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KMID : 1039220200300010050
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Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
2020 Volume.30 No. 1 p.50 ~ p.57
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Assessment of methylbromide exposure levels in fumigation workers on import and export plant
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Jeong Jee-Yeon
Yi Gwang-Yong
Cho Sook-Ja
Park Seung-Hyeon
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Abstract
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Objectives: Methyl bromide is a highly toxic substance to cause systemic poisoning, neurotoxicity, pulmonary edema. Methyl bromide is a representative fumigation agent used for import and export quarantine, but there are few data on exposure assessment of workers participating in fumigation. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the exposure level of methyl bromide workers and the concentration distribution of methyl bromide in the workplace during fumigation.
Methods: For this study, one wood tent and one container fumigation place in Pusan, and one wood tent fumigation place in Incheon were investigated for three months from June 2001.
Results: Methyl bromide exposure levels for container fumigation workers were undetected to 1.86 ppm and undetected to 2.28 ppm for tent fumigation workers as an 8 hr TWA. After opening the container door, the methyl bromide concentration in the container decreased rapidly over time, but the concentration was over 1 ppm even after about 1 hour. The concentrations around the tent during its removal were highly affected by wind, but were detected up to 11.97 ppm from undetected.
Conclusions: This study confirmed that both container and tent fumigation had workers exceeding the exposure limit of 1 ppm as an 8 hour TWA. In particular, it could be confirmed that the situation in which the worker may be exposed to high concentrations of methyl bromide in opening the container or removing the tent due to the nature of the work. Therefore, it is very important to improve working methods and to wear appropriate personal protective equipment.
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KEYWORD
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container, fumigation, methyl bromide, tent
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