• Title/Summary/Keyword: Air Quality Standards

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Applying policy and health effects of air pollution in South Korea: focus on ambient air quality standards

  • Ha, Jongsik
    • Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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    • v.29
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    • pp.11.1-11.7
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    • 2014
  • Objectives South Korea's air quality standards are insufficient in terms of establishing a procedure for their management. The current system lacks a proper decision-making process and prior evidence is not considered. The purpose of this study is to propose a measure for establishing atmospheric environmental standards in South Korea that will take into consideration the health of its residents. Methods In this paper, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of the US was examined in order to suggest ways, which consider health effects, to establish air quality standards in South Korea. Up-to-date research on the health effects of air pollution was then reviewed, and tools were proposed to utilize the key results. This was done in an effort to ensure the reliability of the standards with regard to public health. Results This study showed that scientific research on the health effects of air pollution and the methodology used in the research have contributed significantly to establishing air quality standards. However, as the standards are legally binding, the procedure should take into account the effects on other sectors. Realistically speaking, it is impossible to establish standards that protect an entire population from air pollution. Instead, it is necessary to find a balance between what should be done and what can be done. Conclusions Therefore, establishing air quality standards should be done as part of an evidence-based policy that identifies the health effects of air pollution and takes into consideration political, economic, and social contexts.

Basic Survey for Establishing Regional Air Quality Standards in Gyeongnam (경남 지역 대기환경기준 설정을 위한 기초조사)

  • Park, Jeong-Ho
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.29 no.2
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    • pp.191-200
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    • 2020
  • This study provides a basis for research to establishing air quality standards in Gyeongnam. The trends and deviations in air quality concentrations and short-term environmental standards were analyzed. Furthermore, the regional standards and World Health Organization's (WHO) air quality guidelines (AQGs) were taken into account. The annual average PM10 standard for cities anc counties ate 40 ㎍/㎥ and 30 ㎍/㎥, respectively. SO2 and NO2 are achieving national standards and need to be strengthened to the minimum regional standard and WHO AQGs. The PM2.5 standard, which has not reached national standards, needs to be set at the level of national standards, and is also the target level for 2024 of the Gyeongsangnam and national PM2.5 management plans.

Investigation on the Validation for Designating Air Quality Control Region among Provincial Cities by the Data Measured with Air Quality Monitoring Network (대기오염 측정 자료에 의한 지방도시의 대기환경규제지역 설정에 관한 타당성 검토)

  • Yu, Mee-Seon;Yang, Sung-Bong;Woo, Kyung-Bin
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.25 no.1
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    • pp.181-190
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    • 2016
  • Regional air quality regulation is a system that allows the Minister of Environment to designate the local area as air quality control region where the concentrations of air pollutants are exceeding the environmental standards, and the local governments that administrate the regulated area have to develop and practise a plan for reducing the air pollutants. From the data observed yearly by the monitoring stations in 8 provincial cities with more than 0.5 million people was judged the compliance with air quality standards in each municipality for the period of 2003 to 2013. As the result of investigation on air pollutants concentrations of each city, it was found that there was no station that exceeds the ambient air quality standards of CO, $SO_2$ and 24-hour $NO_2$. But all municipalities exceeded the standards of 8-hour $O_3$, annual and 24-hour $PM_{10}$, and therefore 8 municipalities can be designated to be under the local air regulation. For the annual $NO_2$ were the monitoring sites necessary requirements for designation of the air quality regulation region in Cheongju, Cheonan, Daejeon and Gwangju area. Incase of 1-hour $O_3$, some of stations in Pohang, Cheongju, Cheonan and Changwon area were over the designation standards for the air quality control region.

A Evaluation Study on Indoor Air Quality of the Apartment House through Field Measurement (현장실험을 통한 공동주택의 실내공기환경 평가)

  • Park, Yong-Seung;Bae, Sang-Hwan;Yoo, Bok-Hee;Hong, Cheon-Hwa
    • Proceeding of Spring/Autumn Annual Conference of KHA
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    • 2003.11a
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    • pp.83-87
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    • 2003
  • In recent days, IAQ(Indoor Air Quality) is regarded as one of the most important environmental factors as well as thermal and acoustic comfort. Various architectural materials are applied and air-tightness of the building is more strengthening to save energy consumption. This is why the air quality of the newly built houses became worse. In this study, contaminants(CO, CO$_2$, Radon, TVOCs, HCHO) density was measured in a newly built house and evaluation was carried out by ASHRAE and EPA Standards. As a result, CO, CO$_2$, TSP and Radon density of the newly built house was in a range of ASHRAE and EPA Standards, but it turned out TVOCs and HCHO density exceeds almost 3${\sim}$5 times in comparison with that of ASHRAE and EPA Standards.

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Analysis of Air Quality and the Management Plan for Exposure to Hazardous Substances in the Garage of a Fire Station (소방청사 차고지 공기질 분석 및 유해물질 노출 관리 방안)

  • Park, Je-Seop;Han, Dong-Hun
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.30 no.4
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    • pp.394-404
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    • 2020
  • Objectives: The aims of this study are to derive the characteristics of diesel exhaust gas emissions generated during vehicle checking in the garage of fire stations and of the related improvement plans for proper air quality management. Methods: The researcher measured changes in the air quality inside garages according to the operating conditions of the exhaust facility and before and after vehicle checking at three fire stations. Results: During the checking of fire engines, a large volume of hazardous substances exceeding management standards were generated, and improvement of the discharge facilities was required for proper air quality management. Conclusions: It is necessary to study the hazard evaluation of firefighters' exposure to exhaust gas, to operate exhaust gas ventilation facilities, and to prepare technical standards for proper indoor air quality management.

A Survey of the Air Quality in Underground Environment (지하환경의 대기오염물질 규제에 관한 조사연구)

  • Lee M. H.;Han E. J.;Shin C. K.;Chung H. D.;Han J. K.
    • Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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    • v.1 no.1 s.1
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    • pp.47-58
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    • 1986
  • The underground living spaces have become one of the major environment of this decade in urban area. This study was carried out to examine contamination level for purpose of preservation of the pleasant underground environment. Three subway stations and three underground shopping centers in Seoul and two underground shopping centers in Busan were selected and surveyed by measuring gaseous pollutants $(SO_2,\; NO_2,\;CO,\;HC,\; HCHO,\;CO_2)$, dust, airborne microbes, and the other air condtions (temperature, humidity, air pressure, air flow, kata cooling power). These examined data were compared with four kinds of standard (building sanitation management, room air quality standards, occupational safety and health standards, ventilation equipment) as environmental hygiene.

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The Influences of Sea Breeze on Air Pollution Concentration in Pusan, Korea (해풍이 부산 지역의 대기 오염 농도에 미치는 영향)

  • Jeon, Byeong-Il;Kim, Yu-Geun;Lee, Hwa-Un
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.3 no.4
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    • pp.357-365
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    • 1994
  • Air pollution characteristics and the influence of sea breeze on air pollution concentration were studied using the data measured at 7 air quality continuous monitoring stations in Pusan, 1993. Maximum air pollution concentration in Pusan was Gamjeondong for $SO_2$, Sinpyeongdong for TSP, Daeyeondong for $O_3, Kwangbokdong for $NO_2$, Beomcheondong for CO and all substances were under annual ambient air quality standards. Increased rate of concentration for sea breeze was 24.4% for 502, 31.5% for TSP, 8.0% fort $O_3, 26.7% for $NO_2$, 15.7% for CO. Frequencies distribution of $SO_2$, TSP, $O_3$, $NO_2$, and CO concentration for sea breeze moved toward high concentration class.

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Study on Improvement in Reliability of Measurement and Analysis for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Atmosphere (대기 중 다환방향족탄화수소(PAHs)의 측정.분석 신뢰도 향상에 관한 고찰)

  • Lee, Min-Do;Lim, Yong-Jae;Lee, Sang-Uk;Kong, Boo-Joo;Lee, Sang-Deok;Han, Jin-Seok
    • Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.23 no.5
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    • pp.515-525
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    • 2007
  • In this study, various techniques for measurement and analysis of PAHs in the ambient air were verified in order to select a more reliable method. Sampling and analysis of PAHs were done by the EPA TO-13a method. QA/QC of the measurement was conducted to minimize errors in sampling and analyzing processes. The linearity of calibration curve of the PAH standards was good ($R^2{\geq}0.99$). Audit accuracy was evaluated using 5 internal standards of PAHs ($Naphthalene-d_8,\;Acenaphthene-d_{10},\;Phenanthrene-d_{10},\;Chrysene-d_{12},\;Perylene-d_{12}$). Relative standard deviations of the internal standard of the PAHs were ranged from 6.22% for $acenaphthene-d_{10}$ to 8.11% for $chrysene-d_{12}$. To evaluate the surrogate recoveries, two field surrogate standards of PAHs ($fluoranthene-d_{10},\;benzo(a)pyrene-d_{12}$) and two extract surrogate standards of the PAHs ($fluorene-d_{10},\;pyrene-d_{12}$) were spiked into all samples before field sampling and sample extraction, respectively. Recoveries of field the surrogate standards ranged from $80.4{\pm}12.2%$ for $fluoranthene-d_{10}$ to $66.2{\pm}12.8%$ for $benzo(a)pyrene-d_{12}$. Extraction recoveries of the surrogate standards ranged from $70.4{\pm}10.2%$ for $fluorene-d_{10}$ to $77.6{\pm}10.8%$ for $pyrene-d_{10}$. The detection limit of benzo(a)pyrene among 16 PAHs standards for quantitation was 20 pg.

A Study on the using of the Ventilation System as the Method of Improvement of Air Quality in the Schools (학교건물의 공기질 개선을 위한 환기시스템 적용에 관한 연구)

  • Ahn, Chul-Lin;Kim, Jwa-Jin;Kum, Jong-Soo;Park, Hyo-Soon
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Educational Facilities
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.17-23
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    • 2004
  • The purpose of this study concerns the improvement of air quality in school classrooms. Polluted indoor air is improved by efficient ventilation systems. So it is important to measure the amount of ventilation needed in classrooms. First, the amount of natural ventilation were measured through a tracer gas method. And we have established a heat recovery ventilation system from 4 cases of airflow in classrooms, and we have measured the change of $CO_2$ density. According to air quality measurements in the classrooms, the density of $CO_2$ is well above environmental standards which are acceptable. When the amount of ventilated airflow increases, indoor air quality is improved. It is surveyed that the most suitable amount of external inducted air is 770 CMH to satisfy $CO_2$ less than 1,000 ppm in classrooms. For improvement of air quality in classrooms, we must consider a suitable ventilation plan and installation of ventilation systems when constructing school buildings.

A Study on the Standards of Volatile Organic Compounds in Indoor Air of Office (사무실 실내공기중 휘발성유기화합물의 기준설정에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Yoon-Shin;Lee, Cheol-Min;Roh, Young-Man;Lee, So-Dam;Sohn, Jong-Ryeul;Kim, Seok-Won
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.16 no.4
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    • pp.413-427
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    • 2006
  • It is necessary to study and develop guidelines for providing comfort and health indoor air quality for office workers since air-tight envelope system of current office building may cause poor indoor air quality. The purpose of this study is to propose guideline for volatile organic compounds in office base on the field study, human health risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis. The field study was conducted to survey the concentrations of volatile organic compounds in indoor air of 69 offices from June to September, 2005 in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. The rate of excess to guideline of volatile organic compounds in indoor air of new apartment on the Ministry of Environment in Korea(MOE) was surveyed 37.6% for benzene, 6.8% for toluene, and 1.5% for ethylbenzene. As the result of human health risk assessment, mean cancer risk did not exceed 10-6 which is guideline of US.EPA. Also, total hazard index did not exceed 1 which is guideline of US.EPA. Through the cost-benefit analysis of angle on the social-economics to verify the necessary to establish the standards of volatile organic compounds for improvement and development of indoor air quality in office, the present value of benefit was higher than the present value of cost. With the above considerations in mind, it is suggested that the field study for indoor air quality in offices should be expanded and human health risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis be performed th offer scientific data for decision-making of policy for improvement and management of indoor air quality in office.