• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.157-165
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate allergic diseases related to allergy caused by the exposure to indoor and outdoor sources of air pollution in primary schools. The symptoms questionnaire of allergic diseases based on the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) was completed by the participants. The past and present status of asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema, and allergic conjunctivitis were investigated by providing a questionnaire to all the participating children. Questionnaires were sent to a total of 61,350 children from 438 primary schools. A total of 40,522 children responded to the questionnaire, which represents a 66.1% return rate. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), $\underline{A}$ldehydes, and Particulate Matter ($PM_{10}$) were measured and analyzed from October to December of 2006, in 82 primary schools. The final study population comprised 35,168 children with complete data which excluded incomplete questionnaire responded by 5,354 children. Based on the survey, the level of indoor air contamination did not appear to be high, but 27.2% of the schools evaluated had exceeded the $PM_{10}$ level specified by the school health guidelines ($100\;{\mu}g/m^3$). The overall mean concentration of formaldehyde was $22.07\;{\mu}g/m^3$ and 1.0% of schools (1 school) exceeded the $100\;{\mu}g/m^3$. Statistically significant relationships have been observed between indoor air quality and prevalence rate of allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis of primary schools in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.345-355
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• 2015

Carbonaceous compounds in the atmospheric particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than or equal to a nominal $10{\mu}m$ ($PM_{10}$) were analyzed for the samples collected during the period of August 2006 to August 2007 at Jongro in Seoul. A total 18 dicarboxylic acids (DCAs) and levoglucosan, as well as organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and water soluble organic carbon (WSOC), were analyzed. Distinctive seasonal patterns of the concentrations of OC, EC, and WSOC including levoglucosan were observed with the highest concentrations in winter and the lowest concentrations in summer. In addition, OC, WSOC, and most of DCAs showed also higher concentration in summer than in winter. Using the seasonal patterns and relevant indicative ratios (WSOC/EC and $OC_{sec}/OC_{tot}$) of the carbonaceous compounds, it was verified that (1) primary emission sources were elevated in winter, and (2) the formation of secondary OC increased due to the prompted photochemical reaction in summer. Results from this study also suggest that some organic compounds were likely attributed to longrange transport.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.171-181
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• 2015

Objectives: This study aimed to survey the characteristics of air quality and meteorological conditions in a greenway park. Methods: We measured meteorological and health related factors, including noise, particulate matter ($PM_{10}$) and selected gaseous air pollutants at three locations in a greenway park and on a general roadside as comparison. The measurements were repeated four times from April to October 2014. Results: The average air temperature in the greenway park was $20.7^{\circ}C$ which was $1-2^{\circ}C$ lower than on the general roadside. The average $PM_{10}$ concentration in the greenway park was $85.0{\mu}g/m^3$, a level 2-3 times lower than that at the roadside. The noise level at the greenway site was 4.4 dB(A)- 23.0 dB(A) lower than at the roadside. The average CO, $CO_2$, $SO_2$ and NOx concentrations in the greenway park were lower than at the roadside. The average phytoncide and anions concentrations in the greenway park were higher than at the roadside. Conclusions: The urban forest of the greenway park may have some impact on air quality and meteorological conditions.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.77-86
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• 2017

Globally, use of affordable fuels such as briquettes, woods and wood pellets has increased. Organic pollutants emitted from non-point sources using solid fuels may have contributed to air pollution in urban environment. In this study, we utilized simulated incinerator proposed by U.S. EPA and investigated concentrations of PM, $PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$, OC/EC, CO, $SO_x$, $NO_x$, VOCs and PAHs emitted while cooking meat and fish using briquettes, woods and wood pellets, and developed emission factors. As a result, wood combustion produced more air pollutants than the others. Particulate matter emission factors for woods and wood pellets were 13.54 g/kg and 9.15 g/kg, respectively. Total VOCs emission factors for briquettes, woods and wood pellets were 36.12mg/kg, 46.13mg/kg and 18.26mg/kg, respectively. Additionally, total PAHs emission factors for briquette, woods and wood pellets were 0.44 mg/kg, 18.84mg/kg and 101.62mg/kg, respectively.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.105-113
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• 2019

The exhaust emissions from coal-fired power plants have received much attention because coal-fired power plants are the one of the largest sources of particulate matter (PM) emissions in South Korea. To measure the PM10 and PM2.5, we developed the novel diluter which is comprised of ejector and porous tube in series. The dilution ratio must be defined to calculate particle concentrations of the sampled air as well as to probe match for the isokinetic sampling. For this reason, we verified the dilution ratio of the developed diluter by the flow rate, numerical solution, gas concentration and particle concentration. The ejector-supplied flow rates were 10-50 L/min and the porous tube-supplied flow rates were 30, 50 L/min in this study. All methods above showed similar dilution ratios to each other within 10 % error rate. The dilution ratio was confirmed by comparing mass concentrations before and after the dilution process.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.445-460
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• 2018

Exposure to indoor air pollution is an emerging world-wide problem, with growing evidence that it is a major cause of morbidity worldwide. Whilst most indoor air pollutants are of outdoor origin, these combine with a range of indoor sourced pollutants that may lead to high pollutant levels indoors. The pollutants of greatest concern are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM), both of which are associated with a range of serious health problems. Whilst current buildings usually use ventilation with outdoor air to remove these pollutants, botanical systems are gaining recognition as an effective alternative. Whilst many years research has shown that traditional potted plants and their substrates are capable of removing VOCs effectively, they are inefficient at removing PM, and are limited in their pollutant removal rates by the need for pollutants to diffuse to the active pollutant removal components of these systems. Active botanical biofiltration, using green wall systems combined with mechanical fans to increase pollutant exposure to the plants and substrate, show greatly increased rates of pollutant removal for both VOCs, PM and also carbon dioxide ($CO_2$). A developing body of research indicates that these systems can outperform existing technologies for indoor air pollutant removal, although further research is required before their use will become widespread. Whilst it is known that plant species selection and substrate characteristics can affect the performance of active botanical systems, optimal characteristics are yet to be identified. Once this research has been completed, it is proposed that active botanical biofiltration will provide a cheap and low energy use alternative to mechanical ventilations systems for the maintenance of indoor environmental quality.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.159-172
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• 2019

To investigate the influence of pollution events on the chemical composition and formation processes of aerosol particles, 24-h integrated size-segregated particulate matter (PM) was collected during the fall season at an urban site of Gwangju, Korea and was used to determine the concentrations of mass, water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and ionic species. Furthermore, black carbon (BC) concentrations were observed with an aethalometer. The entire sampling period was classified into four periods, i.e., typical, pollution event I, pollution event II, and an Asian dust event. Stable meteorological conditions (e.g., low wind speed, high surface pressure, and high relative humidity) observed during the two pollution events led to accumulation of aerosol particles and increased formation of secondary organic and inorganic aerosol species, thus causing $PM_{2.5}$ increase. Furthermore, these stable conditions resulted in the predominant condensation or droplet mode size distributions of PM, WSOC, $NO_3{^-}$, and $SO{_4}^{2-}$. However, difference in the accumulation mode size distributions of secondary water-soluble species between pollution events I and II could be attributed to the difference in transport pathways of air masses from high-pollution regions and the formation processes for the secondary chemical species. The average absorption ${\AA}ngstr{\ddot{o}}m$ exponent ($AAE_{370-950}$) for 370-950 nm wavelengths > 1.0 indicates that the BC particles from traffic emissions were likely mixed with light absorbing brown carbon (BrC) from biomass burning (BB) emissions. It was found that light absorption by BrC in the near UV range was affected by both secondary organic aerosol and BB emissions. Overall, the pollution events observed during fall at the study site can be due to the synergy of unfavorable meteorological conditions, enhanced secondary formation, local emissions, and long-range transportation of air masses from upwind polluted areas.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.414-427
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• 2019

In East Asia, the long-range transport of dust storms originating from Mongolia and northern China affects airborne dust loadings over downwind areas in the southern Korean Peninsula. Since 1997, dust loading cases caused by dust storms have been observed using the thresholds of total suspended particles (TSP, ${\geq}250{\mu}g\;m^{-3}\;hr^{-1}$) and particulate matter less than $10{\mu}g$ ($PM_{10}$, ${\geq}190{\mu}g\;m^{-3}\;hr^{-1}$) in the central-southern Korean Peninsula. There were two dust loading cases that exceeded these thresholds in 2016 and three in 2017, which reflects the downward trend of the last twenty-one years in the central-southern Korean Peninsula. Furthermore, five other dust loading cases with mass concentrations lower than the thresholds were observed from 2016 to 2017. In the moderate dust loading cases exceeding the thresholds, a descending motion of cut-off lows below $45^{\circ}N$ and a southward trough at 500 hPa gpm isopleths intensified at the western ridge, and largely extended the surface high-pressure system over southeast China. Airborne dust loadings following pronounced north-westerlies in the forward side of the high-pressure system were transported to the surface of the central-southern Korean Peninsula. However, in slight dust loading cases lower than the thresholds, the restricted descending motion of cut-off lows over $45^{\circ}N$ and the southwestward trough at 500 hPa gpm isopleths intensified the zonal flow over the Korean Peninsula. Surface high- and low-pressure systems moved eastward from the source compared to moderate dust loading cases. Due to the zonal movement of dust storms traversing eastern China, slight dust loading cases were observed with relatively higher ratios of $PM_{2.5}/TSP$ and carbon monoxide (CO) in the central-southern Korean Peninsula.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.237-242
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• 2019

Ammonia is main precursor gas of secondary particulate matter and contributes almost 78% of total ammonia emission from the agricultural sector in Korea. The current method of estimating ammonia emission from fertilizer application, which contributes 7% of the total emission, has high uncertainty and needs to be improved to better predict PM2.5 concentration. In this study, we suggest an improvement method for ammonia emission quantification from fertilizer application. The first improvement was in the emission factor of NPK fertilizer by conducting a field study to verify the currently used factor. The improved NPK emission factor of 52.2 kg NH ton-1N was confirmed by comparing with the value from the EEA (European Environment Agency) and adjusting the value for the Korean climate and soil conditions. We also improved the amount of fertilizer usage by including the sales amount to the fertilizer supply amount of the Korean Farmers Association, increasing total fertilizer usage by 39.8%. As the statistical data on fertilizer supply and sales are compiled yearly, we estimated monthly emission of ammonia by considering cultivated areas and timing of fertilization for each crop. In summary, we suggest a novel and practical method to improve estimation methodology of ammonia emission from the field of fertilizer application: 1) emission factor of NPK fertilizer was reconfirmed; 2) total amount of fertilizer use was revised considering fertilizer sales; and 3) monthly emission of ammonia was realized by considering different crop practices. A bottom-up approach to compile activity data is needed to increase the estimation accuracy of monthly emission of ammonia, which is very helpful for predicting PM2.5 concentration.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.554-563
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• 2006

Background: PM is known to induce various pulmonary diseases, including asthma, cancer, fibrosis and chronic bronchitis. Despite the epidemiological evidence the pathogenesis of PM-related pulmonary diseases is unclear. Methods: This study examined the effects of PM exposure on the secretion of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$ in the cultured alveolar macrophages. The cultured primary alveolar macrophages were treated with the medium, PM ($5{\sim}20{\mu}g/cm^2$), LPS (5ng/ml), and PM with LPS for 24h and 48h respectively. ELISA was used to assay the secreted $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $IL-{\beta}$ in the culture medium. Western blotting was used to identify and determine the level of proteins isolated from the culture cells. The cells cultured in the $Lab-Tek^{(R)}$ chamber slides were stained with immunocytochemical stains. Results: PM induced $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$ secretion in the culturing alveolar macrophages, collected from the SPF and inflammatory rats. However, the effects were only dose-dependent in the inflammatory macrophages. When the cells were co-treated with PM and LPS, there was a significant synergistic effect compared with the LPS in the both cell types. Conclusion: PM might be play an important role in the induction and/or potentiation of various lung diseases by oversecretion of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $IL-1{\beta}$.