Environmental sanitation and hygiene of elderly workers in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand

Introduction: Thailand will become a complete aged society in 2021 and a super-aged society in 2030, resulting in a high proportion of older people. Living environments, especially at home, play an essential health determinant for the elders. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study evaluated 319 households in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province according to the standard of housing sanitation for elders and assessed biological contamination in food, water, and indoor air in the homes. Results: The housing assessment results revealed some issues that are necessary to be improved, i.e., the wet and dry areas in bathrooms were not separated (89.4%), there was no anti-slip sheet in the bathrooms (97.2%), and handrails were not suitably installed (92.8%). The proportion of coliform bacteria contamination in the samples of elderly hand, dish, spoon, cooked rice, side dish, and drinking water was 78.4%, 82.1%, 88.3%, 93.4%, and 97.5%, respectively. The average total bacteria count in bedrooms and kitchens was 110 CFU/m3 and 148 CFU/m3, respectively. The average total fungi count was 82 CFU/m3 in bedrooms and 92 CFU/m3 in kitchens. Most indoor air quality parameters complied with the standards. Conclusions:  Significant health risks for the elderly workers while living at home were injuries due to slipping fall in the house, especially in the bathroom, as well as foodborne and waterborne diseases. The health risks should be communicated to the elders. Prevention of the risks should be performed by the cooperation of relevant government agencies and the older adults in the study area

タイ王国と日本の大気環境におけるフッ素テロマーアルコール類とペルフルオロカルボン酸の存在実態の把握と水環境への移行に関する研究

京都大学0048新制・課程博士博士(地球環境学)甲第18628号地環博第123号新制||地環||25(附属図書館)31528京都大学大学院地球環境学舎環境マネジメント専攻(主査)教授 藤井 滋穂, 教授 梶井 克純, 准教授 田中 周平学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of Global Environmental StudiesKyoto UniversityDFA

Health risk assessment of BTEX exposure at roadside and on-road traveling route in Bangkok Metropolitan Region

Exposure to high levels of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) poses health risks in high-traffic urban areas. BTEX exposure at two microenvironments, the roadside and along the traveling routes, within urban and suburban areas of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region was examined to assess cancer and noncancer risks. The lifetime cancer risk (LCR) for benzene and noncancer hazard index (HI) for all BTEX compounds were evaluated for adult male and female groups (drivers, passengers, and street vendors) in two scenarios: average case and worst case. With the assumption of negligible exposure outside the two considered microenvironments, the pickup drivers had the highest LCR and HI. Higher exposure risks were found in urban areas than in the suburbs and among men than females. Higher toluene levels were found at all monitoring sites in two microenvironments, but benzene was the most important in causing noncancer risk. The HI for all target groups ranged from 8.5E-03 to 4.0E-01, indicating a low noncancer risk from BTEX exposure (HI < 1). The LCR caused by benzene exposure ranged from 1.7E-06 to 7.2E-05, which is higher than the United States EPA most health-protective limit (1E-06). Further research should include other microenvironments by assessing the 24-hour exposure of all considered groups

Analyzing temperature, humidity, and precipitation trends in six regions of Thailand using innovative trend analysis

Abstract The change of temperature and weather parameters is a major concern affecting sustainable development and impacting various sectors, such as agriculture, tourism, and industry. Changing weather patterns and their impact on water resources are important climatic factors that society is facing. In Thailand, climatological features such as ambient temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation play a substantial role in affecting extreme weather events, which cause damage to the economy, agriculture, tourism, and livelihood of people. To investigate recent serious changes in annual trends of temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation in Thailand, this study used the Mann–Kendall (MK) test and innovative trend analysis (ITA) methods. The MK test showed that all six regions had an upward trend in temperature and humidity index (humidex, how hot the weather feels to the average person), while relative humidity and precipitation showed both upward and downward trends across different regions. The ITA method further confirmed the upward trend in temperature and humidex and showed that most data points fell above the 1:1 line. However, the upward trend in most variables was not significant at the 5% level. The southern and eastern regions showed a significant upward trend in relative humidity and humidex at a 5% level of significance according to the MK test. The output of this study can help in the understanding of weather variations and predict future situations and can be used for adaptation strategies