Abstract
Indoor air quality is the dominant contributor to total personal exposure because most people spend a majority of their time indoors. Especially exposure to indoor air can potentially pose a greater threat than exposure to ambient air when indoor environments have sources of contaminants. In this study, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde (HCHO) within newly constructed apartment have been determined in 27 houses of apartment in Seoul from December 2004 to March 2005. The measured indoor air pollutants were HCHO, volatile organic compounds including benzene, toluene, styrene, xylene, ethylbenzene and sampled on the standard method of Ministry of Environment in Korea. The indoor levels for benzene, xylene, toluene, ethylbenzene, styrene, and HCHO have significant increase trend after 5 hours closing of windows and doors. Levels of measured air pollutants concentrations between living rooms and bedrooms have not shown significant difference. Spearman correlation coefficient among the measured air pollutants ranged from 0.303 to 0.946, indicating similar source in building materials.
