This study was conducted to determine the concentration of heavy metals and their characteristics in the bodies of 2,446 residents living near industrial areas from 2007 to 2015. The concentration of heavy metals showed diverse characteristics according to gender, food types consumed and period of residence. Especially, levels of cadmium and mercury were high in the urine samples of the group that had lived in the local area for a long time. In order to obtain more accurate results, it will be necessary to comprehensively study the influence and effects from such matters related to lifestyle, eating habits and levels of environmental pollutants.

This study aims to promote the necessity for future research from the perspective of the indoor environment by analyzing the trend of domestic COVID-19 confirmed cases and examining previous quantitative research cases. The limitations of the qualitative management plan were identified by analyzing the trend of confirmed cases and deaths in Korea and the trend before and after the implementation of 'social distancing' and 'step-by-step daily recovery', which are actually being applied. The trend of initial and follow-up measures for the outbreak of infectious diseases in Korea is judged to be a case where the importance of qualitative and quantitative management should be confirmed to prepare absolute quarantine measures. The results suggest that examining previous research cases and preparing through advanced research for effective application.

This study sought to conduct a fundamental investigation in order to test and evaluate the thermal performance of an aluminum stick curtain wall system. In terms of the thermal performance index, the infiltration rate of air tightness, thermal transmittance of the heat insulation property and temperature difference ratio of condensation resistance were experimentally measured. The research process can be divided into three parts. First of all, a database for the test report of the curtain wall was compiled and existing design criteria with respect to the evaluation method and standard of transparent building components such as curtain wall, window and door were analyzed to produce the specimens. Secondly, four different types of curtain wall specimens were created through investigating the curtain wall database. Thirdly, standard tests of thermal performance were carried out for airtightness, thermal performance and condensation resistance. As a result, the curtain wall specimens with low-e triple glazing covered by an aluminum capture system showed high thermal performance compared to other curtain wall specimens including low-e triple glazing with a 4-sided structural sealant glazing system. Air tightness of all types of curtain wall specimens satisfied level 1 standard for air tightness. It was found that a curtain wall which consists of a one track frame has difficulties meeting the residential standard of thermal performance with regard to thermal transmittance and condensation resistance.

Following the social requirement to strengthen field supervision of the asbestos containing materials (ACM) abatement process with regard to asbestos school buildings, this study was conducted to understand the status and characteristics of airborne asbestos that may potentially occur after the ACM abatement process is completed. In the area where a series of asbestos abatement processes were finally completed, comprehensive area air sampling was performed. For sample analysis, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used according to The Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) method and Phase Contrast Microscopy (PCM) analysis was also performed. Airborne asbestos was detected in 29.5% of the total samples, and the average concentration was 0.0039 ± 0.0123 s/cc (12.3 ± 38.9 s/mm2). 4.5% of the total samples exceeded the AHERA standard (70.0 s/mm2) and the average concentration was 0.0528 ± 0.0256 s/cc (167.2 ± 82.0 s/mm2). Airborne asbestos was no longer detected at the point when AHERA is exceeded after re-cleaning. Most of the detected asbestos was chrysotile (94.4%) and the structure types of asbestos were Matrix (41.4%), Fiber (39.9%), Bundle (10.8%), and Cluster (7.8%). Among the asbestos structures detected through transmission electron microscope analysis, the asbestos structures satisfying PCM-equivalent structures were found to be 6% of the detected asbestos, indicating that there is a limitation of the PCM analysis to check the airborne asbestos in that area. As a result of reviewing the status of airborne asbestos that may potentially occur and the type and dimensions of asbestos structure detected in the area, since the airborne asbestos exposure caused by poor field supervision for the ACM abatement process could not be ruled out, thorough management is necessary. In addition, the result of this study could be used as scientific evidence for establishing and strengthening policies related to ACM abatement, including cases of school buildings.

Vulnerable populations in healthcare facilities are more sensitive to exposure to indoor air pollutants, and therefore are more affected by such pollutants than the general population. This was the underlying reason why studies of indoor air pollutant concentration distribution and health risk assessment have been conducted targeting facilities, such as daycare centers, medical facilities, elderly care facilities, and postnatal care centers. However, previous studies have mainly focused on daycare and medical facilities for their research, and relatively speaking, studies conducted on the other venues are lacking. Therefore, this study aims to present the current status of indoor air quality and perform a health risk assessment in regard to Formaldehyde exposure at postnatal care centers and elderly care facilities. Here, the study focused on facilities that had undergone pollution level inspections from January 2017 to December 2021. A total of 81 postnatal care centers and 48 elderly care facilities were selected as the subject of the study. Then, the study utilized concentrations of five elements (CO2, HCHO, PM10, PM2.5, TBC) to determine the status of indoor air quality of both postnatal care centers and elderly care facilities. For health risk assessment, HCHO concentration was used. The investigation demonstrated that the yearly average concentration of the five elements stood within the indoor air quality maintenance standards, and the ratio of PM2.5 to PM10 in the two types of facilities was distributed as high as about 70%. In addition, the study showed that HCHO and TBC demonstrated a positive correlation when the relationship between indoor temperature and humidity with the five elements was examined. The health risk assessment showed that the cancer risk level of postnatal care center users stood below 10-6, below the level that is perceived as an acceptable risk. The cancer risk of workers from both postnatal care centers and elderly care facilities and elderly care facility users exceeded the acceptable risk level of 10-6, but was shown to be below 10-4, the maximum acceptable risk.

This study evaluates the ammonia (NH3) reduction effect of Bio-curtains (hereinafter referred to as curtains) utilized for odor control in pig farms based on the distance outside the curtain and the spraying condition. The curtain (total area: 37.9m3) was constructed with two layers of light-shielding screens stretched over a rectangular parallelepiped structure installed around a ventilation fan (630 mm) on the side wall of a pig barn where 48 finishing pigs were reared. The real-time NH3 concentration was measured by using a photoacoustic spectrometer. In the first part of this study, the NH3 measurement position for each side of the curtain was selected based on the lowest standard deviation among 4 to 8 initial sampling points on the surface of the curtain and utilized for both experiments of distance and spraying. In the experiment concerning the distance outside the curtain, ammonia concentration decreased by 17.45% at 2m compared to the distance at 5 cm and by 6.94% at 4m compared to 2m on average. In contrast, the NH3 reduction rate for each distance compared to the ventilation fan was the lowest at the 100% operating rate in which the exhausted NH3 concentration from the ventilation fan was low. At this time, the spraying mist on the inside of the curtain increased the NH3 reduction rate by 4.98 to 10.36% compared to the non-spraying condition. Consequently, the NH3 be reduced as distance outside the curtain increases due to the diffusion effect caused by the surrounding wind and the spraying mist on the inside curtain on the dissolution of NH3.

Oysters are the most widely produced shellfish culture in Korea and 90% of their weight. Main component of oyster shell is CaCO3 and an appropriate calcination temperature was derived using thermo-gravimetric analysis. The difference in components for each calcination temperature was confirmed and the adsorbent was manufactured by activation. The oyster shell adsorbent surface area was 5.72m2/g with pores in the mesopore range. The adsorption amount was 37.44 mg/g. Therefore, the possibility of using oyster shell as an adsorbent was confirmed.

This study was carried out in order to provide suggestions with regard to optimal control methods for various odor emission facilities (162 companies and 26 industrial classifications) through comparative analysis of effective odor treatment technologies for each type of odor substance by literature reviews, based on measured 22 odor substance data for 162 samples taken from A city. The industrial classification of Pulp showed the highest odor quotient (7,589 as average value) and was followed by the industrial classifications of Wastewater, Woods, and Furniture, indicating average odor quotient values of 2,361, 1,396 and 1,392, respectively. Absorption using chlorine dioxide and sodium hydroxide can be an optimal treatment method to remove the odor substances of sulfide and aldehyde groups. Biofilers with microbial communities will be effective to remove odors caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and an absorption method using sulfuric acid is proper for the removal of odor substances caused by nitrogens.

High-risk microbial pathogens are handled in a biosafety laboratory. After experiments, the pathogens may remain as contaminants. To safely manage a biosafety laboratory, disinfection of microbial contaminants is necessary. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of UV-C irradiation for the disinfection of a high-risk plant pathogenic bacterium Erwinia amylovora in a laboratory setting. For the test, the bacterium (8.7 × 106 CFU/ml) was embedded on the surface of PDA and placed on the work surface in a biosafety cabinet (Class 2 Type A1), and on the three different surfaces of the laboratory bench, laboratory bench shelf, and the floor which were positioned in a straight line from the UV lamp installed in the ceiling of the biosafety laboratory (BSL 2 class). UV-C irradiation was administered for 10min, 30min, 1 hr, 2hr, 3 hr, and 4hr, respectively. The reduction rate of bacteria ranged from 95% to 99% in regard to 10 min irradiation, from 97% to 99% in regard to 30 min irradiation, from 99.8% to 99.9% in regard to 1 hr irradiation, and higher than 99.99% in regard to 2 hr irradiation. The bacterium was completely inactivated after 3 hr irradiation. A similar UV-C irradiation effect was obtained when the bacterium was placed at a distance of 1 m from the three different surface points. Bacterial reduction by UV-C irradiation was not significantly different among the three different surface points.

The livestock industry continues to grow around the world, but livestock odor is becoming an environmental problem that is difficult to solve. In this review paper, the current status of the domestic livestock industry, livestock odor complaints, mediation cases involving environmental disputes related to livestock odor, livestock odor management policies and standards, livestock odor sources, major odor compounds, and emission characteristics are summarized. Domestic meat supply and meat consumption per capita are increasing, and livestock farms are becoming large-scale and intensive. Livestock odor complaints increased 4.5 times over the last five years (2014-2019), and its proportion to total odor complaints was 19%-30%. Livestock facilities larger than a certain size are classified as odor emission facilities and are managed based on the Odor Prevention Act. The information presented in this paper can be used to establish strategies to promote the sustainable development of the livestock industry while resolving air quality deterioration and public health problems caused by odor emissions from livestock farms.

In this review paper, the sources of odor, major odor compounds, and emission characteristics from livestock farms are summarized. The main sources of odor on livestock farms are barn facilities, manure storage facilities, manure composting facilities, and wastewater treatment facilities. High concentrations of odor are emitted during the manure removal process, and livestock odor tends to be the most severe in summer. There was a remarkable difference in odor intensity depending on the farm size and the cleaning condition, and odor intensity varied greatly depending on the weather parameters such as wind direction and speed. The concentrations of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide were high among the odor compounds emitted from livestock farms, and these compounds also contributed to odor intensity. The odor intensity in poultry and swine farms was higher than in cattle farms. Information on livestock odor emission is very useful for managing livestock odor complaints and designing odor abatement technologies.