suspected sources, including gaskets, ceiling boards, ceiling materials, and dust settled inside ducts, were all sampled. Personal air samples were also taken to evaluate any asbestos exposure during the renovation. The asbestos fibers found in the samples were analyzed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX). Twelve out of eighteen bulk samples contained asbestos, the majority of which was chrysotile fibers. Asbestos was detected in 9 out of 72 personal air samples and the level ranged from 0.003 to 0.02 fibers/cm(3). While asbestos levels were below Korean occupational limit of 2 fibers/cm(3), they were still detectable and therefore further monitoring would be appropriate.     

Potential source of asbestos in non-asbestos textile manufacturing company

Recently, a worker with lung carcinoma and a metastatic brain tumor was diagnosed as having a work-related disease. He had been employed in a non-asbestos textile company for 25 years. Consequently, to identify and explore possible causative agents for lung cancer in a non-asbestos textile manufacturing company and establish a causal relationship between exposure and lung cancer, an epidemiological investigative study was conducted and the work processes the worker was engaged in were examined. Air samples were taken from the workplace and during the drilling processes, and a suspected causative material was analyzed. The study revealed that the subject had been employed in the non-asbestos textile manufacturing company for 25 years from 1973 and his responsibilities included repairing spinning machines. In particular, the subject was involved in drilling B-bushings that were used to protect against gear abrasion in the spinning machines. An analysis of the B-bushings using a transmission electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer indicated that they contained crocidolite asbestos fibers. Air samples obtained when drilling the B-bushings clearly indicated that the subject had most likely been exposed to crocidolite fibers when installing the B-bushings in the spinning machines. The frequency and duration of the work suggested that there would be a sufficient degree of exposure to crocidolite fibers to cause lung cancer. Except for smoking and asbestos exposure, no other chemical exposure was suspected for developing lung cancer in the workplace. Smoking appeared to be more of a potentiating risk factor in conjunction with the asbestos exposure. Accordingly, this case may provide significant evidence in identifying the cause of the mesothelioma or lung carcinoma found among workers in non-asbestos textile manufacturing companies elsewhere.     

长江下游氮、磷含量变化及其输送量的估计

根据在１９９７和１９９８年内对长江干流大通站河水的３次采样分析,结合该站１９６２～１９９０年的水质资料,对长江下游Ｎ、Ｐ含量变化及其输送量进行研究．总氮、总磷的平均含量分别为１．６～２．２ｍ ｇ·Ｌ^-1和０．１１～０．１５ｍ ｇ·Ｌ^-1,Ｎ 以ＮＯ^-_３ －Ｎ 为主,约占７６％ ,其余主要为溶解有机氮和颗粒氮;Ｐ以颗粒态为主,占９５％ 以上．从５、６月到８月,ＮＯ^-_３－Ｎ含量是逐渐降低的,ＤＯＮ含量有较大幅度的上升,ＰＮ、ＰＰ及ＴＰ含量也有所增高．与历史资料相比,长江大通站溶解无机氮（ＤＩＮ）和ＰＯ^3-₄－Ｐ含量还在不断上升,Ｎ、Ｐ含量的上升与流域化肥施用量变化趋势一致．１９９８年夏季洪水期间,约有７９．９５万ｔＮ和８．３６万ｔＰ从大通站向下游输送,其中ＤＩＮ与生物有效磷（ＢＡＰ）比值远高于浮游植物生长的Ｐ限制值.     

生态旅游项目的可持续设计

本文基于我国目前生态旅游项目开发存在的普遍问题,从可持续旅游的观点提出了生态旅游项目开发的四个基本准则,同时讨论分析了生态旅游项目可持续设计应遵循的方法和主要内容。     

世界废弃印刷电路板的机械处理技术现状

电子废弃物中废印刷电路板的处置 ,一直是相当复杂的问题。根据废电路板中各种组分的结合方式 ,采用机械方法进行材料的分离 ,是经济适用并与环境相协调的处理手段。本文介绍了废电路板再利用技术中采用的各种机械设备 ,并总结了国外机械处置方法的实践进展。     

论市场经济体制下的安全生产监督管理工作

分析了我国从计划经济体制向市场经济体制转变的过程中 ,安全生产环境的变化及其给安全生产监督管理工作带来的问题 ;按照市场经济的原理和政企分开、政府转变职能的要求 ,从我国现阶段实际情况出发 ,提出了社会主义市场经济体制下安全生产监督管理的基本思路、主要工作内容、工作方法和工作重点     

Primary production and rain use efficiency across a precipitation gradient on the Mongolia Plateau

Understanding how the aboveground net primary production (ANPP) of arid and semiarid ecosystems of the world responds to variations in precipitation is crucial for assessing the impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems. Rain-use efficiency (RUE) is an important measure for acquiring this understanding. However, little is known about the response pattern of RUE for the largest contiguous natural grassland region of the world, the Eurasian Steppe. Here we investigated the spatial and temporal patterns of ANPP and RUE and their key driving factors based on a long-term data set from 21 natural arid and semiarid ecosystem sites across the Inner Mongolia steppe region in northern China. Our results showed that, with increasing mean annual precipitation (MAP), (1) ANPP increased while the interannual variability of ANPP declined, (2) plant species richness increased and the relative abundance of key functional groups shifted predictably, and (3) RUE increased in space across different ecosystems but decreased with increasing annual precipitation within a given ecosystem. These results clearly indicate that the patterns of both ANPP and RUE are scale dependent, and the seemingly conflicting patterns of RUE in space vs. time suggest distinctive underlying mechanisms, involving interactions among precipitation, soil N, and biotic factors. Also, while our results supported the existence of a common maximum RUE, they also indicated that its value could be substantially increased by altering resource availability, such as adding nitrogen. Our findings have important implications for understanding and predicting ecological impacts of global climate change and for management practices in arid and semiarid ecosystems in the Inner Mongolia steppe region and beyond.     

Temporal analysis of population genetic composition in the overexploited Japanese eel <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anguilla japonica</Emphasis>

The Japanese eel has dramatically declined in Asia since the 1970s. Over the past two decades, glass eel productivity in Taiwan has decreased, but is highly variable among each year catch, though the cause for this is unknown. The impact of both population decline and instability on genetic diversity, however, is unknown. In this study, we investigated changes in allele frequencies of Japanese eel recruitment events over the past 20 years using six polymorphic microsatellite DNA loci. Specimens of glass eels were collected yearly from a single location in northern Taiwan from 1986 to 2007. Overall genetic differentiation among all samples was very low but significant (F_ST = 0.002, P = 0.002), and only 2 out of 120 pairwise tests were significant. The relationship between genetic and temporal distance showed a slight but insignificant correlation (R² = 0.03, P = 0.0504). There were no overall significant differences in allelic richness (P = 0.35) or genetic heterozygosity (P = 0.73) among annual recruitment events. No apparent loss of genetic diversity and occurrence of a genetic bottleneck for eel populations were observed. Estimates of the effective population size (N_e) generally exceeded 500, although confidence intervals were very wide. While El Niño /Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events had little impact on genetic diversity, they may account for the annual fluctuation in glass eel catch. These results indicate long-term stability of genetic diversity in the Japanese eel with little evidence for sweepstakes recruitment.     

Human health risk assessment of explosives and heavy metals at a military gunnery range

In this research, a risk assessment was undertaken in order to develop the remediation and management strategy of a contaminated gunnery site, where a nearby flood controlling reservoir is under construction. Six chemicals, including explosives and heavy metals, posing potential risk to environmental and human health, were targeted in this study. A site-specific conceptual site model was constructed, based on effective, reasonable exposure pathways, to avoid any overestimation of the risk. Also, conservative default values were adapted to prevent underestimation of the risk when site-specific values were not available. The risks posed by the six contaminants were calculated using the API’s Decision Support System for Exposure and Risk Assessment, with several assumptions. In the crater-formed-area (Ac), the non-carcinogenic risks (i.e., HI values) of tri-nitro-toluene (TNT) and Cd were slightly larger than 1, but for RDX (Royal Demolition Explosives) was over 50. The total non-carcinogenic risk of the whole gunnery range was calculated to be 62.5, which was a significantly high value. The carcinogenicity of Cd was estimated to be about 10⁻³, while that for Pb was about 5 × 10⁻⁴, which greatly exceeded the generally acceptable carcinogenic risk level of 10⁻⁴–10⁻⁶. It was concluded from the risk assessment that there is an immediate need for remediation of both carcinogens and non-carcinogens before construction of the reservoir. However, for a more accurate risk assessment, further specific estimations of the changes in environmental conditions due to the construction of the reservoir will be required; and more over, the effects of the pollutants to the ecosystem will also need to be evaluated.     

低温地区市政污水厂工艺选择、设计与运行的探讨

介绍了低温污水的特点和温度变化对污水处理效率的影响 ,指出了选择低温地区污水厂处理工艺时应注意的问题 ,并对设计参数的选择和工程运行管理提出了参考建议。