• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.211-222
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• 2013

Objectives: A great number of people visit forests for their bountiful healing factors. We investigated the quantity of terpene and analyzed the correlations with meteorological and environmental factors at Mt. Mudeung in order to support public health. Methods: The terpene amounts were investigated along 11 main trails using stainless steel tube packed by Tenax TA (150 mg) and Carbopack B (130 mg) during March to November 2012. Terpene amounts of 20 species (${\alpha}$-pinene, camphene, etc.), and meteorological and environmental factors were investigated in the field. Results: Terpene of 16 species was released from the forest and total terpene amounts were 2,080 pptv at the site of Chamaecyparis obtusa, the highest among 11 sites, nearby the first reservoir on Mt. Mudeung. Terpene concentrations in the forest were nine to 23 times higher than found in urban areas. Total terpene amounts had positive correlations with temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and oxygen (p<0.01) with $R^2$ of 0.345, 0.369, 0.591, 0.145, respectively, from April to July. Wind speed and solar radiation in the forest had a negative correlation with terpene amounts and showed statistical insignificance with p-values of 0.118 and 0.233, respectively. Conclusions: This study suggests that the amounts of terpene around Mt. Mudeung are indeed higher, so visitors may enjoy a therapeutic walk in the forest with a healing effect. These results showed the forest was very effective for improving human health.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.191-204
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• 2005

Building and furnishing materials and consumer product are important sources of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) and other aldehydes in the indoor environment. Some available evidence indicates that VOCs can cause adverse health effects to the building occupants and contribute to some of the symptoms of what we call, 'Sick House Syndrome' in Korea. The aims of this study were to evaluate the efficiency of emission system and to investigate comparison of the emission characteristics of different building materials such as wall-papers, paints, and adhesives. The emission of VOCs from building materials were determined in the small chambers defining the temperature, relative humidity, and ventilation rate in this study. VOCs were sampled for 20 minutes using Tenax-TA tubes and analysed by GC-MS with thermal desorption. The stability of conditions for temperature and relative humidity in this small chamber system showed that the fluctuation of temperature was between 25.4$\pm$0.3$^{\circ}C$ and that of relative humidity was 50.2$\pm$0.6$\%$ under the airflow rate of 167 mL/min. The emission tests from building materials resulted in TVOC emission rates of 0.011 $\~$ 3.108 mg/m$^{2}$h after 7 days. The general wall-papers emitted toluene abundantly and the natural wall-papers mainly emitted n-butanol and a minor amount of alkanes compound such as n -tetradecane. The remainder consisted of toluene, m,p -xylene, and styrene. The paints mainly emitted toluene and the adhesives mainly emitted chloroform as well as toluene. As a result, this study is expected to suggest meaningful data for future studies in exposure control through selecting healthy building materials and for the establishment of guidelines for various building materials in Korea.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.200-211
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• 2011

In this study, 13 compounds including four volatile fatty acids (VFA) and nine volatile organic compounds (VOC) were analyzed by cryogenic trapping-thermal desorption technique. In order to evaluate the analytical method for VFA, calibration experiments were performed using five different sorbent materials. When the calibration results are compared between different sorbents, sampling tube filled with Carbopack X showed the highest response factor (RF) for both VFA and VOC. To validate this new analytical method for VFA using cryogenic trapping-thermal desorption technique, this method was compared with alkali absorption method recommended by the odor prevention law of the Korea Ministry of Environment (KMOE). For this purpose, unknown samples were analyzed by two different methods, i.e., cryogenic trapping-thermal desorption (TD) and alkali absorption with solid phase microextraction (SPME). When the results of two different methods were compared, ratios of concentrations determined by the two analytical methods (TD/SPME) was found as 0.46 (valeric acid) ~ 0.71 (isovaleric acid). Therefore, additional study is required to properly establish and find stable analytical conditions for VFA analysis. Furthermore, comparison between two different methods should be made with more reliable calibration approaches.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.153-162
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• 2020

Objectives: 3D printing technologies have become widely developed and are increasingly being used for a variety of purposes. Recently, the evaluation of 3D printing operations has been conducted through chamber test studies, and actual workplace studies have yet to be completed. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the emission of volatile organic compounds(VOCs), metals, and particles from printing operations at a workplace. This included monitoring conducted at a commercial 3D printing service workplace where the processes involved material extrusion, material jetting, binder jetting, vat photo polymerization, and powder bed fusion. Methods: Area samples were collected with using a Tenax TA tube for VOC emission and MCE filter for metals in the workplace. For particle monitoring, Mini Particle Samplers(MPS) were also placed in the printer, indoor work area, and outdoor area. The objective was to analyze and identify particles' size, morphology, and chemical composition using transmission electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy(TEM-EDS) in the workplace. Results: The monitoring revealed that the concentration of VOCs and metals generated during the 3D printing process was low. However, it also revealed that within the 3D printing area, the highest concentration of total volatile organic compounds(TVOC) was 4,164 ppb at the vat photopolymerization 3D printing workplace, and the lowest was 148 ppb at the material extrusion 3D printing workplace. For the metals monitoring, chromium, which, is carcinogenic for humans, was detected in the workplace. As a characteristic of the particles, nano-sized particles were also found during the monitoring, but most of them were agglomerated with large and small particles. Conclusions: Based on the monitoring conducted at the commercial 3D printing operation, the results revealed that the concentration of VOCs and metals in the workplace were within Korea's occupational exposure limits. However, due to the emission of nano-sized particles during 3D printing operations, it was recommended that the exposure to VOCs and metals in the workplace should be minimized out of concern for workers' health. It was also shown that the characteristics of particles emitted from 3D printing operations may spread widely within an indoor workplace.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.241-248
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was conducted to provide scientific and effective information on phytoncides, which are associated with forest healing, and to activate recreational forests. Methods: The target sites were natural recreation forests, a forest park and an arboretum, and the control sites were three urban parks. The samples were collected at a volume of 6.0 L and a flow rate of 0.1 L/min for one hour using a low volume pump and the solid adsorbent sampling method. The phytoncide compounds adsorbed in the Tenax TA tube were analyzed by a automatic heat desorption unit and GC-MS. Results: By type of recreational forest, the annual concentrations of phytoncide (monoterpene) for the forest park showed the highest concentration with $1.450{\mu}g/m^3$, while those for the arboretum showed the lowest concentration at $0.892{\mu}g/m^3$, and thus the concentration of the forest park was approximately 1.6 times higher than the arboretum. The season showing the highest concentration of phytoncides was summer (June) and the forest park was the highest among the recreational forests. The concentrations of major components for phytoncide showed in descending order: ${\alpha}-pinene$, ${\beta}-pinene$, camphene, 3-carene and limonene. The seasonal concentration of ${\alpha}-pinene$, camphene and ${\beta}-pinene$ by type of recreational forest increased in April, which is characterized by low temperature and humidity, and the seasonal concentration of camphene decreased with higher humidity. The meteorological factors which had the high correlation with the concentration of total terpene were temperature and humidity. $CO_2$ and $O_2$ showed an inverse correlation. Conclusion: The major components of phytoncide were ${\alpha}-pinene$, ${\beta}-pinene$, camphene, 3-carene and limonene in descending order of concentration. Further and systematic study on the chemical nature of individual phytoncides, and on the effect of phytoncides on humans needs to be performed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2021

In this research, monoterpene emissions were investigated from pine trees(Pinus densiflora) and in the forest air in Simwon village at the Jiri Mountain. Air samples from an enclosed chamber and pine forest air were collected using a Tenax TA Tube five times a day(at 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, and 17:00) on 1 day per month from March to November 2014. Selected needles and branches from individual pine trees were enclosed for the measurement of their monoterpene emissions. The concentration and composition of emitted monoterpenes were analyzed in a time series. The major components of monoterpenes emitted from pine trees were α-pinene, β-myrcene, β-phellandrene, and β-pinene. Seasonal data showed that the concentration of monoterpenes emitted from pine trees began increasing in June and reached its peak in August, decreasing thereafter. In addition, seasonal emissions of monoterpenes were dependent on environmental factors such as temperature. The major species of monoterpenes in forest air were α-pinene, β-pinene, and camphene. The concentration of monoterpenes in forest air began rising from March to April and reached its peak in May; multiple peaks subsequently formed in July and November. Diurnal variation in monoterpenes decreased from 09:00-10:00, reaching a low and high at 13:00-14:00 and 17:00-18:00, respectively.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.287-297
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• 2013

The optimization of analytical method for the thermal desorption of seven VOCs (volatile organic compounds) by TD-GC/MS (thermal desorption-gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer) with solid phase sorbent tube, and comparative analysis for the determination of VOCs plotted by standard sorbent tubes prepared using both gas phase and liquid phase materials were investigated. The result of paired t-test showed that a liquid phase standard sorbent tube method was in agreement with a gas phase standard sorbent tube method for six species of VOCs including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-, m-, and p-xylene except for styrene at the significance level (${\alpha}=0.01$), while the 15.6% of difference in response factor between both of gas phase and liquid phase standard plotting for the determination of styrene showed that both methods were significantly different at the significance level. Therefore, the liquid phase standard plotting method was employed to reduce erroneous data for the determination of styrene including BTEX. Under the optimized analytical method by liquid phase standard sorbent tube, recovery was between $100{\pm}5%$ for 7 species of VOCs, reproducibility ranged from 0.3 to 7.7%, and method detection limit (MDL) ranged from $0.01{\mu}g/m^3$ for o-xylene to $0.27{\mu}g/m^3$ for toluene. The optimized standard method was applied to determine VOCs VOCs from indoor air of of dormitory, one bedroom apartment, and a new car.