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

Hyo Eun Lee, Jong-Ryeul Sohn, Sang-Hoon Byeon, Seok J. Yoon and Kyong Whan Moon
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Hyo Eun Lee: 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
Seok J. Yoon: Department of Health Science, 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 8, 1-12

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: chemicals requiring preparation for accidents; risk assessment; ALOHA; KORA; PHAST; the Chemicals Control Act (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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