• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.673-682
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• 2020

This study investigates the concentration distribution of aldehydes and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the archive of the National Library in Korea and evaluates the health risks to workers from hazardous chemicals. Acetaldehyde had the highest concentration among the nine species of aldehydes present in the archive and the concentration of toluene was the highest among the six species of VOCs. Most of the detected substances showed that their indoor concentrations were higher than the outdoor ones, suggesting the possibility of indoor sources of aldehydes and VOCs. The evaluation of health risks for workers based on these measurement results showed that not all substances were hazardous to the human body. However, considering the possibility of the presence of indoor sources and the potential limits of our study owing its short period, it is necessary to conduct long-term studies on the concentration distribution of indoor pollutants in the archive environment.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2008

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) have been shown to cause nervous system disorders through skin contact or respiration, and also cause foul odors even at low densities in most cases. Also, as a compound itself, VOCs are directly harmful to the environment and to the human body, and may participate in photochemical reactions in air to create secondary pollutants. In this study, HL-60 cells were treated with volatile organic compounds, including ethylbenzene and trichloroethylene, at a value of $IC_50$. Then, the in house-prepared Human HazChem arrayer was utilized in order to compare the gene expression between the two VOCs. After hybridization, 8 upregulated genes and 8 downregulated genes were discovered in the HazChem array. The upregulated genes were identified as SG15, TNFSF10, PRNP, ME1, NCOA4, SRXN1, TXNRD1, and XBP1. The downregulated genes were identified as MME, NRF1, PRARBP, CALCA, CRP, BAX, C7 or f40, and FGFR1. Such results were highly correlated with the quantitative RT-PCR results. The majority of the 16 genes were related with the characteristics of VOCs, including respiratory mechanism, apoptosis, and carcinogenesis-associated genes. Our data showed that our human HazChem array can be used to monitor hazardous materials via gene expression profiling.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.281-292
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• 1998

Ambient concentrations of gaseous, particulate phase ionic species, and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) were measured at two monitoring sites in the City of Ulsan during August 1997: one in industrial area and the other in downtown area. At each site, a three- stage filter pack sampler was used to collect fine particles and gaseous species, and air for VOC analysis was collected in stainless steel canisters. Concentrations of the ionic species at both sites were similar to each other. The VOC concentrations at the industrial site were approximately twice higher than those at the downtown site. This might be mainly due to the release of VOCs from the petrochemical industries. Daily variations of VOC concentrations at the industrial site were higher than that at the downtown site. This might be explained by the fact that emissions from industries were more irregular than those in downtown. The VOC concentrations in downtown were affected by both the local emissions and the emission from the petrochemical industries. The concentrations of selected hazardous organic components (HAPs) at the industrial site were similar to those of Yocheon industrial area but slightly higher than other cites and industrial areas, while those at the downtown site were comparable to those in other urban areas.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.244-258
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• 2018

We performed this study to investigate the spatial, seasonal, and daily variations of the concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Pohang, where large steel industrial complexes are located. Ambient air sampling was undertaken at 4 sites during 4 seasons. Each sample was taken for 4 hours continuously for 8 consecutive days per season at each site. Three sites were located within the Pohang city, but one as a control site in Gyeongju. A total of 72 individual VOCs were determined by thermal desorption coupled with GC/MS, including aliphatics, aromatics, carbonyls and halides. The most abundant VOC was toluene, being followed by ethylbenzene and xylenes. Benzene concentrations(c.a. 0.7 ppb) were found to be much lower than the national ambient standard of 1.5 ppb. Overall, the VOCs levels in Pohang appeared to be lower than other national industrial complexes in Korea such as Shiwha-Banwol, Yeosu-Gwangyang, Gumi, and Ulsan. This implies that steel industry may not give significant impacts on the atmospheric levels of VOCs as much as petrochemical, electronic, and/or textile industries, where large amounts of organic solvents are used.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.219-225
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• 2008

Many building materials may contain high concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other hazardous pollutants(HAPs). Specifically, VOCs discharged by indoor building material may cause "new house" syndrome, atopic dermatitis etc. The diffusion coefficient and initially contained total VOC quantity were determined using microbalance experiments and small chamber tests. Interactions between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and vinyl flooring (VF), a relatively homogenous, diffusion-controlled building material, were characterized. Rapid determination of the material/air partition coefficient (K) and the material-phase diffusion coefficient (D) for each VOC was achieved by placing thin VF slabs in a dynamic microbalance and subjecting them to controlled sorption/desorption cycles. K and D are shown to be independent of concentration for all of the VOCs and water vapor. This approach can be applied to other diffusion-controlled materials and should facilitate the prediction of their source/sink behavior using physically-based models.

• Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.35-41
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• 2021

Purpose: In this study, volatile organic compounds(VOCs) and aldehydes generated from roadside vehicles and other pollutants were measured and analyzed. Research design, data and methodology: As a result of measuring and analyzing three areas near the roadside, Vinyl chloride 0.00 ~ 0.02 ppb, Benzene 2.87 ~ 5.01 ppb. Toluene 4.51 ~ 8.62 ppb, Styrene 0.00 ~ 0.34 ppb, Formaldehyde 8.45 ~ 17.12 ug/m³, Acetaldehyde 7.01 ~ 17.64 ug/m³ were detected. When comparing the analysis results and the 6-month average concentration of the hazardous air monitoring network, the analysis results were about 26 times higher for Benzene, about 5 times for Toluene, and about 3.75 times for Styrene. In the case of vinyl chloride, it was confirmed that it was about 20 times lower than that of the hazardous atmosphere monitoring network. Results: Therefore, it is necessary to reexamine the installation location of the measurement network because people are exposed to pollutants on the actual roadside. It is judged that it is right to build a measurement network that is practically helpful to people by increasing the measurement items in the measurement network.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.370.1-370.1
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• 2016

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are considered hazardous air pollutants and these are emitted from building materials and household products. VOCs can cause global warming as well as human sickness, and even cancer. Photocatalysis provides a way of converting VOCs into harmless materials. Various researches have shown that $TiO_2$ is the most efficient photocatalysts due to its excellent activity. In this study, metal/non-metal doped $TiO_2$ particles are synthesized for the enhancement of the photocatalytic properties of pure $TiO_2$. By metal/non-metal doping, band gap energies of prepared samples were analyzed by UV/Visible spectrophotometer. The physical and chemical properties of synthesized powder were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope, by BET for measuring their specific surface area, and by XRD for phase identification and particle size determination. Degradation ability for p-xylene was evaluated through monitoring the concentration in a closed chamber. Relation between their properties and decomposition abilities for VOC were evaluated based on the experimental results.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.299-308
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• 2000

This study analyzed solid wastes generated from a school. The emission potential of hazardous pollutants generated from incineration of the school solid wastes (SSWs) was analyzed. Components of the SSWs were identified and the SSWs were classified into combustible and non-combustible wasts. The combustible wastes consisted of papers of 56.5^ plastics of 30.2% woods of 7.1% and fibers of 6.1% based on weight of the wastes. The moisture content and the ash content of the combustible wastes were 18~20% and 11~13% respectively. The combustible wastes of the SSWs were incinerated by using a small-scale incinerator. Fly and bottom ashes and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were collected from the incineration. Also the metal leaching experiments on the fly and bottom ashes were performed, In analysis of metals leached from the ashes the total amounts of metals leached in the acid solution (pH=3) were much greater than those in the neutral solution (pH=5.8~6.2) For the same amounts of the fly and bottom ashes the total amounts of metals leached from the fly ashes were much greater than those from the bottom ashes. The VOCs produced from incineration of the SSWs consisted of aromatics of 42.1% aliphatic alkenes of 26.3% oxidized forms of 17.3% and aliphatic alkanes of 14.3% In addition the considerable amounts of hazardous air pollutants (e.g benzene chloro-benzene and chloro-alkanes) and compounds (e. g, aliphatic alkenes) with high potential of ozone or photochemical smog formation were identified from the incineration experiment of the SSWs.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.439-444
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• 2012

We studied the characteristics of odor emitted from 40 swine facilities across the country under various conditions like rearing densities, management style, ventilation system and swine manure handling characteristics, based on the olfactory and analytical evaluation. Odor concentrations (D/T) measured from swine facilities were respectively an average 4,055 D/T at liquid manure storage tanks on aeration, an average 913 D/T at slurry manure storage, an average 506 D/T at finishing swine facilities and an average 201 D/T at composting facilities. The higher rearing densities and slurry accumulation volume in finishing swine house, the more odor concentration (D/T) was increased. But The odor concentration (D/T) in finishing swine house did not show significant difference according to application of microbial additives. 9 odor compounds ($NH_3$, $H_2S$, MM, DMS, DMDS, PA, n-BA, n-VA, i-VA) were detected at swine facilities and the main odor compounds were volatile sulfur compounds such as $H_2S$, MM and volatile fatty acids compounds such as n-BA, n-VA, i-VA. 97.5% of swine farms surveyed in this study is located within 300 m of residential area and it is easy to bring odor complaints.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.11-24
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• 2011

Working in a research laboratory means exposure to a wide range of hazardous substances. Several studies indicated that laboratory workers, especially working with chemicals, might have an increased risk of certain cancers. However, exposure assessment data in laboratory settings are scarce. This study was performed to examine several approaches for quantitatively assessing the exposure levels to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) among workers in chemistry laboratories. The list of 10 target VOCs, including ethanol, acetone, 2-propanol, dichlormethane, tetrahydrofuran, benzene, toluene, n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, was determined through self-administered questionnaire for six chemistry research laboratories in a university, a government-funded research institute, or private labs. From September to December 2008, 84 air samples were collected (15 area samples, 27 personal time weighted samples, 42 personal task-basis short-term samples). Real time monitors with photo ionization detector were placed during the sampling periods. In this study, benzene was observed exceeding the action levels, although all the results were below the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV). From the air sampling results, we concluded that (1) chemicals emitted during experiments could directly affect to neighbor office areas (2) chemical exposures in research laboratories showed a wide range of concentrations depending on research activities (3) area samples tended to underestimate the exposures relative to personal samples. Still, further investigation, is necessary for developing exposure assessment strategies specific to laboratories with unique exposure profiles.