High-technology and Energy in Asian Environment

An example of the industrial product from the high-technology is the carbon nanotube (CNT), which are used for semiconductor , vehicle bodies and daily living wares. Thailand, Laos and Cambodia in Asia have involved in producing CNT-made daily wares (e.g. golf ball and golf club). When the Asian Conference of Occupational Health (ACOH Conference) was held in 2012, a review of the nano-toxicology literature was talked, referring a paper on an experimental occurrence of pleural mesothelioma-like tumor in mice injected with the CNT 1). Then, the ACOH president posed to the speaker and the audience a serious question whether the production of CNT-made wares should have been banned or not, as like blue asbestos being banned in these countries. So far USA NIOSH, EU, and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO, Japan), have completed experimental assessments of CNT, and based on the results, occupational threshold limits or standard levels for the CNT have been proposed and recommended by these governmental organizatoins 2). Therefore if the threshold limits are acknowledged by governments, industries, and trade unions, it is crucial for Asian countries as well as Japan, USA, and EU countries to follow the threshold limits. Another example of the high technology products is the flat display for presenting digital images (e.g. liquid crystal panel, plasma display). The sintered alloy (ITO, indium-tin oxide) of indium-oxide and tin-oxide in the form of emulsion is sprayed onto the glass plate and formed into the transparent membrane conducting electricity. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong-Kong are those countries manufacturing the ITO-sprayed flat panel. Workers inhaling ITO aerosols in Japan, Hong-Kong, and USA have been reported to cause fatal interstitial pneumonitis with alveolar proteinosis, which is now called the Indium Lung 3). Once when a case report on Indium Lung with terrible conditions was made at ACOH, it was so annoying that the flat display industry in Asia were quite shocked. Nevertheless, by calling from USA NIOSH, a workshop was held with these Asian country experts and successfully depicted features of Indium Lung from slight to severe stages or fatal endpoint 4). Indium used to be considered as non-toxic for a long time and therefore ACGIH, back to 15 year ago, made a recommendation for its standard level of 0.1 mg per cubic meters. However, USA National Toxicology Program did the animal inhalation study with ITO and according to the result of lung tumor occurrence, …