• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.105-110
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• 2009

Yellow sand (or Asian dust) occurs mainly in spring in East Asia. Yellow sand from China and its surrounding regions transports air pollutants, such as aerosols, ozone, and heavy metals. The outdoor workers are frequently exposed to heavy metals during yellow sand phenomenon. This study was carried out to investigate the heavy metal levels in blood among 75 outdoor workers (exposed group) and 86 indoor workers (controled group) in Gyeonggi province from March 2008 to May 2009. Heavy metal levels in blood were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Mean blood lead levels in exposed group and controled group were $5.19{\pm}1.64{\mu}g/dL$, $4.24{\pm}1.34{\mu}g/dL$, respectively. Mean blood cadmium levels in exposed group and controled group were $1.28{\pm}0.89{\mu}g/dL$, $0.90{\pm}0.59{\mu}g/dL$, respectively. Lead and Cadmium levels in blood of exposed group were significantly higher than those of controled group. In the comparison of smoking status, lead and cadmium levels of smokers were significantly higher than those of non-smokers. In conclusion, the heavy metal levels of outdoor workers were significantly higher than those of indoor workers. And smoking was hazardous factor to elevate heavy metal levels in blood.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.1.1-5
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• 2001

High SPM concentrations(199.8~249.4${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$/㎥) were detected in the west Korea during the Yellow Sand Periods, 2000. Majority of the total SPM were composed of about 5${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ sized coarse particles over the periods. However, fine particles sized about 1 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and coarse particles sized about 5-6${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ showed peaks at the graph of SPM size distribution in the Non Yellow Sand Period. Airborne fungal spores at the SPM samples were cultured and identified. Full-grown colonies during the Yellow Sand Periods, Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium and Basipetospora are hyphomycetes in the division Fungi imperfecti(Deuteromycota). And morphologically more diversified mycelia of hyphomycetes were grown on the sample captured from 1.1~2.1${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ sized SPM than on other sized samples during the Yellow Sand Period. But no mold was observed on the sample of 1.1~2.1${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ sized SPM in the Non Yellow Sand Period. It was thought that several sorts of fine sized fungal spores were suspended in the atmospheric environment of the west Korea during the Asian dust episodes.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.1081-1087
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• 2002

This study was performed to research the characteristics of suspended particulate for Yellow Sand of January, 1999 in Busan. Yellow Sand frequency during 13 years(1988~2000) in Busan showed maximum in April(57%), next to March(21%), May(16%). According to result of 850hPa weather map and backward isentropic trajectory, this event originated from the Gobi Desert and the Loess Plateau of China. And three mode was found in time series of TSP and PM10 concentration, primary peak showed the maximum hourly concentration at ali station. Gamjeondong as industrial site showed the highest TSP concentration and also had the longest high concentration($geq700\mu\textrm{g}/m^3$). In PM10, concentration of primary peak showed maximum value at Yeonsandong, maximum concentration of secondary and third peak was Deokcheondong. Lasted time from primary peak to secondary peak was about 30 hours, between secondary peak and third peak was 18 hours in Busan, The traveling time between occurrence of Yellow Sand the finding of it was 8~9 hours in Busan and 4~5 hours in central area.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.47-62
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• 1991

Yellow Sand Phenomena was observed from April 8 th to 10 th in 1990. During this period particle was collected to investigate the chacteristics of chemical composition of particulate by High Volume Air Sampler and Andersen Air Sa~npler in Seoul. During this period the particle concentration was 350 yg/$m^3$ and the anions, cations, and metal concentrations were increased and the orders of these were $S0_4\;^{-2}>N0_3\;^->Cl^->F^-, Na^+>Ca^{+2}>NH_4\;^+>Mg^{2+}>K^+$, and Fe>Al>Si>Zn>Pb respectively. The principal source of Yellow Sand were identified soil and sea salt. Mn used by the trace element of soil, the persentage of contribution from soil was calculated to be about 81.3% for the particle increased by Yellow Sand Phenomena. Also the principal chemical compounds of particle were estimate metals(Fe, Al, Si, Zn) oxides, $CaSO_4, NaSO_4, MgSO_4, NaC1, MgCl_2$ and $(NH_4)_2SO_4$.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.52-57
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• 1992

The influence of soil particles on TSP transported from China contient to Seoul by the Yellow sand phenomenon was investigated from the analytical results of TSP during three years, April 1988 through May 1991. The TSP was collected by a high volume air sampler abour five times a month, and then analyzed by A.A.S. and UV-Visible spectrophotometry. During the Yellow sand phenomenon, the mean concentration of TSP at Seoul was about 578 $\mug/m^3$ and three times higher than that in the ordinary time which was about 194 $\mug/m^3$. The mean contribution of soil particles calculated by Al content to TSP was 28% in the ordinary time, but the degree of contribution jumped to about 60% during the Yellow sand phenomena. The concentration of soil particles transported from China continent to Seoul was estimated to be 175.1 $\mug/m^3$ on an average(104 $\mug/m^3-231 \mug/m^3$).

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.199-209
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• 1995

The variations of TSP concentrations observed at Air Quality Monitoring Stations(AQMSs) in Seoul were analysed from 1986 to 1993. And those of Yellow Sand period were investigated to find out the characteristics between normal and Yellow Sand period. The TSP concentrations have begun lower than 150.mu.g/m$^{3}$ annual mean concentration at Gwanghwamun, Hannam-dong, and south river region since 1989, and air quality in Seoul was improved in 1991, but polluted again in Hannam-dong, and Seongsu-dong in 1992. Yellow sand phenomena of 1990 and 1993 were selected for case study. During the whole period in 1990, the TSP concentrations were exceeded over 300.mu.g/m$^{3}$, which is the upper limit of 24 hour concentration, at the center of city such as Mapo, Gileum-dong, sinseol-dong. But in 1993, the TSP concentrations got lower than 24 hour concentration, and air quality was highly improved.

• Atmosphere
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.137-147
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• 2012

The technique of Brightness Temperature Difference (BTD) between 11 and $12{\mu}m$ separates yellow sand dust from clouds according to the difference in absorptive characteristics between the channels. However, this method causes consistent false alarms in many cases, especially over the desert. In order to reduce these false alarms, we should eliminate the background noise originated from surface. We adopted the Background BTD (BBTD), which stands for surface characteristics on clear sky condition without any dust or cloud. We took an average of brightness temperatures of 11 and $12{\mu}m$ channels during the previous 15 days from a target date and then calculated BTD of averaged ones to obtain decontaminated pixels from dust. After defining the BBTD, we subtracted this index from BTD for the Yellow Sand Index (YSI). In the previous study, this method was already verified using the geostationary satellite, MTSAT. In this study, we applied this to the polar orbiting satellite, MODIS, to detect yellow sand dust over Northeast Asia. Products of yellow sand dust from OMI and MTSAT were used to verify MODIS YSI. The coefficient of determination between MODIS YSI and MTSAT YSI was 0.61, and MODIS YSI and OMI AI was also 0.61. As a result of comparing two products, significantly enhanced signals of dust aerosols were detected by removing the false alarms over the desert. Furthermore, the discontinuity between land and ocean on BTD was removed. This was even effective on the case of fall. This study illustrates that the proposed algorithm can provide the reliable distribution of dust aerosols over the desert even at night.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.92-106
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• 2004

Elemental dry deposition fluxes were measured using dry deposition plates from March to June 1998 in Seoul, Korea. During this spring sampling period several yellow sand events characterized by long-range transport from China and Mongolia impacted the area. Understanding the impact of yellow-sand events on atmospheric dry deposition is critical to managing the heavy metal levels in the environment in Korea. In this study, the measured flux of a primarily crustal metal, Al and an anthropogenic metal, Pb was used with two hybrid receptor models, potential source contribution function (PSCF) and residence time weighted concentration (RTWC) for locating sources of heavy metals associated with atmospheric dry deposition fluxes during the yellow-sand events in Seoul, Korea. The PSCF using a criterion value of the 75th percentile of the measured dry deposition fluxes and RTWC results using the measured elemental dry deposition fluxes agreed well and consistently showed that there were large potential source areas in the Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia and industrial areas near Tianjin, Tangshan, and Shenyang in China. Major industrial areas of Shenyang, Fushun, and Anshan, the Central China loess plateau, the Gobi Desert, and the Alaskan semi-desert in China were identified to be major source areas for the measured Pb flux in Seoul, Korea. For Al, the main industrial areas of Tangshan, Tianjin and Beijing, the Gobi Desert, the Alashan semi-desert, and the Central China loess plateau were found to be the major source areas. These results indicate that both anthropogenic sources such as industrial areas and natural sources such as deserts contribute to the high dry deposition fluxes of both Pb and Al in Seoul, Korea during yellow-sand events. RTWC resolved several high potential source areas. Modeling results indicated that the long-range transport of Al and Pb from China during yellow-sand events as well as non yellow-sand spring daytimes increased atmospheric dry deposition of heavy metals in Korea.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1997

Distribution of airborne microorganisms was determined with two different types of air samplers, the Anderson cascade sampler and the Aerobioscope sampler, in the vicinity of Taejon. The size distribution of particles carrying bacteria and fungi was concurrently measured. The concentration of detected viable airborne particles was greatly varied. It was observed that the number of microbial particles increased in April and October. The most isze o particles carrying bacteria was larger than 4.7 .mu.m in mean aerodiameter, which made up 69.8% of the total particle fraction. About 63.2% of fungi-carrying particles were smaller than 4.7 .mu.m in aerodiameter. The distribution of particles on Yellow Sand Phenomena days was also analyzed. The number of fine particles having mass median aero-diameter from 1.0 to 10.mu.m increased on Yellow Sand Phenomena days to about 6 times that on normal days and the n umber of colony forming unit (CFU/$\textrm{m}^3$) of airborne bacteria also increased by 4.3 times in April. The reuslts from the Anderson sampler showed that the concentration of bacteria increased greatly on the fraction of fine particles ranging from 0.6 $\mu$m to 4.7 $\mu$m in diameter. Unlike the increase in bacterial floraon Yellow Sand Phenomena days, the fungal concentration slightly decreased and showed a normal size distribution parttern. This study suggests that a long-range transmission of bacteria results form bacteria adsorbing onto the fine particles during the Yellow Sand Phenomena.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.191-200
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• 1999

Analysis of chirp high-resolution seismic profiles from the central Yellow Sea reveals that depositional environments in this area can be divided into three distinctive zones from west to east: (1) subaqueous delta system near the Shandong Peninsula, (2) erosional zone in the central Yellow Sea, and (3) tidal sand ridges and sand waves near the Korean Peninsula. The Shandong subaqueous delta, extending southward from the Shandong Peninsula, changes gradually into prodelta southeastward. The sediments originated from the Yellow River are transported southward along the Chinese coastal area. The erosional zone in the central Yellow Sea contains numerous paleochannels and shows linear erosional features trending northwest-southeast. The erosional zone would be dominated by non-depositional or erosional processes during the Holocene. Tidal sand ridges and sand waves are well developed along the western coast of Korea. The residual sands, which were originally fluvial sediments at the sea-level lowstand, are interpreted as the result of winnowing process during the sea-level rise. Modern sand ridges generally migrates in a northeast-southwestern direction, which coincide with dominant tidal current direction.