• 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.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.179-191
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• 2016

In addition to the measurement of the concentration of soil contaminants, the new idea of indicative parameters was proposed to validate the remedial works through the monitoring for the changes of soil characteristics after applying the clean up technologies. The parameters like CFU (colony forming unit), pH and soil texture were recommended as indicative parameters for land farming. In case of soil washing, water content and the particle size distribution of the sludge were recommended as indicative parameters. The sludge is produced through the particle separation process in soil washing and it is usually treated as a waste. The parameters like water content, organic matter content, CEC (cation exchange capacity) and CFU were recommended as indicative parameters for the low temperature thermal desorption method. Besides the indicative parameter, sampling methods in stock pile and the optimal minimum amount of composite soil sample were proposed. The rates of sampling error in regular grid, zigzag, four bearing, random grid methods were 17.3%, 17.6%, 17.2% and 16.5% respectively. The random grid method showed the minimum sampling error among the 4 kinds of sampling methods although the differences in sampling errors were very little. Therefore the random grid method was recommended as an appropriate sampling method in stock pile. It was not possible to propose a value of optimal minimum amount of composite soil sample based on the real analytical data due to the dynamic variation of $CV_{fund{\cdot}error}$. Instead of this, 355 g of soil was recommended for the optimal minimum amount of composite soil sample under the assumption of ISO 10381-8.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.66-73
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• 2005

In this study, we investigated the gas chromatography (GC) and pulsed flame photometric detection (PFPD) system for the analysis of four major reduced S compounds including hydrogen sulfide ($H_2S$); methyl mercaptan ($CH_3SH$); dimethyl sulfide (DMS); and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) contained in environmental samples. To analyze these compounds in high concentration range (above ppb level), we developed a high mode analytical setting with the loop-injection system. By contrast, we also established a low mode setting for the analysis of low concentration samples (ppt-level samples from ambient air) by the combination with thermal desorption unit (TDU). Comparative analysis of both settings revealed that relative detection properties of four S compounds are systematic enough. The results of high mode analysis indicated that the patterns were systematic among S compounds: $H_2S$ exhibited the lowest sensitivity, while DMDS showed the strongest one. The results were also compared in terms of sensitivity reductions for all compounds by dividing slope ratios between low and high mode system. Although low mode system exhibited significant reductions on the order of a few tens times, their detection characteristics were highly consistent as it was shown in the high mode setting. To learn more about absolute and relative relations between two different modes of S analysis, future studies may have to be directed to cover more complicated nature of GC/PFPD performance.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.523-538
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• 2009

Recently, there has been a keen demand for real-time automatic monitoring of VOCs not only in Korea but other developed countries. We carried out this study to evaluate and to optimize the performance of a continuous automatic monitoring system for hazardous VOCs (HVOCs) in the ambient atmosphere, using an on-line GC system. The online system normally consisted of a Nafion dryer prior to a cold trap of an automatic thermal desorption apparatus and a GC system equipped with two detectors, i.e. PID and ECD. Preliminary tests conducted to check out any contamination of the system revealed an evidence of significant artifact formation of benzene, and it was found that the Nafion dryer (even brand new one) is the source of the benzene artifact. Thus, all the subsequent experiments in this study was carried out inevitably by removing the Nafion dryer. The on-line GC method was investigated with a variety of QC/QA performance criteria such as repeatability, linearity, lower detection limits, and accuracy. In order to find out the best operating condition for the on-line GC system, three different types (in terms of adsorption strength) of cold trap combinations were tested, i.e. (i) Tenax-TA and Carbopack-B combination (weak and hydrophobic); (ii) Tenax-TA, Carbopack-X and Carboxen-1000 combination (strong and hydrophilic); and (iii) Tenax-TA and Carbopack-X combination (medium and hydrophobic/hydrophilic). The USEPA TO-17 manual method was selected as a reference method to evaluate the performance of the on-line method. A series of experiments revealed that the system performance was superior to others when a cold trap packed with hydrophilic adsorbents (Tenax-TA/Carbopack-X/Carboxen-1000 combination) was used and operated at $25^{\circ}C$. However, the system with a cold trap packed with a combination of Tenax-TA and Carbopack-X is more recommended for field applications since the carboxen-1000 adsorbent is too sensitive to water vapor, and hence the performance of the system might be very unstable to humid samples or during rainy days. Furthermore, the precision and accuracy criteria of the Tenax-TA/ Carbopack-X combination were generally compatible with the triple adsorbents cold trap. The continuous automatic monitoring method is, thus, considered very useful to real-time monitoring to understand the variations of VOCs concentrations in ambient air, as it adopts much simpler procedures in sampling, analysis, and data integration steps than manual monitoring methods. However, it should be noted that there is a high possibility of benzene artifacts formation through the Nafion dryer, which is often installed to remove water vapor in air samples before being adsorbed onto the cold trap. Therefore, if a Nafion dryer is used in any studies of monitoring VOCs, the benzene contamination should be carefully examined before carrying out obtaining the data.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.432-441
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• 2001

An automated on-line portable preconcentration-short column gas chromatograph was developed, which used preconcentrator using adsorption tube with Tenax-GR and Curie-point heating. The developed system operated with 3 steps of processing, preconcentration, thermal desorption, and analysis and cleaning, and could continued operating within 1~2 min cycle. The recoveries of preconcentrator for toluene was ranged between $94.7{\pm}6.6%$ and $103.8{\pm}3.1%$ with less than 7% of RSD. For benzene, toluene and xylene(BTX) standard gas test, IDL was 41, 49, $472ng/m^3$ benzene, toluene and o-xylene, respectively. The BTX mixture was analyzed within 30 sec with baseline separation by the system equipped with 4 m long capillary column. The deficiency of separation power caused by short column was solved by the control of sample injection volume and inlet/outlet pressure ratio. The automated portable preconcentration-short column gas chromatograph system was found to be useful for the continuous air monitoring of BTX at ppb levels in ambient air.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.24-35
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• 2010

To learn more about the calibration properties of reduced sulfur compounds (RSCs) by the combination of gas chromatography(GC)-pulsed flame photometric detector (PFPD) and thermal desorption method, a series of calibration experiments were conducted on the basis of both internal and external calibration approaches. For these experiments, gaseous standards of 4 RSCs ($H_2S$, $CH_3SH$, DMS, and DMDS) were prepared at two different concentration levels of both low (10, 20, 50,and 100 ppb) and high ranges (100, 200, 500, and 1000 ppb) along with $CS_2$ as an internal standard. First, the external calibration results were compared between fixed standard volume (FSV) and fixed standard concentration (FSC) method. Secondly, FSV-based calibration results were compared between external and internal calibration results. As FSV method suffers from sensitivity variations less significantly than FSC, the former is recommended to maintain the consistency in GC-TD sensitivity for RSC analysis. In addition, when the calibration data were examined in terms of RSE between external and internal calibration data, the results were not consistent enough to show improvements in internal method. Hence, diverse efforts are desirable to optimize the reproducibility in terms of GC-TD sensitivity for RSC analysis.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.150-158
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• 2020

Objective: This study is designed to measure the concentration of DBPs (disinfection by-products) in pool water and in air and to estimate the carcinogenic potential through the evaluation of inhalation exposure. Methods: The subjects were six indoor swimming pools with many users in Gwangju. Samples of pool water and indoor air were taken every one month from August 2018 to August 2019 and analyzed for eight swimming pool standards. Three-liter air samples were collected and the VOCs were analyzed using GC/MS directly connected to thermal desorption. Results: pH was 6.8-7.5 and the concentration of free residual chlorine in pool water was 0.40-0.96 ?/ℓ. Physicochemical test items such as KMnO₄ consumption and heavy metal items such as Aluminum met existing pool hygiene standards. No VOC materials were detected except for the DBPs. The concentration of THMs in the pool water was 11.05-41.77 ㎍/L and the THMs mainly consist of Chloroform (63-97%) and BDCM (3-31%). The concentration of indoor air THMs is 13.24-32.48 ㎍/㎥ and consists of Chloroform. The results of carcinogenic assessment of chloroform in the indoor swimming pool via inhalation exposure were 2.0 to 6.4 times higher than the 'acceptable risk level' suggested by the US EPA. Conclusions: The concentration of THMs in the pool water is 11.05-41.77 ㎍/L, most of which is chloroform. In addition, the concentration of indoor air THMs is 13.24-32.48 ㎍/㎥. The result of carcinogenic assessment of chloroform was 2.0 to 6.4 times higher than the 'acceptable risk level' suggested by the US EPA.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.304-309
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• 1999

Aluminum-pillared clay was prepared by the intercalation of Al-hydroxy oligomer into domestic bentonite. The solid products are characterized by XRD, nitrogen adsorption/desorption, EDX, and SEM. The solid products show relatively high specific surface areas in the range of $104{\sim}228m^2/g$, and their specific surface area, micropore surface area, and micropore volume increase with increasing the mole ratio of OH/Al. From the results of pore size distribution calculated by BJH equation, it was found that aluminum-pillared clay also contains much mesopore near $40{\AA}$. These results indicate that Al-hydroxy oligomer was intercalated into bentonite, and aluminum oxide was pillared among the layers of bentonite, and micropore and mesopore was finally developed into layers. As OH/Al mole ratio increases, the thermal stability of aluminum-pillared clay increases. This result can be explained by the fact that the density of layers is increased due to the formation of aluminum pillars.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.633-648
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• 2010

The study was performed to elucidate the characteristics of VOCs at distinct monitoring sites in urban atmosphere; one is at a roadside in downtown inland city of Jeonju, and the other is at an industrial site in Gunsan near coastal area. The ambient samples were collected for 24 hours in two-bed adsorbent tubes by using MTS-32 sequential tube sampler equipped with Flex air pump every 16 days in a roadside and a industrial complex from February to November in 2009. VOCs were determined by thermal desorption coupled with GC/MSD. Major individual VOCs in roadside samples were shown as following order in magnitude: toluene>m,p-xylene>ethyl benzene>decanal; and those in the industrial complex samples were as follows: toluene>ethanol>ethyl acetate>decanal>m,pxylene. High benzene concentration in the roadside was more frequently occurred than in the industrial complex. However ambient level of toluene in the industrial complex was higher than that in the road side. Results from roadside sample analysis showed that nonane and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene were very frequently observed with higher concentrations than those in the industrial complex. It seems that nonane and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene could be the source characteristics for the roadside air. From the diurnal variation, it was found that concentrations of benzene, ethylbenzene, xylene, nonane and 1,2,4-trimethylbenznene in the roadside were higher during rush hours; but those in the industrial complex were higher from 10 to 16 LST when the industrial activities were animated. On weekly base, the concentration of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and m,p-xylene in the roadside were higher specifically on Wednesday, but those in the industrial complex were higher on Sunday. It was found that the general trends of VOCs levels at both sites significantly influence on seasonal changes. The results of factor analysis showed that the VOCs in the roadside were mainly affected by the emission of vehicles and the evaporation of diesel fuel, meanwhile those in the industrial complex were influenced by the evaporation of solvents and vehicular emission.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.63-73
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• 2012

In this study, the 89 components of the gases emitted from grave goods at Sim Seol(1570-1630) tomb identified and quantitatively analyzed using a thermal desorption system integrated with gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. The concentration of major components show the levels of alpha-pinene 4,113ppbv, beta-pinene 2,510ppbv and limonene 2,424ppbv, that of the others orderly show p-menth-2-ene, acetone, isolongifolene and isoborneol. The functional groups of high concentration level cover 65% of terpenes and 25.8% of alcohols. The expected odor intensity orderly show 35.1% of terpenes, 33.4% of aldehydes and 8.8% of alcohols. Terpenes have generally effect of a perfume, antifungal and antimicrobial activity, and could come out of the pine(Pinus densiflora) coffin, aldehydes and alcohols could be come out of both the Sim Seol mirra and Pinus densiflora for a long time. The analyses of gases emitted from a excavated properties or a tomb are assessed that it can pc001 provide a scientific basis on a counterplan against harmful gases, a method of conservation treatments and a evaluation of effectiveness in conservation of cultural properties in a tomb.