Development of the KOSHA Proficiency Testing Scheme on Asbestos Analysis in Korea

Our plain-English summary of Development of the KOSHA Proficiency Testing Scheme on Asbestos Analysis in Korea, by J. Kwon, K. Jang, E. Hwang, et al (Safety and Health at Work, 2017).

The study

• Authors: J. Kwon, K. Jang, E. Hwang, K.W. Kim
• Journal: Safety and Health at Work
• Published: 2017;8(3):318-321
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

This commentary presents the regulatory backgrounds and development of the national proficiency testing (PT) scheme on asbestos analysis in the Republic of Korea. Since 2009, under the amended Occupational Safety and Health Act, the survey of asbestos in buildings and clearance test of asbestos removal works have been mandated to be carried out by the laboratories designated by the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) in the Republic of Korea. To assess the performance of asbestos laboratories, a PT scheme on asbestos analysis was launched by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) on behalf of the MOEL in 2007. Participating laboratories are evaluated once a year for fiber counting and bulk asbestos analysis by phase contrast microscopy and polarized light microscopy, respectively. Currently, the number of laboratory enrollments is > 200, and the percentage of passed laboratories is > 90. The current status and several significant changes in operation, sample preparations, and statistics of assigning the reference values of the KOSHA PT scheme on asbestos analysis are presented. Critical retrospect based on the experiences of operating the KOSHA PT scheme suggests considerations for developing a new national PT scheme for asbestos analysis.

In plain English

This commentary by authors at the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) described Korea's national proficiency testing scheme for asbestos laboratories, which KOSHA launched in 2007 for the Ministry of Employment and Labor. It was not a health study. Since 2009, Korean law has required building asbestos surveys and clearance tests after removal work to be done by ministry-designated laboratories, which must pass the scheme. Each year, laboratories analyzed filters containing chrysotile or amosite by phase contrast microscopy and bulk materials by polarized light microscopy. Enrollment rose from 12 laboratories in 2007 to a maximum of 257 in 2014, with 229 in 2016. About 90% of laboratories have passed each bulk round since 2010. Fiber-counting pass rates changed markedly in 2007 to 2010, which the authors linked to changes in methods and an influx of inexperienced laboratories. The authors concluded the scheme needs accreditation under the ISO/IEC 17043 standard. They also said its 2010 method for setting fiber-counting reference values needs to be reversed, and that laboratory-made bulk samples of known mass are worth considering.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: commentary describing the regulatory background, operation and current status of a national laboratory proficiency testing scheme (not a health study)
• Who was studied: laboratories enrolled in the KOSHA proficiency testing scheme on asbestos analysis in Korea, 2007 to 2016: 12 in 2007, a maximum of 257 in 2014
• Exposure: no human exposure was studied. Test samples were filters containing chrysotile (three per round) and amosite (one per round), counted by phase contrast microscopy, and bulk materials from buildings or facilities in Korea, analyzed by polarized light microscopy for asbestos presence, type and content
• Main results:
  • In 2016, 229 laboratories were enrolled, and enrollment was expected to stabilize around 200
  • For fiber counting, results were acceptable if they fell between 0.4 and 1.6 times the reference value (R)
  • The percentage of laboratories passing each fiber-counting round changed significantly in 2007 to 2010. The authors attributed this to changes in operating methods and a sudden rise in inexperienced new laboratories
  • For bulk asbestos analysis, a laboratory passed a round if its penalties over four samples summed to less than 100. About 90% of laboratories have passed each round since 2010
  • The scheme follows most of the ISO/IEC 17043 specification but has not been accredited by the Korean Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (KOLAS)
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the KOSHA scheme needs KOLAS accreditation to assure its reliability. They said the 2010 switch to setting fiber-counting reference values from several experienced counters needs to be reversed because fewer inexperienced laboratories are now enrolling. They also said that laboratory-synthesized bulk samples of known mass are worth considering

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Fiber Counting, phase contrast microscopy (PCM), Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM).

Related studies

• A comparison of fibre counting across three European national proficiency testing schemes — A.D. Jones, M.C. Arroyo, et al. (2005)
• Analysis of the analytical performance of laboratories participating in two major U.S. bulk asbestos proficiency testing programs — B.W. Harvey, W.G. Winstead (2008)
• Development of the Regular Interlaboratory Counting Exchanges (RICE) scheme to include visual reference counts and samples from asbestos clearance operations — P.W. Brown, N.P. Crawford, et al. (1994)
• Development of a testing method for asbestos fibers in treated materials of asbestos containing wastes by transmission electron microscopy — T. Yamamoto, A. Kida, et al. (2014)
• Assessment of physicians' proficiency in reading chest radiographs for pneumoconiosis, based on a 60-film examination set with two factors constituting eight indices — T. Tamura, Y. Kusaka, et al. (2018)
• Continued participation in an asbestos fiber-counting proficiency test with relocatable grid slides — M. Harper, J.E. Slaven, et al. (2009)

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