There has recently become one of the major concern expressed the general public and regulation agencies concerning health risks associated with indoor air pollution in Korea. A new indoor air quality program under "Legislation of Indoor Air Quality Management for Public Facilities" is enforced to act on the end of May, 2004 by the Korea Ministry of Environment. The purposes of this article were to discuss the sustainable development of indoor air pollution and to strengthen the importance of the sustainability of indoor air quality. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability future generations to meet their own needs and a new theory that grew out of the conservation / environmental movement of the 1970's. While the conservation/environmental movement asked questions about preserving the Earth's resources, sustainable development includes questions about how human decisions affect the Earth's environment. Sustainable development of environmental pollution has been discussed over the last 20 year in most countries, but an important health problems of indoor air pollution became a social issues in recent years. We must develop global perspectives and maintain effective balance between available resources and human needs. The further understanding of the sustainable development of indoor air pollution is extremely useful in defining the components of healthful indoor air in major indoor environments. Additional information concerning more detailed housing characteristics, daily activity patterns, and seasonal factors which may influence indoor pollutants should provide important information on sustainable development in indoor air pollution.
Recently, concern about Sick House Syndrome (SHS) has been increased in Korea. And it is suspected that formaldehyde (HCHO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are major factors for SHS. This study was surveyed the indoor air quality in new apartments in Korea. The HCHO and VOCs were measured at 90 sites and analysed by HPLC-UV and GC/MS, respectively. The range of HCHO concentrations at 90 sites were 9.39∼248.78㎍/㎥ and the mean value 105.41㎍/㎥ and the concentrations of HCHO at 42 sites (46.7%) exceeded the indoor air quality guideline (100㎍/㎥) in Japan. Among the 4 VOCs, toluene concentrations were the highest and the mean value 127.33㎍/㎥ and that concentrations at 12 sites (13.8%) were exceeded the indoor air quality guideline (260㎍/㎥) in Japan. There was a tendency which the longer the movement and measurement period is, the more the pollutants concentration is decreased. HCHO and VOCs concentrations of domestic results was similar to Japan's survey results in 2000.
The PC game rooms in Korea have a problem in the aspect of indoor air quality because there are many occupants for 24 hours where the smoking is allowed. This study was carried out to evaluate indoor air quality (IAQ) including the size distribution of respirable suspended particulates (RSP) and airborne nicotine concentration in selected PC game rooms. The subjects are 6 PC game rooms in Seoul and Sung-Nam Cities. In this study, airborne RSP and nicotine concentrations were measured during a period from February to March, 2003. Significant correlation has been found between the concentrations of RSP and nicotine in PC game room. Also the negative correlation was found between room area and number of operating fan. The correlation coefficients between RSP size distribution and nicotine concentration were 0.868, 0.866, 0.870 in the stages 2 (cut-point 14.80㎛), 5 (cut-point 3.50㎛), and 8 (cut-point 0.52㎛) from Marple's 8-stage cascade impactor, respectively. In conclusion, RSP concentration in PC game room has a tendency to increase by smoking. Therefore, it is suggested that the effective air control system and education program be applied for PC game room.
Currently, Ministry of Environment has promulgated and executed 'the legislation of indoor air quality for public facilities' but the data of indoor air pollutant for public facilities of this law was very insufficient. Therefore, collection of data for indoor air pollutants and execution for risk assessment in order to offer scientific data for decision-making of policy to present reasonable standards and preventive techniques of engineering were required. Therefore, this study collected and re-analysed the articles of exposure assessment for indoor environment in journals related environment in Korea since 1990 and estimated the safety factor on residents in public facilities. The objective of this study was to offer scientific data for decision-making of policy for improvement and management of indoor air quality in Korea. As the results of this study, the risk assessment for the critical pollutants in CTE (central tendency exposure) showed that safety factors according to pollutants were less than 1 which means safe level in micro-environments. It was investigated that the safety factors of CO in hospital, NO2 in terminal, PM10 and NO2 in subway station respectively were over than 1 in RME (reasonable maximum exposure). Through the results, it was investigated that health risk by inhalation of criteria and guideline air pollutants in domestic public facilities was not high. It should be considered effect of inhalation by other hazardous air pollutants because this study was examined just partial pollutants. Presentation of scientific data for expansion of study is requisite and active research of health risk assessment about indoor air quality.
In order to develop combination air filters for air conditioners, 2 types of charging section were constructed. One was the wire-plate type and the other was the scroll type. Each charging section was combined with the same electrostatic polypropylene (PP) media. NaCl aerosol particles with geometric mean diameter of 0.05∼0.16㎛, geometric standard deviation of 1.6∼1.9 and total number concentration of 1,700∼24,000 particles/㎤ were used to determine collection efficiencies of the combination air filters for air conditioners with respect to particle size. It was shown that the scroll type combination air filter has greater collection efficiencies and lower pressure drops than the wire-plate type one does.
The purpose of this work is to develop a new type of particle collection filter using electrical discharge technology. The new filter must be high efficiency and applicable to air conditioner to use for household, so we suggested the new type filter. The new type filter has a distinctive feature except characteristic of ESP, a thickness of collecting electrodes is thicker than that of existing type ESP. When particles come into the filter, the particles will collide with side surfaces of the collecting electrodes. At the same time of particle collision with side surface, the particles are charged by the collision and collected by electrical force. Therefore, we called this type "Ion Impactor". We optimized condition of thickness of collecting electrodes and applied voltage using six sigma method because thickness of collecting electrodes and applied voltage are very important to improve the collection efficiency. We analyzed distribution of electric field line, the electric field lines were uniformly distributed on the side surface of the collecting electrodes. From this analysis, we can see the improvement of the particle collection efficiency. We made the ion impactor type filter on a large scale to equip to the air conditioner, and measured the particle collection efficiency. For the 0.1∼0.2㎛ range particle, the collection efficiency was higher than that of existing type ESP by 30%. The collection efficiency of the 0.3∼0.4㎛ range particle was higher by 12%.
Decomposition of ozone at room temperature was investigated by comparing between commercial monolithic ozone decomposition catalyst (ODC, MnO2) filter and monolithic photocatalyst (TiO2) filter. The effects of residence time, UV (ultraviolet, A type) irradiation, and upstream ozone concentration on the ozone conversion were discussed. UV ray was irradiated using four BLB (black light blue) lamps (λ: 310∼ 400nm) of constant intensity. The upstream concentration of ozone was controlled by an electrostatic ozone generator. For ODC performance, the presence of UV irradiation slightly affected initial ozone conversion compared with no UV irradiation condition. However, for photocatalyst, the ozone was highly decomposed in the presence of UV irradiation. Long time performances of the both catalysts were evaluated by a real-time ozone monitoring system during 120 hours. The results show that the UV irradiation enhanced the ozone conversion for the both catalysts.
The use of natural paint for the application to walls and furnishings is now increasing to improve indoor air quality, thereby the natural paint could be a significant source of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in indoor environments. Recent studies have shown that gas-phase reactions between terpenes and ozone can generate sub-micron size particles and toxic volatile organic compounds such as aldehydes and ketones. In this research, we have studied the formation of particles and secondary organic compounds during the reaction of ozone with terpenes emitted from commercial natural paint. The paint applied onto stainless steel was dried and oxidized in a teflon chamber. Two monoterpenes (α- and β-pinenes) were identified by FTIR and GC/MS. Several tests were performed to evaluate the effects of ozone concentration on particle formation. Increased ozone levels significantly affect the increase of particle number concentration (monitored with SMPS), which results in the increase of particle counts ranging from 8,000 to 70,000 particles/㎤. Gas-phase products such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone + acrolein, and propionaldehyde were identified during the terpene/ozone reactions by HPLC. These compounds are potential hazardous chemical compounds having harmful health effects to animals and plants. The results obtained from this study provide an insight on the adverse effect of eco-friendly natural product on indoor air quality (IAQ).
The performance of various air-cleaning devices and an assembled air cleaner has been evaluated for the removal of biological pollutants in indoor air. Bacteria, fungi, and viruses were sprayed in a test chamber, and air samples in the chamber were taken for analysis. Air-cleaning devices - UV lamp, ion generator, an UV LED and plasma electricity dust collector - were tested for their ability in the removal of microorganisms in the air. The UV lamp and the ion generator tested exhbited complete sterilization effect within 4hrs of operation. Other devices were less effective: The extent of removal by the UV LED and the plasma electricity dust collector after 6hrs of operation was about 20% to 82%, depending on the microorganisms tested. The performance of an assembled air cleaner was much superior to individual air-cleaning devices: the extent of removal being 97.6%, 99.1%, 98.7%, and 93.7% for Staphylococcus aureus (Gram(+) bacteria), Escherichia coli (Gram(-) bacteria), Aspergillus niger and Penicillium funiculosum (fungi), respectively, after 3hrs of operation. The removal of influenza virus was even more effective, with 99.9% of removal within 25min of operation. The results show that the air cleaner is effective for the removal of microbial and viral pathogens in the air.