• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2010

In this study, we investigated the concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Shiwha area and compared the characteristics of both industrial area and residential area. The passive samplers were set 6 times each for a month in 21 locations at industrial and residential area to obtain 6 VOCs including benzene, trichlorobenzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene and stylene. Above all, toluene was the most abundant VOCs in the ambient air both in industrial and residential area. Average TVOC concentration of industrial area was 1.86 times higher than that of residential area, and it was greatly reduced in winter compared with summer. Furthermore, the average BTEX concentrations showed that all concentrations of industrial area were 1.94~5.39 times higher than those of residential area except benzene which were similar to each other. In winter, the concentration of ethyl benzene and xylene were significantly decreased by comparing with summer: but benzene concentrations were increased. Also, BTEX relative ratio was as follows: toluene>benzene>ethylbenzene>xylene. Correlation coefficients among VOCs were confirmed that VOCs in ambient air of industrial area were generally more related to each other than that of residential area. On the whole, the concentrations of VOCs in industrial area were higher, and it seems to be potential that industrial area affects the distribution of VOCs to residential area.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.375-382
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• 2011

Semi volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are used as plasticizers in building materials, interior materials, furniture, consumer electronics. etc. In the home, these SVOCs mix together with house dust. There is thus concern over the health effects of SVOCS in the home, there is a risk that they ini1uence childhood asthma and allergies. It is difficult to measure SVOCs emission rates from building materials or household appliances utilizing the usual test chamber methods, because the boiling points of SVOCs are higher and they are apt to adhere to the surface of the test chamber used. In this study, we introduce FLEC chamber method, passive sampler method and micro chamber method, which are used in Germany and Japan in order to measure SVOCs emission rates. Characteristic, merits and demerits of test methods are also considered.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.19 no.E2
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• pp.51-61
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• 2003

The material exposure tests have been carried out since 1993 to evaluate the relationship between air pollution and material corrosion with the cooperation of the researchers in Japan, China, and Korea. The test pieces such as bronze, copper, marble, and carbon steel have been exposed under both unsheltered and rain-sheltered outdoor condition separately at 18 sampling sites in East Asia. At the same time, the concentration of SO$_2$ and NO$_2$ has been measured simultaneously with passive sampler. The meteorological data were collected from the AWS (Auto-mated weather station) In each country and chemical compositions of wet deposition were also analyzed by the bulk sampling of rainfall every month. As the results, it was found that the corrosion rates of test pieces in the ambient air were appeared to be in the order of carbon steel > marble > bronze copper. The corrosion rates of test pieces in the unsheltered outdoor condition were 2.34 to 5.88 times larger than those in rain-sheltered condition. It was also found that the corrosion rate in the heavy polluted area in China was the highest, and the corrosion rates of the metal pieces were generally proportional to SO$_2$ concentration. Between two sites in Korea, the test pieces at Daegu site showed higher corrosion rates that would be due to the higher SO$_2$ concentration.

• 보존과학연구
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• s.35
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• pp.25-44
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• 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 Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.606-613
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• 2005

The badge-type diffusive sampler for the measurement of formaldehyde in indoor air using three types of colorimetric methods such as chromotrophic acid(CTA), 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone(MBTH), and 4-amino-3-hydrazino-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole(AHMT) method. The washing of the collection filter with several cleaning solution was effected with satisfactory results, regardless of the types of cleaning solutions. The concentrations of absorbance solution in each colorimetric method were experimentally determined by considering the sampling rates. The variation blank values in each colorimetric method was below 15%. As compared with CTA and AHMT methods, the reproducibility of MBTH method was excellent and was below 10% relative standard deviation. The collected formaldehyde mass and time-weighted concentration had a good correlation (correlation coefficient > 0.93). The limit of detection and limit of quantitation, and minimum sampling time were closely correlated to the sampling rates for the measurement of formaldehyde in each method.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.836-842
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• 2006

Pine needle samples(1 year, 2 year, 3 year old) were collected in Seoul and Ansung to investigate the deposition characteristics of atmospheric PCBs depending on exposure periods. Total PCBs concentration of pine needle samples in Seoul and Ansung showed 2,429, 1,198 pg/g DW(dry weight), respectively. PCB homologs concentration of pine needle samples decreased with increasing chlorine-substituted compounds. It showed that higher chlorine- substituted compounds in existing particle phase compared to lower chlorine-substituted compounds existing in gaseous phase were difficult to accumulate lipids of the pine needles samples. The results of regression analysis between exposure periods in the atmosphere and concentration of total PCBs measured in pine needles at two sites showed significant levels($R^2>0.94$, p<0.01), which implies that atmospheric PCBs accumulated on pine needles with positive linearity depending on exposure periods in this study. Therefore pine needle samples can be used as passive air sampler(PAS) for monitoring air contamination for a long time in different sites.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2014

Objectives: Using laborers participating in the petrochemical factory turnaround process as subjects, this study aims to identify exposure to benzene in the air and examine the relationship between exposure and the excretion of urinary metabolites by measuring concentrations of urinary trans, trans-muconic acid (t,t-MA). Methods: A passive sampler was used to measure the level of benzene in the air. In order to analyze urinary metabolites, the urine of laborers participating in the turnaround process was collected twice daily, both before and after work. In addition, a survey was conducted on work factors and lifestyle habits as factors affecting the concentration of urinary metabolites. Results: During the survey period, benzene was detected in the samples from all workers, and its average concentration was $0.16{\pm}0.22ppm$. The average concentration of t,t-MA after work was $1.20{\pm}1.86mg/g$ creatinine, and the results of analyzing urinary metabolites concentration before and after work showed statistically significant differences(p=0.003). There was also a statistically significant correlation (r=0.52, p=0.002) between benzene in the air and the concentration of after-work urinary t,t-MA. Conclusions: During the turnaround process, the average benzene concentration in workers was $0.16{\pm}0.22ppm$, which was below the exposure limit. However, their average t,t-MA concentration was $1.20{\pm}1.86mg/g$ creatinine, which exceeded the exposure limit of 1mg/g creatinine. The characteristics of turnaround process work require considerations such as underestimating the passive sampler being used and the skin absorption of benzene, and there needs to be a simultaneous assessment of working environment measurements and biological monitoring.

• Journal of odor and indoor environment
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.362-371
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• 2018

Indoor Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are classified as known or possible toxicants and odorants. This study characterized VOC levels in 11 homes in an area in the capital of Seoul by using two different methods of VOCs sampling, which are the active sampling using a thermal sorption tube and the passive sampling using a diffusion sampler. When using the active sampling method, the total target VOC concentration ranged from 41.7 to $420.7{\mu}g/m^3$ (mean $230.4{\mu}g/m^3$ ; median $221.8{\mu}g/m^3$) during winter and 21.3 to $1,431.9{\mu}g/m^3$ (mean $340.1{\mu}g/m^3$; median $175.4{\mu}g/m^3$) during summer. When using the passive method, 29.6 to $257.5{\mu}g/m^3$ (mean $81.8{\mu}g/m^3$; median $49.4{\mu}g/m^3$) during winter and 1.2 to $5,131.1{\mu}g/m^3$ (mean $1,758.8{\mu}g/m^3$; median $1,375.1{\mu}g/m^3$) during summer. Forty-nine VOCs were quantified and toluene showed the highest concentration regardless of the season and the sampling method studied. The distribution of VOCs was relatively varied by using the active method. However, it showed a low correlation with indoor environmental factors such as room temperature, humidity and ventilation time. The correlation between indoor environmental factors and VOCs were relatively high in the passive method. In particular, these characteristics were confirmed by principal component analysis.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.135-145
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• 2001

This study was conducted to investigate the practical using of Geographic Information System(GIS) technology which are computer-based systems that are used to store and manipulate geographic information on the air pollution control and management in the macro city. For this study 130 samples were corrected by passive sampler in Seoul (25 distincts) distributed by TM-coordinate during November in 1997 to January 1998, and analysed by GC/MSD for 16 VOCs e.g., toluene, benzene and display using Arc/view GIS(version 3.2, ESRI Inc, U.S.A) for windows. The most VOCs concentration distribution in November, 1997 was higher than that of January, 1998 except benzene and 1,1,2-trichroloethan, bromobenzene. And products of the distribution of VOCs concentration display using GIS technology was effective as well as other display methods(e.g., contouring method, pie or column chart, graduated symbols), especially in mapping and symbolization capabilities for spatial pollutant status evaluation were very effective than other display methods.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2018

This study aims to evaluate the performance of the Air Quality Model (AQM) for the seasonal and spatial distribution of the $NH_3$ concentration in the atmosphere. To obtain observational data for the model validation, observations based on biweekly sampling have been conducted using passive samplers since April 2015 at multiple monitoring sites in the Tokyo metropolitan area. AQM, built based on WRF/CMAQ, was applied to predict the $NH_3$ concentration observed from April 2015 to March 2016. The simulation domain includes the Kanto region, which is the most densely populated area in Japan. Because the area also contains large amount of livestock, especially in its northern part, the density of the $NH_3$ emissions derived from human activities and agriculture there are estimated to be the highest in Japan. In the model validation, the model overestimated the observed $NH_3$ concentration in the summer season and underestimated it in the winter season. In particular, the overestimation in the summer was remarkable at a rural site (Komae) in Tokyo. It was found that the overestimation at Komae was caused by the transportation of $NH_3$ emitted in the northern part of the Kanto region during the night. It is suggested that the emission input used in this study overestimated the $NH_3$ emission from human sources around the Tokyo suburbs and agricultural sources in the northern part of the Kanto region in the summer season. In addition, the current emission inventories might overestimate the difference of the agricultural $NH_3$ emissions among seasons. Because the overestimation of $NH_3$ in the summer causes an overestimation of $NO_3{^-}$ in $PM_{2.5}$ in the AQM simulation, further investigation is necessary for the seasonal variation in the $NH_3$ emissions.