Development of a Screening Method for Health Hazard Ranking and Scoring of Chemicals Using the Mahalanobis–Taguchi System

Da-An Huh, Hong Lyuer Lim, Jong-Ryeul Sohn, Sang-Hoon Byeon, Soonyoung Jung, Woo-Kyun Lee and Kyong Whan Moon
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Da-An Huh: Department of Health Science, Korea University, Anam-ro 145, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea
Hong Lyuer Lim: Department of Health Science, Korea University, Anam-ro 145, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea
Jong-Ryeul Sohn: Department of Health Science, Korea University, Anam-ro 145, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea
Sang-Hoon Byeon: Department of Health Science, Korea University, Anam-ro 145, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea
Soonyoung Jung: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Korea University, Anam-ro 145, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea
Woo-Kyun Lee: Department of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Anam-ro 145, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea
Kyong Whan Moon: Department of Health Science, Korea University, Anam-ro 145, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-11

Abstract: For efficient management of chemicals, it is necessary to preferentially select hazardous chemicals as being high-priority through a screening method. Over the past 20 years, chemical ranking and scoring (CRS) methods have been applied in many countries; however, these CRS methods have a few limitations. Most of the existing methods only use some of the variables to calculate the hazard of chemicals or use the most conservative score without consideration of the correlation between chemical toxicities. This evaluation could underestimate or overestimate the real health hazard of the chemicals. To overcome the limitations of these methods, we developed a new CRS method using the Mahalanobis–Taguchi System (MTS). The MTS, which conducts multivariate analysis, produced chemical rankings that took into accounts the correlation between variables related to chemical health hazards. Also, the proportion of chemicals managed by the Korea Chemicals Control Act that were given a high rating appeared to be higher when the MTS was used, compared to the existing methods. These results indicated that the new method evaluated the health hazards of chemicals more accurately, and we expect that the MTS method could be applied to a greater range of chemicals than the existing CRS methods.

Keywords: chemical ranking and scoring; Mahalanobis–Taguchi System; priority setting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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