IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i10p5225-d554634.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Activity-Based Exposure Levels and Cancer Risk Assessment Due to Naturally Occurring Asbestos for the Residents Near Abandoned Asbestos Mines in South Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Seungho Lee

    (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, Korea)

  • Dongmug Kang

    (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, Korea
    Department of Preventive and Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Medical College, Pusan National University, Yangsan 50612, Korea
    Environmental Health Center of Asbestos, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, Korea)

  • Youngki Kim

    (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, Korea
    Department of Preventive and Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Medical College, Pusan National University, Yangsan 50612, Korea
    Environmental Health Center of Asbestos, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, Korea)

  • Yoon-Ji Kim

    (Department of Preventive and Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Medical College, Pusan National University, Yangsan 50612, Korea
    Environmental Health Center of Asbestos, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, Korea)

  • Se-Yeong Kim

    (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan 50612, Korea
    Department of Preventive and Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Medical College, Pusan National University, Yangsan 50612, Korea)

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the overall asbestos exposure intensity and assess the health risk to residents due to naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) near abandoned asbestos mines in South Korea. Of 38 mines, we found 19 with measured concentrations of NOA. We evaluated the average of airborne NOA concentrations according to the environmental exposure category. When evaluated regionally by dividing into two clusters, the mean concentrations in activity-based sampling (ABS) scenarios exceeded the Korean exposure limit (0.01 f/cc) in both clusters. Moreover, airborne NOA concentrations in agricultural activity (5.49 × 10 −2 f/cc) and daily activity (6.95 × 10 −2 f/cc) had the highest values for clusters A and B, respectively. The excess lifetime cancer risk of one region (cluster A) by the ABS scenarios did not exceed the Korean Ministry of the Environment’s criteria for soil purification (1 × 10 −4 ). However, one of the ABS scenarios—the daily life activity of clusters centered on Chungcheongbuk-do (cluster B)—showed an exposure of 1.08 × 10 −4 , greater than the limit (1 × 10 −4 ). This indicates non negligible health damage to residents living near the abandoned asbestos mines, and it is necessary to continuously monitor and clean up the asbestos contamination.

Suggested Citation

  • Seungho Lee & Dongmug Kang & Youngki Kim & Yoon-Ji Kim & Se-Yeong Kim, 2021. "Activity-Based Exposure Levels and Cancer Risk Assessment Due to Naturally Occurring Asbestos for the Residents Near Abandoned Asbestos Mines in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-12, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:10:p:5225-:d:554634
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/10/5225/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/10/5225/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yu-Ryong Yoon & Kyeong Min Kwak & Yeyong Choi & Kanwoo Youn & Jinwook Bahk & Dong-Mug Kang & Domyung Paek, 2018. "The Asbestos Ban in Korea from a Grassroots Perspective: Why Did It Occur?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-12, January.
    2. Małgorzata Krówczyńska & Ewa Wilk, 2018. "Asbestos Exposure and the Mesothelioma Incidence in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-17, August.
    3. Kyeongmin Kwak & Kyung Ehi Zoh & Domyung Paek, 2021. "Incidence of Cancer and Asbestos-Related Diseases among Residents Living near Abandoned Asbestos Mines in South Korea: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using National Health Insurance Database," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-15, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kathleen Mahoney & Tim Driscoll & Julia Collins & Justine Ross, 2023. "The Past, Present and Future of Asbestos-Related Diseases in Australia: What Are the Data Telling Us?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-12, May.
    2. Eun-A Kim, 2021. "Standardized Incidence Ratio and Standardized Mortality Ratio of Malignant Mesothelioma in a Worker Cohort Using Employment Insurance Database in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-13, October.
    3. Jiwoon Kwon, 2022. "Impact of Naturally Occurring Asbestos on Asbestos Ban: Regulations and Experience of the Republic of Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-12, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kathleen Mahoney & Tim Driscoll & Julia Collins & Justine Ross, 2023. "The Past, Present and Future of Asbestos-Related Diseases in Australia: What Are the Data Telling Us?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-12, May.
    2. Małgorzata Krówczyńska & Ewa Wilk, 2020. "Reply to Comment on Małgorzata Krówczyńska and Ewa Wilk. Environmental and Occupational Exposure to Asbestos as a Result of Consumption and Use in Poland. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16,," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-2, March.
    3. Małgorzata Krówczyńska & Ewa Wilk, 2019. "Environmental and Occupational Exposure to Asbestos as a Result of Consumption and Use in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-13, July.
    4. Eun-A Kim, 2021. "Standardized Incidence Ratio and Standardized Mortality Ratio of Malignant Mesothelioma in a Worker Cohort Using Employment Insurance Database in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-13, October.
    5. Jiwoon Kwon, 2022. "Impact of Naturally Occurring Asbestos on Asbestos Ban: Regulations and Experience of the Republic of Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-12, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:10:p:5225-:d:554634. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.