• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.6-15
• /
• 2024

Background: People's activities have been restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes in activity patterns may lead to a decrease in fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) concentrations. Additionally, the level of population exposure to PM_2.5 may be changed. Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the impact of population movement and meteorological factors on the distribution of PM_2.5 concentrations before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. Methods: The study area was Guro-gu in Seoul. The research period was selected as January to March 2020, a period of significant population movement changes caused by COVID-19. The evaluation of the dynamic population was conducted by calculating the absolute difference in population numbers between consecutive hours and comparing them to determine the daily average. Ambient PM_2.5 concentrations were estimated for each grid using ordinary kriging in Python. For the population exposure assessment, the population-weighted average concentration was calculated by determining the indoor to outdoor population for each grid and applying the indoor to outdoor ratio to the ambient PM_2.5 concentration. To assess the factors influencing changes in the ambient PM_2.5 concentration, a statistical analysis was conducted, incorporating population mobility and meteorological factors. Results: Through statistical analysis, the correlation between ambient PM_2.5 concentration and population movement was positive on both weekends and weekdays (r=0.71, r=0.266). The results confirmed that most of the relationships were positive, suggesting that a decrease in human activity can lead to a decrease in PM_2.5 concentrations. In addition, when population-weighted concentration averages were calculated and the exposure level of the population group was compared before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, the proportion of people exceeding the air quality standard decreased by approximately 15.5%. Conclusions: Human activities can impact ambient concentrations of PM_2.5, potentially altering the levels of PM_2.5 exposure in the population.

• 보존과학연구
• /
• s.35
• /
• pp.25-44
• /
• 2014

In this study, measured annual year and seasonal concentrations of VOCs by Active type and Passive type using the measurement and analysis method in the exhibition hall and outdoor. It was compared with the correlation between the methods according the comparison of methods to measured concentrations. As a results, the annual average concentrations of TVOC in exhibition room($906.5{\mu}g/m^3$) was greater than for most of the study period, more than 1.8 times the standard in the Ministry of Environment. ${\Sigma}VOCs$ concentration of exhibition room by Active type was higher than Passive type. Some VOCs was decreased with the lapse of time a temporary increase tendencies was. The annual average I/O ratio of TVOC was 9.0, ${\Sigma}VOCs$ was confirmed to occur in a large amount inside the exhibition hall ${\Sigma}VOCs$ was studied to 34.0. Correlation coefficient of ${\Sigma}VOCs$ was 0.367. Toluene was 0.567 that the survey was the largest analysis to the relationship between the two methods.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.91-100
• /
• 2012

This study analysis the effect of various temperatures (20, 35 and $50^{\circ}C$) on the formaldehyde emission from wood composites, which were particleboard (PB), medium density fiberboard (MDF), high density fiberboard (HDF) and laminated HDF (L-HDF) by Japanese desiccator method. Also, to reduce formaldehyde emission by wood composites, it has been suggested that undergo a bake-out conditions. On average, the level of formaldehyde emission increased many times with a $15^{\circ}C$ increase in temperature from 20 to $35^{\circ}C$ for PB, MDF, HDF and L-HDF, respectively. Formaldehyde emissions from wood composites could be expected to increase with increasing ambient temperature. At $35$ for 28 days bake-out treatment of boards, the free formaldehyde emission reduced 67.8% (PB), 40.1% (MDF), 37.8% (HDF), and 35.2% (L-HDF). On the other hand, after the bake-out at $50^{\circ}C$ for 28 days, the formaldehyde concentration decreased by 88.2, 66.9, 62.2 and 59.3% of the concentration before the bake-out for PB, MDF, HDF and L-HDF, respectively. An interesting of the bake-out treatment at $50^{\circ}C$ after 14 days, formaldehyde emission grade of PB & MDF down $E_2$ to $E_1$, and HDF & L-HDF down $E_1$ to $E_0$.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.17 no.11
• /
• pp.1195-1201
• /
• 2008

Enhancing with non-metallic elemental nitrogen(N) is one of several methods that have been proposed to modify the electronic properties of bulk titanium dioxide($TiO_2$), in order to make $TiO_2$ effective under visible-light irradiation. Accordingly, current study evaluated the feasibility of applying visible-light-induced $TiO_2$ enhanced with N element to cleanse aromatic compounds, focusing on xylene isomers at indoor air quality(IAQ) levels. The N-enhanced $TiO_2$ was prepared by applying two popular processes, and they were coated by applying two well-known methods. For three o-, m-, and p-xylene, the two coating methods exhibited different photocatalytic oxidation(PCO) efficiencies. Similarly, the two N-doping processes showed different PCO efficiencies. For all three stream flow rates(SFRs), the degradation efficiencies were similar between o-xylene and m,p-xylene. The degradation efficiencies of all target compounds increased as the SFR decreased. The degradation efficiencies determined via a PCO system with N-enhanced visible-light induced $TiO_2$ was somewhat lower than that with ultraviolet(UV)-light induced unmodified $TiO_2$, which was reported by previous studies. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that PCO efficiencies increased up to 94% for o-xylene and 97% for the m,p-xylene under lower SFR(0.5 L $min^{-1}$). Consequently, it is suggested that with appropriate SFR conditions, the visible-light-assisted photocatalytic systems could also become important tools for improving IAQ.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.11 no.1 s.34
• /
• pp.40-45
• /
• 2007

This paper describes NDIR $CO_{2}$ gas sensor that shows the characteristics of temperature compensation. It consists of novel optical cavity that has two elliptical mirrors and a thermopile that includes ASIC chip in the same metal package for the amplification of detector output voltage and temperature sensor. The newly developed sensor module shows high accuracy ($less\;than {\pm}40\;ppm$) throughout the measuring concentration of $CO_{2}$ gas from 0 ppm to 2,000 ppm. After implementing the calculation methods of gas concentration, which is based upon the experimental results, the sensor module shows high accuracy less than ${\pm}5\;ppm$ error throughout the measuring temperature range ($15^{\circ}C\;to\;35$^{\circ}C$) and gas concentrations with self-temperature compensation.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.868-876
• /
• 2015

This study was conducted to measure the concentrations of total culturable bacteria (TCB) and to identify the bacteria in thirty public facilities (7 elderly-care facilities, 4 hypermarkets, 4 university hospitals, 7 child care facilities, 4 subway stations and 4 bus terminals) in Seoul and Gyeonggi-Do Province. Although all concentrations measured in these study facilities did not exceed the national maintenance standard, it is believed that elderly-, child-care facilities should be high priority facilities to improve the indoor air quality and it is important to study the health effects and the airborne bacteria concentration of public facilities including non-culturable bacteria or allergen.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.11-20
• /
• 2010

User-oriented Design is necessary in planning the interior design of Metropolitan Railroads trains, since this is a typical means of transportation in this modem society and all ages people with different body scale use this facility. However, there are little studies about facility panning and zoning of Metropolitan Railroads train considering users. Therefore, in this study, after completing the checklist based on the current legal standards of facility installation of South Korea and Japan, we examined user's facility and suggest several improvement of the opening 14 metropolitan railroad lines in Seoul. Then, we evaluated this facilities according to 41 standards; general facility(24 standards), safety facility(4 standards), guide facility(11 standards), other facility(4 standards). The result of this study may be summarized as follows. 1) General facility has to be designed to obtain lots of room for storage and this facility should be fixed up tightly with secure system. 2) Safety facility should be designed to minimize a difference of floor-level between threshold of train and ground. Also, using various color and material could help passengers to distinguish different space and facility. 3) Guide facility should be designed to guide passengers to the accurate direction with proper sign design in the pathway of Metropolitan railroad train. Also, more various color, which based on the research about physiological and psychological effect, should be used to guide people. 4) Other facility should equip more visual system using common good and informative contents. Through this study, we try to understand the current interior physical condition of Metropolitan Railroads trains. However, for future studies, it is expected to supplement evaluation standards considering aesthetic design, environmental improvement of indoor air quality and the satisfaction and demand of Metropolitan Railroads trains.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.10-17
• /
• 2000

현대 생활에서 대부분의 사람들은 90%이상을 실내(가정, 일반사무실, 실내작업장, 공공건물, 지하시설물, 상가, 음식점, 자동차, 지하철 등)에서 생활하기 때문에 실내공기질(indoor air quality)은 개인이 오염물질에 노출되는 주요한 요인이다. 이산화질소($NO_2$)는 고온의 연소과정에서 발생되는 부산물로써 차량, 발전소와 산업장 등에서 발생되고 있다. 실내에서 이산화질소의 농도는 가스레인지, 케로센(kerosene) 난방기, 흡연에 주로 영향을 받는다. $NO_2$는 호흡기 증상과 관련된 각종 질환을 유발시키는 것으로 보고되고 있다. 본 연구는 한국의 서울에서 직장인 95명의 시간활동도가 조사되었으며, 호주 브리스베인에서 직장인 57명의 시간활동도와 동시에 각 가정의 실내.외 및 직장의 $NO_2$ 농도를 측정하였다. 또한 개인 $NO_2$ 노출을 예상하여 각 도시의 빈도분포를 예상하였다. 본 연구의 결과를 보면 다음과 같다. 1. 서울의 95명의 직장인들은 실내에서 약 83.8%의 시간을 보냈으며, 브리스베인의 57명의 직장인들은 실내에서 약 88.3%의 시간을 보냈다. 2. 브리스베인에서 측정된 실내의 NO2 평균농도는 10.5ppb(${\pm}5.6$), 실외의 NO2 평균농도는 14.5ppb(${\pm}5.8$), 직장에서의 $NO_2$ 평균농도는 18.2ppb(${\pm}5.0$)였다. 개인의 $NO_2$ 노출은 평균 15.0ppb(${\pm}5.2$)였다. 개인의 $NO_2$ 노출은 실외의 $NO_2$ 농도(r=0.42)보다 실내의 $NO_2$ 농도(r=0.42)보다 실내의 NO2 농도(r=0.49)에 상관성이 더 높았다. 3. 시간 가중치 모델을 이용한 개인 $NO_2$ 노출은 측정된 개인 NO2 노출과 통계학적으로 상관성을 가지고 있었다(r=0.58). 예측된 개인 $NO_2$ 노출은 측정된 $NO_2$ 노출보다 낮게 나타났으며, 이것은 출퇴근 등에 의한 교통의 이동에 따른 노출 때문인 것으로 생각되었다. 4. $NO_2$ 농도 분포를 log-normal 분포, 시간활동도를 Normal 분포로 가정하고 Monte-Carlo 시뮬레이션을 했을 때 서울의 직장인의 개인 노출은 평균 36.7ppb(${\pm}10.9$)였으며, 브리스베인의 직장인의 개인 노출은 평균 13.7ppb(${\pm}4.1$)였다.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.60-68
• /
• 2009

The most principal approach to improve indoor air quality(IAQ) of subway was to examine the fine particulate(PM-10) from the emission sources. Therefore, this study was carried on the investigation the fine particulate for comparison with the removal efficiency of PM-10 in divided the PSD(Platform Screen Door) and Non-PSD subway station from July, 2007 to May 2008. In the monitoring results, the range of PM-10 concentration of Non-PSD station was $44.6{\sim}116.5{\mu}g/m^3$ and the range of PM-10 concentration of PSD station was $23.9{\sim}81.1{\mu}g/m^3$. And then the range of PM-2.5 concentration of Non-PSD station was $17.4-56.6{\mu}g/m^3$, and then the range of PM-2.5 concentration of PSD station was $17.9{\sim}34.4{\mu}g/m^3$. In comparison with the results of the PSD and Non-PSD subway station, we found that the PM-10 removal efficiency of PSD was 30-40%. In conclusion, the PSD will be applied the effective facilities of decreasing PM-10 in subway station in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.24-37
• /
• 2007

The Korean Ministry of Environment started controlling indoor air quality (IAQ) in 2004 through the introduction of a law regulating the use of pollutant emitting building materials. The use of materials with formaldehyde emission levels above $1.25 mg/m^2{\cdot}h$ (JIS A 1901, small chamber method) has been prohibited. This level is equivalent to the $E_2$ grade ($>5.0mg/{\ell}$) of the desiccator method (JIS A 1460). However, the $20{\ell}$ small chamber method requires a 7-day test time to obtain the formaldehyde and volatile organic compound (VOC) emission results from solid building interior materials. As a approach to significantly reduce the test time, the field and laboratory emission cell (FLEC) has been proposed in Europe with a total test time less than one hour. This paper assesses the reproducibility of testing formaldehyde and TVOC emissions from wood-based composites such as medium density fiberboard (MDF), laminate flooring, and engineered flooring using three methods: desiccator, perforator and FLEC. According to the desiccator and perforator standards, the formaldehyde emission level of each flooring was ${\le}E_1$ grade. The formaldehyde emission of MDF was $3.48 mg/{\ell}$ by the desiccator method and 8.57 g/100 g by the perforator method. To determine the formaldehyde emission, the peak areas of each wood-based composite were calculated from aldehyde chromatograms obtained using the FLEC method. Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, butyraldehyde and benzaldehyde were detected as aldehyde compounds. The experimental results indicated that MDF emitted chloroform, benzene, trichloroethylene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m,p-xy-lene, styrene, and o-xylene. MDF emitted significantly greater amounts of VOCs than the floorings did.