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http://dx.doi.org/10.7731/KIFSE.2019.33.4.140

Characterization of Secondary Exposure to Chemicals and Indoor Air Quality in Fire Station  

Kim, Soo Jin (Fire Science Research Center, Seoul Metropolitan Fire Service Academy)
Ham, Seunghon (Dept. of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Gil Medical Center, Gachon University College of Medicine)
Jeon, Jeong Seok (Seoul Metropolitan Disaster and Management Headquarter)
Kim, Won (Wonjin Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health)
Publication Information
Fire Science and Engineering / v.33, no.4, 2019 , pp. 140-151 More about this Journal
Abstract
It is to assess the indoor air quality of the chemical hazardous materials exposed to the fire after firefighters returned to the fire scene. The research subject randomly selected four fire stations located in Seoul, Korea. Two fire stations were set up as control groups after the return of the firefighting activities at the actual fire scene, and two other fire stations were set up as control groups to measure the air quality of the room at normal levels regardless of the action. We conducted 24-hour monitoring for all fire accidents that occurred in Seoul Metropolitan using fire safety map computer system. Also, indoor air quality was measured immediately after homecoming if the experiment group was to be dispatched due to an accident of intermediate or larger scale. 11 hazardous substance items such as fine dust, formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds, PAH, VCM, acidity, asbestos, CO2, NO2, O3 were measured according to the process test method. Three of 11 types of harmful substances exceeded domestic and foreign standards, and one of them was found to be close to foreign standards. In particular, total volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide and sulfuric acids were 2.5 times, 2.2 times and 1.1 times higher than the standard. Also, for formaldehyde and sulfuric acid, it was measured higher in the control group than in the case group. This findings could be used in policies to improve indoor air quality in the fire station of the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
Keywords
Fire station; Chemical pollutant; Indirect exposure;
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