• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.109-114
• /
• 1992

For the risk assessment of human exposure to volatile halogenated hydrocarbons, a dynamic purge trap/on-column cryofocusing method using capillary gas chromatograph-$^{63}Ni$ electron capture detector and thermal desorption unit was applied to analyze the free forms, metabolites of 1, 1, 2-trichloroethylene and 1, 1, 2, 2-tetrachloroethylene. The urine sample was diluted with distilled water, hydrolyzed and sealed. Then the inert gas was infused to purge out free 1, 1, 2-trichloroethylene, free 1, 1, 2, 2-tetrachloroethylene and urichloroethanol. These compounds were trapped to $Tenax^R$ / GC-gas trap device throughout clean up tube. Being undertectable to gas chromatograph directly, trichloroacetic acid was methyl esterificated and trapped in the manner above mentioned. The optimal incubation time to get best recovery of methyl ester was 4 hours at $60^circ$C. The concentrations of free volatile halogenated hydrocarbons and their metabolites in urine were obtained of free volatile halogenated hydrocarbons and their metabolites in urine were obtained from 5 healthy volunteers. This analytical method is expected to make the biological monitoring more precise and convenient.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.9 no.E
• /
• pp.373-381
• /
• 1993

To understand the human exposure levels of volatile halogenated hydrocar-bons in ambient air, a new rapid and convenient analytical method for determination of the compounds in gaseous phase was evaluated and established. The method is based upon passsive diffusion to personal sampler containing adsorbent and solvent extraction followed by purge trap/ on-column cryof-ocusing method. A new method needs no special instrumentation for gas collection because it is based upon the passive diffusion principle. The typical chromatogram obtained in this study proved that rapid and simultaneous determination of target analytes was possible with good resolution. The developed method was successfully applied to determine the volatile halogenated hydrocarbons in indoor air and the values obtained by this new method were compared with those by direct suction method. The concentration of carbon tetrachloride, 1,1,2-trichloroethylene, chloroform showed the values below 400$\mug/m^3$ except the maximum of 1,513$\mug/m^3$ of chloroform. 1,1,1-Trichloroethane showed approximately 1,000 to 5,000$\mug/m^3$ range of diurnal fluctuation in indoor air.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.73-91
• /
• 2001

compounds (VOCs) were selected for assessment of VOCs contamination in some urban runoff and groundwater samples in Seoul. They included 3 aromatic hydrocarbons, 13 alkyl benzenes, 1 ether, 26 halogenated alkanes, 10 halogenated alkenes, and 9 halogenated aromatics. The levels of VOCs in urban runoff and groundwater were measured for samples collected in March 2000, June 2000 and November 2000 in Seoul City. A total of 78 samples (44 run-off water, 27 groundwater, and 7 samples from 4 urban wastewater treatment plants in Seoul) were collected and analysed by GC-MS with purge and trap. After examination of the runoff, it was concluded that alkyl benzenes and aromatic hydrocarbons were organic compounds which were significantly impacted by traffic flows in Seoul. Of 62 VOCs, only 11 VOCs were not detected in runoff samples, while 14 VOCs were detected in 27 groundwater samples. The toluene content in the runoff was extremely variable from 0.1ppb to 29,310ppb, depending on the different sampling sites. The concentrations of xylene ranged between 0.07ppb and 2970ppb in the runoff. The concentrations ranged from 0.05ppb to 33.0ppb for benzene, 0.05ppb to 960ppb for ethylbenzene, 0.08ppb to 20ppb for trichloromethane (chloroform) , 0.03ppb to 4.30ppb for trichloroethylene(TCE) and 0.1ppb to 50ppb for 1,1,2-trichloroethane. From the preliminary study of groundwater from some wells in Seoul, the most frequently detected VOCs are djchlorornethane(methylene chloride), trichloromethane(chloroform) and toluene. Most of aromatic hydrocarbons, alkyl benzenes and other solvents generally lower than detection limits.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.507-518
• /
• 1998

A field comparison study was carried out to quantify differences among various sampling and analytical methods for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at a site in Vlsan in June 1997. Air sampling containers (SUMMA canisters) were used by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and adsorption tubes (carbotrap) were used by Yeungnam University (YN Univ.) for sampling ambient air. Duplicate samples obtained by KIST were analyzed by KIST with a GC-MS system for aromatics and halogenated hydrocarbons and by Atm AA with a GC -FID system for C2∼C9 hydrocarbons, respectively. The adsorption tube samples were analyzed by YN Univ. with a GC-FID system for aromatics. VOC levels for the duplicate canister sampls analyzed by KIST and Atm AA were in good agreement. Concentrations of aromatics by the adsroption tube method were generally higher than those by the canister sampling method by factor of 1.5 to 2.0. Differences between the two sampling methods were discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.363-376
• /
• 2003

In this study, the fugitive emission characteristics of airborne volatile organic compounds from different source categories were evaluated with respect to the concentrations measured in the vicinity of the sources. A total of 22 different sources were investigated, including gasoline storage and filling stations, painting spray booth, laundry, printing officer, textile industries, and a number of environmental sanitary facilities such as landfill, wastewater treatment and incineration plants. The target VOCs included 83 individual compounds, which were determined by adsorption sampling and thermal desorption coupled with GC/MS analysis. Overall, the aliphatic compounds appeared to be the most abundant class of compounds in terms of their concentrations, followed by aromatic, and halogenated hydrocarbons. As a single compound, however, toluene was the most abundant one, explaining 11% of the total VOC concentrations as an average of all the dataset. Among source categories, petroleum associated sources such as gasoline storage/filling stations, and laundry factory were identified as the most significant sources of aliphatic hydrocarbons, while aromatic VOCs were dominantly emitted from the sources handling organic solvents, such as painting booth, printing offices, and textile dyeing processes. However. there was no apparent pattern in terms of the contributions of eath group to the total VOCs concentrations in environmental sanitary facilities. It was also found that the activated carbon adsorption tower installed for the VOC emission control in some facilities do not show any effective performances, which may result in the increased VOC levels in the ambient atmosphere.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.37 no.6 s.169
• /
• pp.613-629
• /
• 2004

Contamination of groundwater by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was investigated for 168 groundwater wells in Ulsan area to study the natural attenuation of organic compounds in the aquifers. As groundwater contamination by VOCs is closely related to land use, 168 groundwater samples were classified into 4 different groups; agricultural, forestry, industrial, and residential & business. From analysis 65 out of 168 groundwater samples contained more than one VOC. Analysis of samples were performed fir 36 halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons and 25 petroleum hydrocarbons set up by NAWQA of US geological survey. Twelve petroleum hydrocarbons were detected in 26 groundwater wells, but their concentrations were less than 1.5 g/L except for MTBE. Twenty three chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons, composed of 11 methanes, 6 ethanes and 6 ethenes, were detected in 63 groundwater samples. The range of methanes concentration was $ND\~330\;/gL,\;ethanes\;ND\~84\;gL$, and PCE and their derivatives $ND\~62\;g/L$. As the study area was comprised of the aerobic/denitrification zones and $Fe^{+3}$ redox condition, most of petroleum hydrocarbons were degraded well, while halogenated hydrocarbons were slowly biodegradation.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.27
• /
• pp.12.1-12.8
• /
• 2012

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the health and environmental risk factors of air contaminants that influence environmental and respiratory diseases in Gyeongju, Pohang and Ulsan in South Korea, with a focus on volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Methods: Samples were collected by instantaneous negative pressure by opening the injection valve in the canister at a fixed height of 1 to 1.5 m. The sample that was condensed in $-150^{\circ}C$ was heated to $180^{\circ}C$ in sample pre-concentration trap using a 6-port switching valve and it was injected to a gas chromatography column. The injection quantity of samples was precisely controlled using an electronic flow controller equipped in the gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. Results: The quantity of the VOC emissions in the industrial area was 1.5 to 2 times higher than that in the non-industrial area. With regards to the aromatic hydrocarbons, toluene was detected at the highest level of 22.01 ppb in Ulsan, and chloroform was the halogenated hydrocarbons with the highest level of 10.19 ppb in Pohang. The emission of toluene was shown to be very important, as it accounted for more than 30% of the total aromatic hydrocarbon concentration. Conclusions: It was considered that benzene in terms of the cancer-causing grade standard, toluene in terms of the emission quantity, and chloroform and styrene in terms of their grades and emission quantities should be selected for priority measurement substances.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.477-491
• /
• 2014

This study was carried out to evaluate the concentration variations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the office environments located in a large urban area with respect to seasonality, smoking status, types of ventilation and heating. Indoor air sampling was undertaken in 37 and 30 offices in Daegu city during summer and winter, respectively. The VOC samples were collected using adsorbent tubes, and were determined by thermal desorption coupled with GC/MS analysis. The analytical method was validated for repeatability, method detection limits (MDL), and duplication precision. A total of 34 VOCs of environmental concern were determined, including 15 aromatics and 19 halogenated hydrocarbons. Average concentrations of BTEX appeared to 1.91 ppb, 22.98 ppb, 3.44 ppb, and 3.70 ppb, respectively. These values were relatively higher levels than those measured at homes and outdoor roadsides reported by other researches. In general, the concentrations of VOCs were higher in winter than summer, in smoking offices than non-smoking offices, in forced ventilation type than natural ventilation type, and in combustion heating than non-combustion heating offices. However, such differences were not always significant at a level of 0.05 by statistical tests (t-test and/or Mann-Whitney test) with some exceptions for BTEX and styrene. This study demonstrated that smoking status, ventilation type and presence of combustion sources indoors could be important factors on the elevated concentrations of some VOCs in the office environment.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.47 no.5
• /
• pp.384-397
• /
• 2021

Background: With volatile organic compounds (VOCs) containing aromatic and halogenated hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, and xylene that can adversely affect the respiratory and cardiovascular systems when a certain concentration is reached, it is important to accurately evaluate the source and the corresponding health risk effects. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to provide scientific evidence for the city of Seoul's VOC reduction measures by confirming the risk of each VOC emission source. Methods: In 2020, 56 VOCs were measured and analyzed at one-hour intervals using an online flame ionization detector system (GC-FID) at two measuring stations in Seoul (Gangseo: GS, Bukhansan: BHS). The dominant emission source was identified using the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model, and health risk assessment was performed on the main components of VOCs related to the emission source. Results: Gasoline vapor and vehicle combustion gas are the main sources of emissions in GS, a residential area in the city center, and the main sources are solvent usage and aged VOCs in BHS, a greenbelt area. The risk index ranged from 0.01 to 0.02, which is lower than the standard of 1 for both GS and BHS, and was an acceptable level of 5.71×10^-7 to 2.58×10^-6 for carcinogenic risk. Conclusions: In order to reduce the level of carcinogenic risk to an acceptable safe level, it is necessary to improve and reduce the emission sources of vehicle combustion and solvent usage, and eco-car policies are judged to contribute to the reduction of combustion gas as well as providing a response to climate change.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.111-128
• /
• 1992

According to the increase of population and industrialization, the quality of our drinking water are becoming worse by the contamination of resources, production of THM and other halogenated hydrocarbons during the purifying process, the problem of corroded water supplying pipeline, and the water reservoir tanks, Many people choose groundwater to drink instead of city tap water, but sometimes we get report about groundwater contamination by wastes, swage, septic tank, etc. It is reported that in U. S. over 20% of population are drinking groundwater, but U. S EPA reported the groundwater contamination by pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizer, and various chemical substances. Craun, et at announced the groundwater contamination by bacteria which are related with poor installation of septic tank. Johnson and Kross mentioned aboutmethemoglobinemia by NO3-N originated from human and animal feces, organic chemicals, and fertilizer, and as the results the infant mortality could be risen. Some scientist also reported the high concentration of metals in groundwaters and some cation and anions, and volatile organic compou nds. Authors investigated 80 groundwaters in urban, agricultural, and industrial area during last 3 month(June - August) to check any drinking water quality parameters are exceeding the standards. The results were as follow. 1, The average value of ammonia nitrate were within the standard, but 11.76% of urban area were exceeded the 10 rpm standard, in agricultural area 42.3175 were exceeded, and in industrial area 20.2% were exceeded the drinking water standard of 10 ppm. the highest concentration was 29.37 ppd in industrial area. 2. The mean value of metals is not exceeded the standard, but there were some groundwater whose Mn value was 0.424 ppm(standard is 0,3 ppm) in urban area, 0.737 rpm in agricultural area, and 5.188 ppm in industrial area. The highest Zn value was 1.221 ppm (standard is 1.0 ppm)was found in industrial area. 3. The percentage of contamination by general bacteria was 8.82% in urban area, 15.38% in agricultural area, and 15.00% in industrial area. Escherichia coil group was also contaminated by 35.29% in urban area, 30.76% in agricultural area, and 30.00% in industrial area. 4, The pH value was within the standard which means there was no influence by acid or alkali chemicals, nor acid rain Through the above results, all the groundwater should be tested to check the safety for drinking water and should make some alternative methods suitable for drink.