The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of temperature and humidity on the measured Particulate Matter (PM) concentrations recorded by PMS5003T, a low-cost light scattering type measuring tool. A regression analysis was performed on the ratio of PM concentrations measured by the light scattering method and the beta-ray absorption method according to temperature and humidity in an outdoor environment. As the temperature decreased, the PM concentration ratio increased, and this tendency intensified below 0oC. As the humidity increased, the PM concentration ratio increased, but the effect was less than the temperature effect. The coefficients of determination for temperature and humidity were R2 = 0.325 and 0.003, respectively, and the effects of temperature and humidity on the measured values w ere formulated and compensated for. As a result of the compensation, R2, relative precision, accuracy and RMSE improved from 0.927 to 0.958, from 91.183% to 96.651%, from 31.383% to 74.058%, and from 13.517 μg/m³ to 6.690 μg/m³, respectively. Finally, results from this study indicate that the reliability of the low-cost light scattering type PM sensor can be improved by applying the temperature and humidity compensation method.

In this paper, a survey on students’ perceptions of air pollution, particulate matter (PM) and indoor air quality (IAQ) in school classrooms was analyzed. A total of 174 students participated in the survey, where 127 and 47 participants were elementary school students and middle school students, respectively. The elementary school was located in a rural area of Korea, whereas the middle school was located in an urban area. The questionnaire of the survey was mainly composed of three parts: (1) students’ perceptions of air pollution, (2) students’ perceptions of IAQ in the classroom, and (3) students’ perceptions of how to improve IAQ in the classroom. Based on our study, the responses of the students for the given questionnaire showed an opposite tendency. The students in the rural area tended to have positive perceptions regarding IAQ in the classroom as well as air pollution, whereas the students in the urban area revealed negative perceptions for the same items. Our survey results can be used by school officials in order to maintain and improve IAQ in school classrooms based on the perceptions of the students.

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.

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 known to be one of the representative carcinogen materials, and may cause severe health damage to the human body with long-term exposure. Without proper treatment such as natural and mechanical ventilation, indoor radon concentration tends to increase as time passes. In this aspect, it is necessary to maintain indoor radon concentration below the domestic indoor air quality (IAQ) management standard by continuous monitoring. However, the number of practical devices which can detect radon concentration is scarce and most of the existing devices are very costly. Among such devices, the RS9A, a prototype of a radon detector, detects indoor radon concentration and is priced significantly lower compared to other existing radon detectors. In this paper, we investigated the RS9A for the continuous detection of indoor radon gas and compared its performance to a commercially available radon detector (RadonEye). We measured indoor radon concentrations at two separate sites by using both detectors simultaneously. The indoor radon concentrations measured by the aforementioned detectors revealed a high correlation. Therefore, the RS9A can be considered as an appropriate candidate for use as a continuous indoor radon monitoring system.