Secondary air pollution can be caused by aerosol formation through reactions of ozone and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from household products used in the indoor environment. In this study, we investigated the potential for aerosol production during the reactions of ozone and VOCs emitted from a home insecticide, a popular commercial product extracted from natural ingredients, in a 1-m3 reaction chamber. The major chemical component of the test product was prallethrin, which has very high efficacy of mosquito and housefly elimination. Toluene, α-pinene, cymene, d-limonene, α-terpinene, and α-thujone were also identified as constituents of the insecticide. Injected ozone concentrations of 50, 100, and 200 ppb generated particle mass concentrations, corrected for wall loss and air exchange loss, of 7.3, 33.1, and 40.0 μg/m3, respectively, after a 4-h reaction time. These concentrations are lower than those generated by an air freshener in a previous study under the same experimental conditions. It was concluded that the home insecticide tested had the potential to initiate secondary aerosol formation under ozone exposure due to the biogenic VOCs it contained.
This study conducted comparison and data analysis of evaluation results from three kinds of monitoring methods for indoor air quality monitoring, which are Korean Official test method for indoor air quality, monitoring method by gas analyzer, and continuous measurement by using sensor. NO2, one of indoor air pollutants, was selected as a evaluation factor for this study because it is commonly generated during the operation of potable gas range. Monitoring results of NO2 concentration from three subjected methods show that background concentration of NO2, before operation of portable gas range, was 43.05~50.22ppb. On the other hand, NO2 concentration for four and half hours (4½) after gas range operation was 64.31~69.89ppb in average. Average concentration of NO2 during first thirty (30) minutes was increased about 33.85~49.39% than the concentration of NO2 before operation of gas range. </br>In general, monitoring results by utilizing NO2 gas analyzer was 8.1% higher than the results by continuous measurement using sensor method. In case of monitoring method using sensor, the results was lower about 6.1% than Korean official test method, and lower about 11.7~3.2% than NO2 gas analyzer. Especially, change rate of concentration for first thirty (30) minutes measured by Korean official test method was 50ppb/hr, which is 44.4% lower than the change rate from NO2 gas analyzer, 90ppb/hr, and 43.2% lower than results from sensor, 88ppb/hr. </br>In accordance with this study, it is concluded that monitoring frequency for indoor air quality management must be shorten during the time period having significant change rate of NO2 concentration. In other words, air quality monitoring must be considered characteristics of concentration changes as well as accuracy of measurement.
This study investigated the indoor radon concentration of 44 elementary schools in Gyeongsang-do from June 2008 to May 2009. The results obtained from this investigation are as follows. As for distribution of concentration based on seasons, the radon concentration was 77.4Bq/m3 in winter, 71.8Bq/m3 in autumn, 47.8Bq/m3 in spring and 40.4Bq/m3 in summer of Gyeongsangnam-do. And Gyeongsangbuk-do was 155.4Bq/m3 in winter, 124.3Bq/m3 in autumn, 82.7Bq/m3 in spring and 58.0Bq/m3 in summer, showing the highest concentration in winter. As for difference in radon concentration according to whether there is basement, concentration of schools having basement was 37.2Bq/m3, that of schools having no basement was 62.1Bq/m3 in Gyeongsangnam-do. In Gyeongsangbuk-do, schools having basement showed 53.9Bq/m3 of concentration and schools having no basement 124.7Bq/m3. Schools having no basement tend to show higher concentration. Indoor radon concentration according to the constructing year was 64.5Bq/m3 in schools built before 1990, 34.9Bq/m3 during 1990s and 32.8Bq/m3 during 2000s in Gyeongsangnam-do, and 110.5Bq/m3, 83.5Bq/m3 and 48.3Bq/m3 in Gyeongsangbuk-do respectively.
The purpose of this study is to investigate concentration and emission coefficients of 22 odorous compounds, which are regulated by the domestic act, emitted from pig buildings by on-site survey. The odorous compounds which were detected in at least one pig building were ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, trimethyl amine, stylene, toluene, xylene and methyl ethyl ketone whereas other 12 odorous compounds were not detected in pig buildings. In general, indoor concentrations of odorous compounds in pig buildings were higher in scraper type than slurry type based on pig manure collection system and higher in enclosed type than winch-curtain type based on ventilation mode, respectively. In monthly distribution of odorous compounds, their concentrations in September and October when ventilation rate in pig building decreased relatively were generally higher than those in July and August when ventilation rate in pig building is relatively high. On the contrary, the emission coefficients of odorous compounds in pig building were generally higher in July and August than September and October. The levels of emission coefficients of odorous compounds obtained from this study were similar or slightly higher compared to those reported previously from foreign countries.
A three-staged cascade virtual impactor was designed, fabricated, and used as aerosol classifier in a dust sensor module. The dust sensor module consisted of the impactor, three commercial dust sensors, and four pumps. For the design of the impactor, three cut-off diameters of 2.5 ㎛, 2.0 ㎛, and 1.5 ㎛ were selected. Then three nozzle widths were determined from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation with the three designed cut-off diameters. </br>Laboratory generated PM2.5 aerosols classified into each of three sizes, via the fabricated impactor, entered a dust sensor from which voltage signals were detected due to particle scattering by a laser diode in the sensor. The voltage signal data from the three sensors were converted to number concentrations of the dust particles utilizing correlation equations obtained from separately performed experiments. The number concentrations were in agreement with those obtained by aerodynamic particle sizer (APS).
Microbial parameters of indoor air containing systematic, random, and accidental error were analyzed statistically by the water quality control guidelines to suggest a guideline of indoor air. Samples were collected from 20 subway stations of Seoul Metropolitan City. Systematic errors resulted from sampling devices were checked and removed by using same devices and flow rate check. Another source of systematic error resulted from different testing personals were assessed and qualified by proficiency test. Increase of replicate sample numbers could minimize random errors and use of geometric mean instead of arithmetic mean gave more statically reliable representative values for microbial parameters. Considerations for the culture media, colony counting results with incubation time, and statement of supplemented statistical data were also suggested.