• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.615-621
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• 2018

Recently, various environmentally friendly products have been developed for improving the indoor air quality while pursuing a well-being nature-friendly healthy life as a core value. In this research, we not only solve the problems of existing environmentally friendly paints, but also developed a charcoal composite seats that can reduce radon, which is a natural radioactive substance, and evaluated the reduction effect of radon, formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds. In the charcoal composite seats, a sodium silicate emulsion and charcoal were mixed to prepare an charcoal liquid coating material, and the composite seats was fabricated by air-spray coating method. In order to analyze the hazardous substance reduction performance of the fabricated charcoal composite seats, radon was designed to comply with the Ministry of the Environment standard, formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds were designed to comply with KCL-FIR-1085 standard. As a result of the experiment, the fabricated charcoal composite seats was evaluated as having a radon reduction capability of about 90.8% from 20 hours, formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds were 3 hours, and the reduction capability of 96.7% and 96.6% was found respectively. It is considered that these results can be utilized as basic data at the time of product development for improvement of indoor air quality.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.397-412
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• 1996

This study aims to present the fundamental strategies to improve the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in apartment buildings. To investigate the concentration of indoor air pollutants such as radon, formaldehyde, and VOCs, both the document survey and the field measurement were conducted. In addition, to identify the source of the air pollutants, the laboratory experiment was carried out for various building materials. Finally, the minimum period to be reserved befor3e building occupation to ensure healthy IAQ, which largely depends on the ventilation rates, was simulated using a simple compuer program. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: 1. In case of newly-constructed apartment houses, concentrations of formaldehyde, VOCs and radon were found to exceed the standard. Meanwhile, at existing apartment houses, concentrations of VOCs, particularly toluene and xylene, highly exceeded the standasrd level. Concentrations of formaldehyde and radon, however, had been lowered according to the duration of occupation. 2. The laboratory experiment of concentration of pollutants per square meter of building material surface area showed that radon gas was much emitted from the gypsumboard; formaldehyde from flooring and wallpaper; and VOCs from paints and kitchen furnishings. The emission rates of formaldehyde and VOCs were proportional to air temperature. 3. According to the simulation of the minimum period to be reserved before occupation, newly-constructed airtight houses required about 190-200 days, and naturally ventialted houses with fully-open-windows required about 20-45days, in order to keep the level of radon gas lower than standard. Therefore, with the current practice, the date of occupation should be delayed for about 15 days.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1992

A number of investigators have reported the formation of the radiolytic ultrafine particles produced by the interaction of ionizing radiation with water vapor. Previous studies have suggested that a very high localized concentration of the OH radical produced by the radiolysis of water can react with trace gas like organic vapors and produce lower vapor pressure compounds that can then nucleate. In order to determine water vapor dependence of the active, positively charged, first radon daughter(Po-218), an experiment was conducted using a well-controlled radon chamber. The activity size distribution of the radon daughter in the range of 0.5-100nm was measured using the parallel graded wire screens system. Measurements were taken for different relative humidity. The resultant activity size distributions were analyzed. The addition of water vapor to the radon carrier gases resulted in the formation of ultrafine particles by OH radicals formed by radon radiolysis. It may be due to the neutralization of charged Po-218 ion with water vapor through the radio lysis.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.57-82
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• 2005

In this study, we propose methods for. the efficient management and integrity of groundwater in response to a diminishing supply. As an alternative water resource for the future. we investigated and comparatively analyzed the quality standards of groundwater in the US (New York, Wisconsin and Texas), Austria, Netherlands, Canada, Japan and United Kingdom. These developed countries heavily depend on groundwater, more than 70%, for drinking water and apply those drinking water standards to groundwater quality. However, there exists few differences in the quality standards of groundwater among the countries, because each country possesses its own individual environment and management. In Korea, surface water pollution is getting serious and its water resources are diminishing. Therefore we propose several new quality criteria that many countries regulate at these days for their efficient management of groundwater. There is a need to divide BTEX criterion into Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene, individually. In. addition, it is needed to establish BTEX criteria into agricultural water and industrial water use standards as well as daily life use standards. Also, regulations for some PAHs, showing carcinogenicity, are required. Due to rapid industrialization various hazardous chemicals were utilized and their uses are increasing each year. Therefore, there is a strong need to introduce n~w standards and tighter regulations of the levels. At the same time, the criterion of nitrogenous compounds need' to be regulated individually in order to prevent the damage incurred by the compounds. Several developed countries have established standards for radon, previously caused environmental accidents in Korea. Therefore, we propose the necessity of groundwater quality standards for radon in this study.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.569-579
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• 2011

This study evaluated the indoor air quality of 26 government offices located in Seoul. The pollutant samples were taken from Jan. 13th to Jan. 29th and Feb. 20th to Feb. 23rd, 2010 in the offices. The target indoor pollutants for this study were $PM_{10}$, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, total bacteria counts, total volatile organic compounds, radon, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and asbestos which were controlled by the indoor air quality law for the multiple-use facilities management. The results of this study showed that some pollutants of the 38.5% offices exceeded the standards of the air quality guideline. The correlation analysis of the same pollutants between indoor and outdoor represented that $NO_2$ (r=0.629, p<0.05) and $O_3$ (r=0.459, p<0.01) were significant, however, $PM_{10}$ and CO were not. The correlation analysis between different pollutants showed that CO and TVOC (total volatile organic compounds: r=0.724; p<0.01), CO and $NO_2$ (r=0.674; p<0.01), HCHO and humidity (r=0.605; p<0.01), $CO_2$ and TVOC (r=0.534; p<0.01), TBC (total bacteria counts) and Asbestos (r=0.520; p<0.01) were significant. The energy-saving system of government buildings in winter caused under-ventilated and poor air quality. This study suggests that the concentrations of radon and $CO_2$ should be used as an indicator for monitoring indoor air quality and maintaining effective ventilations.

• Proceeding of Spring/Autumn Annual Conference of KHA
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.83-87
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• 2003

In recent days, IAQ(Indoor Air Quality) is regarded as one of the most important environmental factors as well as thermal and acoustic comfort. Various architectural materials are applied and air-tightness of the building is more strengthening to save energy consumption. This is why the air quality of the newly built houses became worse. In this study, contaminants(CO, CO$_2$, Radon, TVOCs, HCHO) density was measured in a newly built house and evaluation was carried out by ASHRAE and EPA Standards. As a result, CO, CO$_2$, TSP and Radon density of the newly built house was in a range of ASHRAE and EPA Standards, but it turned out TVOCs and HCHO density exceeds almost 3${\sim}$5 times in comparison with that of ASHRAE and EPA Standards.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.54-67
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• 2006

This study was performed to deduct the extension possibility of the standards establishment for $NO_2$, $O_3$, Asbestos, Radon, total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) excluded in the indoor air part of Industrial Safety Acts in Korea. The air pollutants were sampled for 30 office buildings from August to September, 2005 in the metropolitan area. The airborne concentrations of $NO_2$, $O_3$, Radon and TVOC were 0.0092 ppm, 0.0035 ppm, 0.57 pCi/L and $423{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. The management plan and reduction methods is required in the aspect of indoor air quality(IAQ) because the emission sources of those also exist in indoor as well as outdoor even though those were not exceeded the standards of the Ministry of Environment in Korea. The standard for TVOC in the new and remodeling office has to be established based on the risk assessment when hazard index exceeded "1" in the worst case scenario. In the state of art, the management of each volatile organic compounds has a difficulty due to not enough data for toxicological reference. Therefore, it is suggested that first of all, the standard for TVOC be established and then expanded to each materials for decision-making of improvement of IAQ in office.

• Journal of odor and indoor environment
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.322-329
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• 2018

The objective of this study is to identify the research trend in the field of indoor environment in Korea. We collected 419 papers published in the Journal of the Korean Society for indoor environment between 2004 and 2018, and attempted to produce datasets using a topic modeling technique, Latent Dirichlet Allocation(LDA). The result of topic modeling showed that 8 topics ("VOCs investigation", "Subway environment", "Building thermal environment", "School health", "Building particulate matter", "Asbestos risk", "Radon risk", "Air cleaner and treatment") could be extracted using Gibbs sampling method. In terms of topic trends, investigation of volatile organic compounds, subway environment, school health, and building particulate matter showed a decreasing tendency, while the building thermal environment, asbestos risk, radon risk, air cleaners, and air treatment showed an increasing tendency. The results of this topic modeling could help us to understand current trends related indoor environment, and provide valuable information in developing future research and policy frameworks.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.79-83
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• 1995

A number of investigators have reported formation of radiolytic ultrafine particles produced by the interaction of ionizing radiation with atmospheric trace gases. Previous studies have suggested that a very high localized concentration of the hydroxyl radical produced by the radiolysis of water can react with atmospheric trace gases such as $SO_2$ and produce lower vapor pressure compounds that can subsequently nucleate. To determine the trace gas and water vapor concentration dependence of the active, positively charged, first decayt product of radon (Po-218), a well-controlled radon chamber was used in this research. The mobility spectrum of the decay products in the range of $0.07-5.0cm^2/V\;sec$ from the radon chamber was measured using alpha track detector installed inside a specially-designed electrostatic spectrometer. Measurements were taken for different concentrations (0.5ppm to 5ppm) of $SO_2$ in Purified, Compressed air. A kinetics Study following the clustering of $SO_2$ around the $PoO_x^+$ ion in an excess of $SO_2$ for interpretation of the reaction processes was performed.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.86-94
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• 2020

This study serves as basic research for the development of a new wood-based building finishing material that improved the weakness of inorganic materials such as gypsum board and magnesium board widely used as interior finishing materials and brought out the strength of the wood. The results of evaluating the physical and mechanical properties and the environmental effect related to hazardous substance discharge having manufactured a wood-magnesium laminated composite are as follows. The thermal conductivity and thermal resistance of WML board was improved by about 28~109 percent over magnesium board due to the low thermal conductivity of wood. The adhesive strength of WML board showed a similar result to that of plywood as it exceeds 0.7N/㎟, the adhesive standard of wood veneer which is presented by KS F 3101. Bending strength and screw holding strength were more improved by manufacturing WML board than magnesium board. The WML board manufactured in this study satisfied the criteria for emissions of hazardous substances prescribed in the Indoor Air Quality Control Act, and confirmed the possibility of development as a new wood-based composite material that can replace existing inorganic materials.