Evaluating the feasibility of air environment management system for VOCs through 'VOCs specification' of petroleum refining industry.

The chemical industry releases various types of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere, and the concentration of VOCs emitted from chimneys is regulated worldwide. However, some VOCs such as benzene are highly carcinogenic, while others such as ethylene and propylene may cause secondary air pollution, owing to their high ozone-generating ability. Accordingly, the US EPA(United State, Environment Protect Agency) introduced a fenceline monitoring system that regulates the concentration of VOCs at the boundary of a facility, away from the chimney source. This system was first introduced in the petroleum refining industry, which simultaneously emits benzene, affecting the local community because of its high carcinogenicity, and ethylene, propylene, xylene, and toluene, which have a high photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP). These emissions contribute to air pollution. In Korea, the concentration at the chimney is regulated; however, the concentration at the plant boundary is not considered. In accordance with the EPA regulations, Korea's petroleum refining industries were identified and the limitations of the Clean Air Conservation Act were studied. The average concentration of benzene at the research facility examined in this study was 8.53 µg/m3, which complied with the benzene action level of 9 µg/m3. However, this value was exceeded at some points along the fenceline, in proximity to the benzene-toluene-xylene (BTX) manufacturing process. The composition ratios of toluene and xylene were 27% and 16%, respectively, which were higher than those of ethylene or propylene. These results suggest that reduction measures in the BTX manufacturing process are necessary. This study shows that legal regulations should enforce reduction measures through continuous monitoring at the fenceline of petroleum refineries in Korea.Implications: Although volatile organic compounds(VOCs) are essential in various industrial sites, they adversely affect the health of people in the near community. Benzene is highly carcinogenic, so it is dangerous if exposed continuously. In addition, there are various types of VOCs, which combine with atmospheric ozone to generate smog. Globally, VOCs are managed as Total VOCs. However, through this study, VOCs have priority, and in the case of the petroleum refining industry, it is suggested that VOCs should be preemptively measured and analyzed to be regulated. In addition, it is necessary to minimize the impact on the local community by regulating the concentration at the fenceline beyond the chimney measurement.

Changes in Risk in Medium Business Plating and Paint Manufacturing Plants following the Revision of the Korean Chemical Accident Prevention System.

Chemical accidents can occur anywhere. The need for chemical management in Korea was realized following the 2012 Gumi hydrofluoric acid accident in 2012. The Chemicals Control Act was enacted in 2015. This system evaluates the risks (high, medium, low) and consequent safety management at all plants that handle hazardous chemical substances. However, the system was criticized as excessive when most plants were designated high-risk without considering their size. Thus, laboratories and hospitals handling very small quantities were subject to regulation. Accordingly, in 2021 Korea revised the system to include off-site consequence analyses and a Korean-style risk analysis. Plants handling very small quantities, such as laboratories and hospitals, were exempt from regulation. In this study, changes in risk were examined for four medium-sized plating and paint manufacturing plants. Under the previous system, all four factories were judged as high-risk groups. In particular, the paint manufacturing plant A, which has an underground storage tank, received a medium risk like the plating plant C, although the possibility of a chemical accident was lower than that of other plants. However, in the changed system, all plants were changed to the low-risk group. In the Korean-style risk analysis, it is possible to see at a glance what is lacking in the plants, such as cooperation between local residents and local governments and the construction of safety facilities according to the type of accident scenario. The revised system is a reasonable regulation for medium business plants.

Implementation of ISO45001 Considering Strengthened Demands for OHSMS in South Korea: Based on Comparing Surveys Conducted in 2004 and 2018.

BACKGROUND: According to the previous studies, the work-related accident rate decreased in Korea after the introduction of occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS), but there were several disasters in Korea such as subway worker's death at Guui station in 2016 and the Taean thermal power plant accident in 2018, which escalated the social demand for safety. In 2018, OHSMS became an international standard, as ISO45001 was announced. METHODS: A survey was conducted to research the implementation status of OHSMS and changes in people's perception, and the results were compared with those of a past survey. RESULTS: Enhanced social demand and various stakeholders' (not only buyer) needs, and social responsibility are perceived as the motivation for the introduction of OHSMS rather than legal compliance or customer demand. In the questionnaire about problems with the implementation of OHSMS, the factors with higher response rate in 2018 than 2004 were "excessive cost" and "complicated documentation management." In the questionnaire about how to promote OHSMS in organizations, most people answered "reduction of workers' compensation insurance rate" in 2004, but most people answered "exemption from health and safety supervision" in 2018. CONCLUSION: For the effective implementation of ISO45001, emphasis is placed on social demand, training to recognize health and safety as a part of management, and the reduction of certification and consulting costs to promote the introduction of OHSMS. Incentives such as insurance premium cuts and exemptions from health and safety supervision are needed.

Valuation of Estimation Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Method-Focusing on Paint Manufacturing Process.

Industrial chemicals differ in their treatment methods and types, depending on their physicochemical properties. Highly volatile chemicals are emitted despite installation of preventive facilities, such as scrubbers and adsorption towers. Some countries release a Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), which is a mandatory report on the amount of chemicals emitted annually. This report is released to the citizens to ensure their right to knowledge and life. Numerous methods have been devised to investigate the amount of chemical emissions. There are four methods to estimate TRI emissions (Emission Factor Method; Material Balance Method; Source Testing Method; Emission Model Method). Moreover, efforts have been made to increase awareness and formulate plans to reduce chemical emissions. Despite this, the TRI method tends to underestimate and overestimate, especially due to volatile compounds. If the results of the TRI emissions are underestimated, toxic chemicals can have a negative impact on citizens. Volatile compounds are commonly used in chemical manufacturing plants, such as paint plants. In this study, a suitable method for each industrial process was suggested based on conservative estimates of multiple toxic chemical inventory method, focusing on the paint manufacturing process. In the paint manufacturing plant, storage, weighing, and mixing processes should be used emission model method to estimate TRI. In the reaction process, TRI must be estimated by the source test method. In the transfer process, the emission factor method should be used to estimate TRI. In the atmosphere prevention process, the emission factor method or source testing method should be used depending on the physical and chemical properties such as vapor pressure of the chemical.

Flammable Substances in Korea Considering the Domino Effect: Assessment of Safety Distance.

Benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) are flammable substances used in a wide range of raw materials and products. Chemical accidents caused by flammable substances are different from leakage accidents of toxic materials. Initial explosions and fires may cause secondary or tertiary explosions, or fires with nearby flammable materials. This is called the domino effect. In cases of leakage accidents, it is possible to prevent accidents through early control of the leakage to the outside or by bypassing, but it is difficult to cope with explosions because they occur instantaneously. To prevent explosions due to the domino effect, a safety distance must be set. Safety distances vary widely by country. In the case of the United States (US) or the European Union (EU), safety distances are set in various ways depending on the chemical industry and the amount of flammable substances being handled. However, countries such as Korea, Taiwan, and Dubai have comprehensive regulation, and the safety distances are small. In this study, we simulated the range of overpressure at which other chemical equipment could explode when an explosion occurs in a flammable BTX storage tank. There are three types of analysis methods of vapor cloud explosion. PHAST (Process Hazard Analysis Software Tool) and ALOHA (Areal Location of Hazardous Atmosphere) were selected to model explosions using three methods (trinitrotoluene equivalence method, the Netherlands Organization multi-energy method, and Baker-Strehlow-Tang method). The results indicated that the safety distances in the US and EU showed low probability of a domino effect, but those in Korea, Dubai, and Taiwan could lead to a secondary explosions. Therefore, it is necessary to propose a reasonable method to determine safety distances considering the amount and physicochemical characteristics of the flammable substances being used.

Suitability Assessment of Legal Regulation of Chemical Concentrations According to Vapor Pressure and Damage Radius.

Many chemicals used in the industrial field present risks, which differ depending on their chemical properties. Additionally, their various physicochemical properties change considerably with concentration. Many chemicals are used in customized processes in factories in the form of different aqueous solutions. The Korean Chemicals Control Act evaluates "hazardous chemicals," describes their risks to the public, and regulates their concentration. To prepare against chemical accidents, factories construct models of potential damage radius, which is greatly influenced by a chemical's vapor pressure. This study selected substances with widely varying vapor pressures (hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, aqueous ammonia, and hydrogen peroxide) and compared the results of different modeling programs (KORA, ALOHA, PHAST, and RMP*Comp) for various aqueous solution concentrations. The results showed that damage radius and vapor pressure increased similarly for each substance. Damage radius was negligible at low concentrations for all substances studied. Damage radius of ammonia solution increased with vapor pressure. Hydrogen fluoride is not found in aqueous solution at concentrations of less than 37%, and hydrogen peroxide does not show a large damage radius at low concentrations. However, the Chemicals Control Act strictly regulates hydrogen fluoride concentration beginning at 1%, hydrogen chloride and aqueous ammonia at 10%, and hydrogen peroxide at 6%. To effectively prepare against chemical accidents, we must examine scientifically-based, suitable regulations based on physicochemical properties.

Comparison of Pure-Tone Average Methods for Estimation of Hearing Loss Caused by Environmental Exposure to Lead and Cadmium: Does the Pure-Tone Average Method Which Uses Low-Frequency Ranges Underestimate the Actual Hearing Loss Caused by Environmental Lead and Cadmium Exposure?

Previous studies have reported that exposure to lead and cadmium can damage the inner ear receptor, which perceives high-frequency sounds. However, few studies have used the pure-tone average (PTA), including high-frequency ranges, for the estimation of hearing loss caused by lead and cadmium exposure. We estimated hearing loss using the PTA test, in low-frequency, speech frequency, and high-frequency ranges and compared the differences in the results using 3 PTA calculation methods. We analyzed the data of 2,387 participants, between the ages of 19 and 85 years, that were obtained from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) of 2010-2012. A dose-response relationship between hearing loss and heavy metal exposure was observed in the high-frequency method after adjustment for confounding factors. When using the high-frequency PTA, it was found that doubling of the levels of lead and cadmium in the blood was associated with a 1.88- (95% CI 1.11-3.17) and 1.89-fold (95% CI 1.02-3.50) increase in the OR for hearing loss. In the case of the low-frequency and speech frequency PTA, however, there were no significant relationships between hearing loss and the concentrations of lead and cadmium in the blood. The outcomes of the present study suggest that the estimation of hearing loss caused by environmental exposure to lead and cadmium is affected by the frequencies used in the PTA calculation.

Alternative Risk Assessment for Dangerous Chemicals in South Korea Regulation: Comparing Three Modeling Programs.

Unlike other countries, the Korean chemical industry does not clearly distinguish between industrial sites and residential areas. The 2012 Gumi Hydrogen Fluoride Accident revealed that chemical accidents could cause damage to nearby residents. Accordingly, the Chemicals Control Act was enacted in 2015, which requested industrial sites using chemicals to perform a risk assessment for all chemical facilities and to distribute the results to the local residents and governments. Industrial businesses had the responsibility of warning the local residents. In this study, two programs (Areal Location of Hazardous Atmospheres (ALOHA), Process Hazard Analysis Software Tool (PHAST)) were compared with Korea Off-site Risk Assessment Supporting Tool (KORA), which is the current representative risk assessment program used in Korea Chemicals Control Act. The five chemical substances (nitric acid, hydrogen chloride, ammonia, sulfuric acid, and formaldehyde) most commonly involved in chemical accidents were selected. The range of influence of ERPG-2 (Emergency Response Planning Guideline) on chemical accidents was modeled and the results compared. ALOHA was found to be the most suitable program for the determination of toxicity for nitrate acid and ammonia, KORA for hydrogen chloride and sulfuric acid, and PHAST for formaldehyde. To maximize the safety of many local residents and to prepare for chemical accidents, risk assessments should be conducted using a variety of risk assessment programs, and the worst-case damage radius should be determined.

Effect of Occupational Health and Safety Management System on Work-Related Accident Rate and Differences of Occupational Health and Safety Management System Awareness between Managers in South Korea's Construction Industry.

BACKGROUND: The study was conducted to investigate the current status of the occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) in the construction industry and the effect of OHSMS on accident rates. Differences of awareness levels on safety issues among site general managers and occupational health and safety (OHS) managers are identified through surveys. METHODS: The accident rates for the OHSMS-certified construction companies from 2006 to 2011, when the construction OHSMS became widely available, were analyzed to understand the effect of OHSMS on the work-related injury rates in the construction industry. The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency 18001 is the certification to these companies performing OHSMS in South Korea. The questionnaire was created to analyze the differences of OHSMS awareness between site general managers and OHS managers of construction companies. RESULTS: The implementation of OHSMS among the top 100 construction companies in South Korea shows that the accident rate decreased by 67% and the fatal accident rate decreased by 10.3% during the period from 2006 to 2011. The survey in this study shows different OHSMS awareness levels between site general managers and OHS managers. The differences were motivation for developing OHSMS, external support needed for implementing OHSMS, problems and effectiveness of implementing OHSMS. CONCLUSION: Both work-related accident and fatal accident rates were found to be significantly reduced by implementing OHSMS in this study. The differences of OHSMS awareness between site general managers and OHS managers were identified through a survey. The effect of these differences on safety and other benefits warrants further research with proper data collection.