• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.29
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• pp.14.1-14.8
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• 2014

Objectives Some plants were placed in indoor locations frequented by asthmatics in order to evaluate the quality of indoor air and examine the health benefits to asthmatics. Methods The present study classified the participants into two groups: households of continuation and households of withdrawal by a quasi-experimental design. The households of continuation spent the two observation terms with indoor plants, whereas the households of withdrawal passed the former observation terms with indoor plants and went through the latter observation term without any indoor plants. Results The household of continuation showed a continual decrease in the indoor concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the entire observation period, but the household of withdrawal performed an increase in the indoor concentrations of VOCs, except formaldehyde and toluene during the latter observation term after the decrease during the former observation term. Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) increased in the households of continuation with the value of 13.9 L/min in the morning and 20.6 L/min in the evening, but decreased in the households of withdrawal with the value of -24.7 L/min in the morning and -30.2 L/min in the evening in the first experimental season. All of the households exhibited a decrease in the value of PEFR in the second experimental season. Conclusions Limitations to the generalizability of findings regarding the presence of plants indoors can be seen as a more general expression of such a benefit of human-environment relations.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.25-35
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• 2024

Background: There are concerns about the health effects of various environmental pollution exposures among residents living near coal-fired power plants (CFPP). Objectives: This study attempted to compare the concentrations of heavy metals in blood and urine and those of urinary volatile organic compound (VOC) metabolites according to the residential separation distance. Methods: Participants in the study totaled 334 people who have lived for more than 10 years in areas within 10 km of a CFPP. The separation distance was analyzed in quartiles by dividing it into Q1 (88 people), Q2 (89 people), Q3 (89 people), and Q4 (68 people). We explained the purpose of this study to the participants and collected blood and urine after obtaining signatures on a participation agreement. Results: The study participants were 102 males (30.5%) and 232 females (69.5%), with an average age of 71. The average length of residence and distance were 43.8 years and 4,800 meters. The geometric mean concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Hg in blood and As and Cd in urine were respective 1.35 ㎍/dL, 1.43 ㎍/L, 3.16 ㎍/L. They were 167.88 ㎍/g for creatinine and 1.58 ㎍/g creatinine. The metabolite concentrations of VOCs were 50.67 ㎍/g creatinine in t, t-muconic acid (t, t-MA), 10.73 ㎍/g creatinine in benzyl mercapturic acid, 317.05 ㎍/g creatinine in phenylglyoxylic acid, 123.55 ㎍/g creatinine in methylhippuric acid, and 190.82 ㎍/g creatinine in mandelic acid. The concentration of Pb in the blood and Cd and t, t-MA in the urine of residents within affected area of the CFPP showed statistically significant differences among distance groups. Conclusions: The concentration of urinary VOCs metabolites, especially t, t-MA, differed according to the distance groups of residents within the affected area of CFPP (p<0.05).

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1247-1255
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• 2007

Soil biofiltration is an environmentally-sound technology for elimination of VOCs, odorous and $NO_X$ compounds from a low concentration, high volume waste gas streams because of its simplicity and cost-effectiveness. This study investigated the optimal mixture fraction of briquet ash, compost, soil and loess for $NO_X$ degradation. Extreme vertices design was used to examine the role of four components on $NO_X$ degradation. Under our experimental conditions, 74.5% of $NO_X$ degradation was observed, using a model mixture(25% briquet ash, 10% compost, 30% soil and 40% loess) containing 100 ppb of NO. It was shown that experimental design analysis could allow selecting optimal conditions in such biodegradation processes in this study.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.423-430
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• 2008

As of September 2008,45 Automatic Water Quality Monitoring Systems (AWQMS) have been installed at different sites on the 4 rivers to detect early the presence of pollutants in water and to issue an alarm. We count the number of issuing alarms by AWQMS, however, we will find the alarm has hardly been issued. The reasons for the scarcity of alarm issue are extensively being examined. The National Institute of Environmental Research attributes wrong alarm criteria for each AWQMS station to one the reasons. In this study, a suggestion has been made to modify the current alarm criteria to correspond with characteristics of river water quality. The current system with only two criteria (low and high) should be replaced as four-criteria systems (low, medium, high, and severe) based on cases of other advanced countries and stream conditions of Korea. The highest value of data collected for 5 years was suggested as the alarm criteria for each parameter. Meanwhile the alarm criteria for VOCs, phenol and heavy metals were established as same as drinking water quality criteria.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.337-344
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• 2020

Plant growth-promoting microorganisms promote plant growth by supplying nutrients to roots and interacting with the intrinsic factors in plants through volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this study, we evaluated the effect of UOS, plant growth-promoting fungi (PGPF) isolated from previous study, on the growth of Nicotiana tabacum L. var Xanthi nc. Phylogenetic analysis and GC-MS were used to identify the fungal species and the VOCs emitted by the UOS, respectively. The fresh weight of UOS-treated Nicotiana tabacum L. was 3.8 and 4.2-fold higher than that of the control groups grown in vertical and I-plates, respectively. Moreover, in the UOS-treated plants, the length of the primary root was half and the number of lateral roots were twice compared to those in control plants. The UOS was identified as Phoma sp. by studying spore and mycelial morphology and using phylogenetic analysis. GC-MS revealed that the VOC emitted by the UOS was hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane (D3). These results suggest that the UOS of Phoma sp. influences plant growth and root development through D3. We expect this UOS and its VOC, D3 to be utilized in the future to increase growth and enhance yield for other plants.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2007

This study was performed to investigate the distributions of volatile organic compounds and carbonyl compounds at the 120 households in new apartments before occupation. The concentration of toluene, m, p-xylene, formaldehyde, acetone and ethylbenzene dominated as $272.81{\mu}g/m^3$, $98.90{\mu}g/m^3$, $71.68{\mu}g/m^3$, $70.58{\mu}g/m^3$ and $49.76{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. The identified compounds by standards occupied 42.5% of the TVOCs, also the concentration of toluene occupied the largest part of the identified compounds as 18.5%. The concentration of formaldehyde and acetone were 43.1% and 42.4% among carbonyl compounds. The indoor/outdoor ratio of the concentration of benzene, toluene, formaldehyde and o-xylene were investigated 1.29, 3.59, 10.76 and 28.74, respectively.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.447-456
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• 2008

Limonene, pinene, and isoprene are abundant and ubiquitous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are found in various natural products and also produced from various manufacture processes. Limonene and pinene are major components of food additives and household products for enrichment of good flavors and elimination of malodors, and isoprene is a basal motif of monoterpenes such as limonene and pinene. They have shown many beneficial effects such as chemopreventive, chemotherapeutic, and antioxidant activities. Upon certain conditions, however, adverse effects of these compounds on human health have also been reported. Although they do not seem to have acute and severe toxicity to human, they can easily generate secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) when they react with oxygen and/or ozone, which have shown certain toxic effects on experimental animal models as well as on humans. Numerous household and scented products containing limonene, pinene, and isoprene are widely used in these days. However, biological consequences upon exposure to these products are largely unknown. The aim of this review is to summarize and analyze the current understanding on the biological effects of VOCs, in particular limonene, pinene, and isoprene, as well as their SOAs.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.2 s.95
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• pp.92-97
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• 2007

A series of source tests were conducted to characterize emissions of nitrogen oxide(NOx, NO, $NO_2$), carbon mon oxide(CO), carbon dioxide$(CO_2)$ and total VOCs from portable combustion devices in steady-state using well-mixed chamber. Since use of portable gas range is widespread in houses and restaurants in Korea, it is important to characterize the emission of air pollutants and suggest optimum ventilation rate. Ranges of emission rates of air pollutants from portable gas ranges were $NO \;0.551\sim0.939mg/hr,\;NO_2\;0.354\sim1.080mg/hr,\;NO_x\;1.207\sim1.631mg/hr,\;CO\;1.389\sim4.21mg/hr,\;CO_2\;2426.823\sim2973.495mg/hr$, and VOCs $0\sim0.119mg/h$. Mean of personal exposure and indoor environment level of $NO_2$ by combustion of portable gas range were 74.7 ppb and 65.4 ppb, respectively, suggesting persons using portable gas range in houses and restaurants might be highly exposed. Required ventilation rate to control the air pollutants emitted from portable gas range was maximumly $3.131m^3/hr$ on the basis of $NO_2$ indoor air quality standard.

• 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.

• Clean Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.133-140
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• 2001

The adsorption characteristics of binary-component Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs) with benzene and toluene were studied in a fixed bed backed with activated carbon. The adsorption intensites of benzene and toluene resulted from equilibrium adsorption capacity led to roll up phenomenon in a fixed bed and behaved benzene as non-key component which meant the smaller affinity to the activated carbon of the two. From comparion with breakthrough curves between binary-component and single component systems at the same concentration conditions, the stoichiomertic breakthrough time of toluene in both systems had no difference, but that of benzene as non-key component had a tendency to shorten 130min than 200min of single component. In the breakthrough characteristics of binary-component adsorbates, the magnitude of roll-up of the non-key component increased with the increasing of non-key component ratio and aspect ratio(L/D) of fixed bed, while decreased with the increasing of interstitial velocity. Especially, the roll-up phenomenon was more conspicuous with the increasing of mole fraction of key component.