This study examines the effects of surrounding outdoor environmental characteristics in multi-use public facilities that are used by the susceptible population, on the concentration and distribution of indoor airborne bacteria. For this study, areas were divided into ‘factory area,’ ‘city area,’ and ‘forest area.’ The research was conducted from October 2017 to April 2018, and the selected target facilities were daycare centers, hospitals, postpartum care centers, and nursing homes for the elderly. In order to measure airborne bacteria, indoor air samples were collected using a six-stage viable particulate cascade impactor, and airborne bacteria samples were collected using MCE (Mixed cellulose esters) filters. Moreover, the outdoor airborne bacteria concentration was also measured to determine the concentration ratio (I/O ratio) of the total indoor airborne bacteria and total outdoor airborne bacteria concentrations. The results showed that the total outdoor airborne bacteria concentration was highest in the city area, with 74.2 ± 60.0 CFU/m3, and the lowest in the factory area, with 45.9 ± 35.8 CFU/m3. Furthermore, the distribution of the total outdoor airborne bacteria concentrations significantly differed across each surrounding environment (p < 0.05). On the other hand, no statistically significant difference in total indoor airborne bacteria concentrations, according to surrounding environments, was observed (p > 0.05). These findings suggest that the concentration of outdoor airborne bacteria differs across surrounding environments, unlike that of the indoor airborne bacteria.

The correlation among gaseous air pollutants (odorous compounds, greenhouse gases) and meteorological parameters was analyzed in-depth using measurement data at a barn and ambient in a naturally ventilated dairy farm. Both concentration and emission data (loading rate and emission rate), which more accurately express the actual pollutant emissions, were used in the correlation analysis. Gaseous air pollutants (ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane) and meteorological factors (relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, solar strength) were measured for one week in July 2013. The upper and lower outliers of measured data by inducing 1.5 times the interquartile range (IQR) were eliminated. After eliminating the outliers and grouping according to data magnitude, the correlation analysis among gaseous compounds and meteorological factors was conducted using the average values of each group. In the correlation analysis, data for the emission rate (barn) and the loading rate (ambient) showed a better correlation than concentration data. Gaseous air pollutants except for hydrogen sulfide in the barn showed a good correlation. Hydrogen sulfide might not be produced from manure or animal origin. Rather, the compound may be produced by flushing water, which was flushed at periodical times (every six hours). Ammonia emissions increased with increasing temperature, and this increase can be affected from greater exertion of feces by frequent water drinking in a high-temperature condition. In the ambient, the correlation for all gaseous air pollutants was better than that in the barn, because those air pollutants from manure, animals, and flushing water origins were sufficiently mixed in the atmosphere. Wind speed also showed a good correlation with all gaseous air pollutants.

In this paper, we conducted a survey to reveal the general perception of parents toward outdoor air quality, particulate matter (PM), and indoor air quality (IAQ) at schools where their children attend. A total of 1,030 parents participated in this survey, where the age of their children ranged between 7 years to over 19 years of age. Each participant was either a member of a non-governmental organization (NGO) with a keen interest in air quality or an ordinary public panel member with less interest. The result of the survey indicated that the participants had a negative perception of air quality, and parents believed that the outdoor and indoor air is extremely polluted. The participants pointed out that they believe that the main reason for the pollution is due to particulate matter (PM) and school classrooms are the location where their children are exposed to PM the most. Based on our study, the majority of the participants prefer a mechanical ventilation system to reduce indoor air pollutants in schools. Our study should be referred to by school officials in order to maintain IAQ and as a way of addressing the concerns of parents who want to protect their children’s health.

Radon is a radioactive gas material, which is not detectable by humans because of the absence of color and odor. Radon gas can exist indoors through a number of pathways and long-term exposure to such material can affect the human body, which may result in serious health issues such as lung-cancer. It is thus essential to reduce and maintain indoor radon concentration in order that potential health risks from radon can be diminished. In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, it is requisite to utilize a practical detector which is capable of continuous radon monitoring. In relation to this, a recently developed prototype radon detector, i.e., RS9A, provides highperformance comparable to existing research-grade radon detectors for the purpose of continuous radon monitoring in the air. Furthermore, RS9A is a convenient piece of equipment for use by the public as it is compact in size and affordable. In this paper, we conducted continuous measurements of indoor radon concentrations by using sets of RS9A and evaluated the equivalence of RS9A in terms of quality assurance.

This study conducted a survey on environmental awareness and analyzed outdoor PM10 and heavy metals (cadmium, lead) for 60 local residents living in the Gwangyang national industrial complex from July 2019. 40.0% of subjects responded that local environmental pollution was serious. Especially, there was a high proportion of residents living near the industrial complex or roads where it was perceived that local environmental pollution was serious. The average concentration of PM10 in the outdoors of the houses was 10.95 μg/m3 and the average concentration of heavy metals in PM10 was 1.90 ng/m3 for Cd and 24.92 ng/m3 for Pb. Overall, the average concentration of PM10 and heavy metals revealed a tendency to be high in the houses located near the industrial complex or the roads. As a result of a risk assessment carried out, the cancer risk of Cd was estimated to exceed 106 in the CTE, RME and Monte Carlo analysis. These results suggest that the urgent implementation of specific environmental health education for local residents is necessary.

In this study, actual odor conditions were investigated in restaurants, livestock facilities, and major odor discharge facilities around daily life, and an odor modeling program was performed to find ways to improve odors in odor discharge facilities. The odor modeling results of restaurants around daily life showed that the complex odor concentration of large restaurants, which are close to residential areas, is higher than the acceptable complex odor standard at the receiving point. It was judged that a plan to increase the height of the restaurant odor outlets and a plan to reduce the amount of odor discharge was necessary. As a result of modeling the life odor of livestock housing facilities, when the distance from the housing facility is far away, the actual emission concentration is much lower than the acceptable emission concentration at the receiving point. It was judged that such facilities need to be reviewed for ways to reduce the emission of odorous substances, such as sealing the livestock housing facilities or improving the livestock environment. The main odor emission business sites that show complex odor concentration as 1,000 times or greater than the outlet odor emission standard were businesses associated with surfactant preparation, compounded feed manufacturing, textile dyeing processing, and waste disposal. Due to the separation distance and high exhaust gas flow rate, it was found that odor reduction measures are necessary. In this study, it was possible to present the allowable odor emission concentration at the discharge facilities such as restaurants, livestock houses, and industrial emission facilities by performing the process of verifying the discharge concentration of the actual discharge facility and the result of living odor modeling. It is believed that suitable odor management and prevention facilities can be operated.

In this study, the effect of improving indoor air quality according to the installation of plants was evaluated in classrooms where students spend much time. The purpose was to prepare sustainable and eco-friendly measures to improve the indoor air quality of school classrooms. A middle school in Bucheon was selected as an experiment subject, and IAQ monitoring equipment based on IoT was installed to monitor indoor air quality. After measuring the basic background concentration, plants and air purifiers were installed and the effects of improving indoor air quality using plants and air purifiers were evaluated based on the collected big data. As a result of evaluating the effects of indoor air quality improvement on the installation of plants and air purifiers, the reduction rates of PM10 and PM2.5 in descending order were plant- and air purifier- installed classes, air purifier-installed classes, and plant-installed classes. CO2 levels were reduced in the classrooms with only plants, and increased in two classrooms with air purifiers. The increase in CO2 concentration in the classrooms with plants and air purifiers was lower than in those with only air purifiers.

This experiment evaluated the efficiency of mechanical ventilation, one of the measures to reduce indoor radon concentration in residential spaces. In the most popular ventilation rates of the air conditioning system, the most efficient air conditioning system was confirmed by checking the time when the radon concentration reached the lowest level, the radon reduction rate, and the radon concentration that could be lowered as much as possible. The results showed a reduction rate of up to 80% or more as a result of conducting the experiment by blocking the inflow of outside air. It was confirmed that the time to reach the lowest concentration after starting the mechanical ventilation was about 6 hours to a maximum of 7 hours. Therefore, this study verified that indoor radon concentrations can be efficiently reduced by using a mechanical ventilation system.

This study investigated 180 students’ indoor environmental awareness of rest spaces and measured the indoor and outdoor concentrations of PM10, TVOCs, and HCHO in 8 rest spaces from October 2019. 89.4% of the students responded that they use rest spaces at least once a day and most of the respondents are using rest spaces in the university. The largest number of students responded to the tight space as the main cause of air pollution in rest spaces. 62.1% of the students answered they experienced health symptoms from using rest spaces. Among them, 32.5% said they experienced irritation symptoms of eyes, neck, nose, and 12.1% answered that they experienced headaches. Indoor PM10, TVOCs, and HCHO levels did not exceed indoor air quality recommendations nor the maintenance standard for multi-use facilities. Indoor PM10, TVOCs, and HCHO levels did not exceed indoor air quality recommendations nor the maintenance standard for multi-use facilities. According to the type of rest space, concentrations of PM10, TVOCs, and HCHO were higher among the closed-type than open-type rest space. Even if the concentration of pollutants is less than the environmental standard, continuous exposure may cause negative health effects. In addition, considering that 62.1% of the respondents experienced health symptoms, it is deemed necessary to take measures to manage indoor environments in rest spaces and to develop measures to reduce pollutants.

We investigated the distributions of airborne radon concentration on the platforms of the stations of Seoul Metro by the underground depth of each subway line, and explored the correlation between the radon concentration and the depth and geological conditions around each underground station. The measurements of radon levels were performed in 254 subway stations within Seoul Metro Lines 1 to 8 using the passive sampler (RADUET). Radon concentration data from 2007 to 2017, as well as the depth of each subway station were obtained from the Seoul Metro corporation. The geological information of each subway station were purchased from the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources. Student t-test and correlation analyses were performed to compare the levels of radon by the depth of subway stations, and to investigate the association of radon levels based on geological information. The geometric mean concentration of the all subway stations was 27.9 Bq/m3 ( range, 3 . 7Bq/ m3~124.0 Bq/m3). The depth of Lines 5-8 (geometric mean, –20.3 m) was significantly deeper by about 50% or more than that of Lines 1-4 (–13.1 m) (P<0.01). The radon levels increased significantly in deeper depths and as the number of Lines increased (P<0.05). A significant higher mean concentration of radon above the igneous rock (33.0 Bq/m3) was observed, comparing to that of non-igneous rock (27.5 Bq/m3) (P<0.00001). Our findings indicate that the deeper the subway is built or the more it is constructed on the granite area, the more careful management, including frequent ventilation and measurement monitoring, is necessary.

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.