Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemicals to which humans are exposed frequently via various mediums, including vehicle emissions that contain fine dust and heavy metals, use of organic solvent building materials, furniture, and smoking. Exposure to high concentrations of VOCs may result in loss of consciousness, paralysis, convulsions, and, in the most severe cases, death. Therefore, the present study investigated the indoor and outdoor concentrations of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and five types of VOCs (benzene, toluene, styrene, m,p-xylene, and o-xylene) in apartments, a representative residential environment accounting for ~55% of the housing in the Seoul metropolitan area. The research was conducted over four seasons from May 2020 to February 2021, and the levels of VOC concentrations were analyzed by classifying them by season, weekday/weekend, and indoor/outdoor locations. The seasonal trend in VOC concentrations showed that TVOC concentration was highest in summer, with values of 1630.93 ± 1184.10 μg/m3 and 1610.36 ± 1363.43 μg/m3 for indoor and outdoor environments, respectively. The seasonal trends of the concentrations of the five types of VOCs showed that concentrations of benzene and toluene were highest in spring, the concentrations of m,p-xylene and o-xylene were highest in summer, and the concentration of styrene was highest in winter, irrespective of spatial characteristics such as indoor/outdoor environments. In all four seasons, the indoor concentrations were higher than the outdoor concentrations. These results reveal the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of the VOCs and so can serve as useful basic data for managing indoor and outdoor levels of VOCs.

The concentration of TVOCs in public transportation in the spring and summer of 2018 was measured. Public transportation measured the concentration of TVOCs on six subway lines in Seoul, two lines of high-speed trains, and intercity buses. The measurements were taken during the operation of each route of the surveyed public transportation from the origin to the destination. In addition, the measurement time was divided into the congestion time and the non-congestion time. In the spring of 2018, in the order of subway, train A, train B, and intercity buses, TVOC concentrations during the congestion time zone were 205.9 μg/m3, 121.3 μg/m3, 171.1 μg/m3, and 88.7 μg/m3, respectively. During the non-congestion time zone, the concentrations were 177.2 μg/m3, 108.8 μg/ m3, 118.2 μg/m3, and 126.1 μg/m3, respectively. In the summer of 2018, TVOC concentrations in the order of the aforementioned transportation modes during the congestion time zone were 169.8 μg/m3, 175.8 μg/m3, 78.0 μg/ m3, and 185.3 μg/m3, respectively. During the non-congestion time zone, the concentrations were 210.8 μg/m3, 116.1 μg/m3, and 162.7 μg/m3, respectively. An analysis of BTEX concentration among VOCs in public transportation in descending order were followed by toluene > xylene > ethylbenzene > benzene. Toluene, which has the highest concentration among the BTEX compounds, was found to be 12.86 μg/m3 to 91.41 μg/m3 during spring congestion time and 7.10 μg/m3 to 39.52 μg/m3 during non-congestion time. During the summer congestion time, the concentration was 6.68 μg/m3 to 249.48 μg/m3 and 13.23 μg/m3 to 214.5 μg/m3 during the non-congestion time. The concentration of benzene was mostly less than 5 μg/m3 in transportation. Particularly in the case of toluene, the concentration is significantly higher than that of other VOCs. Accordingly, further study of toluene exposure hazards will be needed. Five percent of the surveyed TVOC concentrations exceeded the recommended indoor air quality standard of 500 μg/m3, and all 13 cases representing this percentage were found in the subway. In addition, nine of the 13 cases that exceeded the recommended standard were measured during congestion time. Therefore, VOCs in public transportation vehicles during congestion time need to be managed.

In this study, we measured the concentration of total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) in four different seasons from 2016 to 2017 in order to determine seasonal variation of indoor air quality in relation to public transportation modes (subways, trains, and express buses). The measurement was carried out both during rush hour when traffic was congested as well as during non-rush hour when traffic was not congested. Effects by season, degree of congestion, and characteristics of public transportation were analyzed on the basis of 295 items of data during the periods of congestion and 295 items of data during the periods of non-congestion. The average TVOCs concentration in winter was the highest with 226.4 μg/m 3 . The average TVOCs concentration on an express bus was the highest with a seasonal average of 142.3 μg/m 3 . The TVOCs concentration in the period of congested traffic was higher than in the period of non-congested traffic for all public transportation modes. For the average TVOCs concentration by season and transportation, there was no data that exceeded the guidelines regarding maintaining indoor air quality. However, 2.5% of all sample measured data (TVOCs) exceeded the guidelines regarding maintaining indoor air quality. Therefore, the continuous monitoring of public transport vehicles is required.

This study was performed to evaluate the type and concentration of TVOC and formaldehyde emitted from asbestos stabilizers, because the stabilizers can be applied on the surface of asbestos contained building materials(ACBM). The emission test of three organic and synthetic resins(OSBS) and five inorganic based stabilizers(IBS) were tested for 7 days. The amount of emission and concentrations of TVOC were measured using GC/FID and GC/MS. In case of formaldehyde, quantitative analysis was carried out using HPLC. The average concentrations of TVOC and formaldehyde of 8 stabilizers were 1.173 mg/m²․h and 0.007 mg/m²․h, respectively. The maximum TVOC concentration among five OSBS was 5.698 mg/m²․h and exceeded the TVOC emission standard(4.0 mg/m²․h) for general building materials. According to the this study results, the applied stabilizer can be role one of pollutant sources like paints, floor tile etc. The emission test has to be tested one of stabilizers efficiency to manage the indoor air quality of building.

This study was performed in the 175 selected child-care facilities in the urban area (Seoul, Suwon, Daejeon, and Busan) and the industrial complex area (Sihwa and Yeosu) to measure of the characteristics of VOCs in the indoor air from August, 2007 to April, 2008. All samples were collected at the indoor and outdoor places to the child-care facilities in spring, summer, and winter seasons using the Tenex absorption trap and were analyzed through the GC/MSD. The mean concentration of VOCs in the 175 child-card facilities showed the highest levels of 73.68 ㎍/m³in the toluene and the lowest levels of 0.28 ㎍/m³in the chlorobenzene. In the concentration of the TVOC, it exceeded 2.5 times more as the indoor air quality guideline in Korea. The result of this study was found that the concentration of VOCs in the child-care facilities in Korea may influenced from the some factors such as the constructional period, traffic density, and ventilation rate. These findings may expected to imply that effective risk management strategies should be applied to minimize the public health effects for children in the child-care facilities in Korea.

The objective of this study was to estimate distribution of hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds at diverse indoor areas in school. The indoor air samples were collected at 19 school in three different areas of southern Korea region from September to October 2009. The concentrations of PM-10 and formaldehyde in all sampling sites were below indoor air quality guideline of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The CO₂ level and TBC (total bacteria count) were higher than the guideline for 4 sites and 12 sites, respectively. The concentration of TVOC for 23 sites exceeded the guideline. Also, TVOC level of metropolitan sampling sites were somewhat higher than small and medium-size city sampling sites. The concentration of indoor air pollutants affected by various conditions such as season, region, and indoor/outdoor environment. This study result shows that concentration of several pollutants such as CO₂, TBC, and TVOC were higher than the guideline for some sampling sites. Therefore, it is necessary to manage indoor air quality and establish effective emission reduction strategies regard for characteristics of each school.

The airms of this study are to examine the concentrations of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) in hospitals and to compare concentrations of VOCsin hospital with public facilities. Mean concentraton of total volatile organic compounds(TVOCs) in hospital was 103.97±87.39㎍/m³, that was lower than guideline of KMOE. The highest concentration of VOCs in hospital was 19.07±13.47㎍/m³ for Toluene. The distribution of VOCs in hospitals was log-normal distribution. As the result of Monte carlo simulation, the distribution of VOCs in hospitals was log-normal distribution with the exception of Toluene with normal distribution.

This study aims to present the fundamental strategies for improving the Indoor Air Quality ( IAQ ) in newly unoccupied apartment units. The results of this study can be summarized as follows, The field survey of 160 newly unoccupied units with airtight doors and windows showed that the concentrations of HCHO and TVOC were higher than the standards. The emission rates of HCHO and TVOC were proportional to the height. The small chamber test of pollutant concentration for building materials showed that pollutants were emitted dominantly from the wood furnishings and adhesives.

In recent years, the number of complaints about indoor air pollution caused by volatile organic compounds(VOCs) has increased. It is important that evaluating and understanding emission of indoor air pollutant from building materials. The aim of this study was to evaluate emission test methods for liquid phase building materials such as paint, adhesive and sealant, and to determine the emission of total volatile organic compounds(TVOC) from liquid phase building material. The quantity of TVOC emission was measured by a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MSD). It was found that liquid phase building materials were classified according to their use and ingredient. The TVOC concentration from oil-based paint was the highest among 8 groups of test materials. The unidentified volatile organic compounds occupied 83.0% of TVOC emission from test materials. The aliphatic hydrocarbons and aromatic hydrocarbons occupied 7.2%, 6.9% of TVOC, respectively. The concentration of TVOC decreased by an increase during emission test period. After 3 days, the concentration of TVOC from paint, adhesive and sealant were about half of the concentration at the first day. The ratio of concentration between 7 days and 1 day was 0.11～0.15 from water-based paint and 0.46～0.48 from epoxy adhesive.

This study was undertaken to investigate the distribution characteristics of the hazardous agents in indoor environment in 7 vessels in Incheon harbor from July to August, 2004. The measured parameters include several indoor air pollutants (PM10, CO2, HCHO, and TVOCs) and physical parameters (noise, vibration, temperature, and humidity). The levels of pollutants and hazardous components in vessels were compared with standards and guidelines of indoor air quality on the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Labor in Korea. The major results obtained from this study were as followed : The PM10 and CO2 levels in every vessel did not exceed the indoor air standard of 150 ㎍/㎥ and 1000 ppm, respectively. The level of PM10 showed a decreasing tendency as the weight of vessels is increased. The airbornce concentration of HCHO was the highest one by exceeding its standard in a 500 ton vessel. The noise level in engine room exceeded the workplace standard (90 dB(A)) recording above 100 dB(A). The TVOCs level in every engine room was more than its standard (500㎍/㎥). Based on our preliminary study of indoor air pollutants in vessels, it is suggested that long and middle term plan for the management of IAQ should be established through future investigation of vessels.

The purpose of this study is to optimize an emission test method for building materials and to understand the characteristics of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) and carbonyl compounds emission from building materials, especially solid-phase building materials, using a small chamber test method. As a result of the evaluation for small chamber system, temperature and humidity was maintained constantly at 24.5℃, 50.2%. The background concentration of total volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde were also controlled below 20 ㎍/㎥ and 0.5 ㎍/㎥, respectively. Air leakage of emission test chamber and the duplicate precision between two emission test chambers were satisfied. As a result of evaluation for sampling and analysis system (such as the breakthrough test), repeatability of response factor, and retention time in GC/MS and HPLC, desorption efficiency, method detection limits were excellent. The concentration of total volatile organic compounds emitted from wallpapers (made of PVC) was higher at 25℃ than at 23℃. Also, the concentration of formaldehyde emitted from floorings made from non-PVC (wood-based) was higher at 25℃ than at 23℃. On the other hand, there was not a significant difference between the concentrations of total volatile organic compounds emission from wallpaper (made of PVC) which was stored for 2 weeks at 25℃ and 4℃ with tight sealing. In conclusion, emission characteristics of TVOC and formaldehyde from solid-phase building materials would be expected to apply to the plan for the management of indoor air quality.

Foundry has an important economic value in the industry. However, the generation of air pollutants like particulate and odor are serious. Due to the unavoidable usage of molding sand, particulate occurs in almost all the processes. That accounts for the majority of respirable dust in the size less than 10 ㎛. As well as particulate, over 22 species of odor-causing gases and VOCs including hydrogen sulfide and ammonia are occurred. Therefore, the development of equipment that can simultaneously remove TVOC and particulate is regarded as an essential research. In this study, the spraying absorbent system was connected with the shear bag filter for the purpose to remove TVOC and particulate simultaneously. Maximization of process efficiency for the affective factors like the powder combination and injection method is conducted. The experiment was performed at the de-molding process of one foundry plant. Through these devices, the removal efficiency of more than 95% for TVOC was achieved with the absorbent that composed by 800 mesh Activated carbon (80%) and 300 mesh zeolite (20%). Also, the durability and economic evaluation were assessed. In the result of Durability assessment, the available recovery to maintain the deodorizing effect at 90% was counted to 350 degree.