This study was conducted to investigate the distribution characteristics, source identification, and health risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in particulate matter 10 (PM-10), in Gwangju. PM-10 samples were collected from September 2021 to August 2022 from three sampling sites, one located in each of the following areas: green, residential, and industrial. The average concentrations of PAHs were found to be higher in the industrial area (9.75±6.51 ng/㎥) than in the green (6.90±2.41 ng/㎥) and residential (6.74±2.38 ng/㎥) areas. Throughout the year and across all sites, five-ring PAHs accounted for the largest proportion (29.8–34.5%) of all PAHs. The concentrations of PAHs showed distinct seasonal variations, with the highest concentration observed in winter, followed by autumn, spring, and summer. Source apportionment analyses were performed using diagnostic ratios and principal component analyses, which indicated that coal/biomass combustion and vehicle emissions were the primary sources of PAHs in PM-10. The incremental lifetime cancer risk was estimated for all age groups at all sampling sites, and the results revealed a much lower risk level than the standard acceptable risk level (1×10-6).

Filter and microbalance sensitivity in measuring fine particulate matter mass is greatly influenced by particulate properties and environmental factors. Temperature and humidity control inside a measuring chamber with a microbalance, and neutralization of static charges on filters are essential for consistent filter weighing. Commercial weighing chambers are expensive with a unit price of tens of millions won. This study developed an inexpensive weighing chamber for weighing fine particulate matter and evaluatedits weighing performance. A microbalance with 1 μg precision was used to measure the weight of a filter. The microbalance was set in a transparent acrylic enclosure (100 x 60 x 65 cm3) equipped with temperature and humidity control equipments. Weighing performance of the chamber was examined using Teflon filters with or without different particulate sample types. Temperature and humidity were maintained at approximately 23.2±1.2 ℃ and 36.2±1.8℃ for 8 days, respectively.

This study investigated the effect of May 31, 2022 Miryang wildfire on fine particle concentrations in Busan and Gimhae, which are neighboring urban areas. In addition, fine particle characteristics and air pollution concentrations were investigated in Miryang, where haze occurred. The Miryang city wildfire that occurred on May 31, 2022, at 0925 LST, was driven by strong north winds and increased fine particle concentrations in Dongsangdong and Jangyoodong, Gimhae City, which are approximately 35 km to the southeast and south, respectively, of the wildfire occurrence site. Furthermore, the fine particle concentration in Myeongjidong, which is approximately 50 km south-southeast of the wildfire site, exhibited a temporary increase at 1400 LST owing to the effects of wildfire smoke. On the morning of June 1, the day after the fire, the Miryang area had very bad visibility because of the smoke from the fire. Therefore the PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in Naeildong, 3 km south of the wildfire site, were 276 μg/㎥ and 222 μg/㎥, respectively, at 1200 LST. In addition, the gases O3, CO, and SO2 showed high concentrations at the time of haze generation. This study provides insights into policy making in response to the rapid increase in fine dust when wildfire occurs near cities.

This study investigated the effect of volcanic materials that erupted from the Nishinoshima volcano, Japan, 1,300 km southeast of the Busan area at the end of July 2020, on the fine particle concentration in the Busan area. Backward trajectory analysis from the HYSPLIT model showed that the air parcel from the Nishinoshima volcano turned clockwise along the edge of the North Pacific high pressure and reached the Busan area. From August 4 to August 5, 2020, the concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 in Busan started to increase rapidly from 1000 LST on August 4, and showed a high concentration for approximately 13 hours until 2400 LST. The PM2.5/PM10 ratio showed a relatively high value of 0.7 or more, and the SO2 concentration also showed a high value at the time when the PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations were relatively high. The SO4 2- concentration in PM2.5 in Busan showed a similar trend to the change in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations. It rose sharply from 1300 LST on August 4, at the time where it was expected to have been affected by the Nishinoshima Volcano. This study has shown that the occurrence of high concentration fine particle in Busan in summer has the potential to affect Korea not only due to anthropogenic factors but also from natural causes such as volcanic eruptions in Japan.

This study investigated the weather conditions, fine particle concentration, and ion components in PM2.5 when two cold fronts passed through Busan in succession on February 1 and 2, 2021. A analysis of the surface weather chart, AWS, and backward trajectory revealed that the first cold front passed through the Busan at 0900 LST on February 1, 2021, with the second cold front arriving at 0100 LST on February 2, 2021. According to the PM10 concentration of the KMA, the timing of the cold front passage had a close relationship with the occurrence of the highest concentration of fine particles. The transport time of the cold front from Baengnyeongdo to Mt. Gudeok was approximately 11 hours . The PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in Busan started to increase after the first cold front had passed, and the maximum concentration occurred two hours after the second cold front passed. The SO4 2-, NO3 -, and NH4 + concentration in PM2.5 started to increase from 1100 to 1200 LST on February 1, after the first cold front passed, and peaked at 0100 LST to 0300 LST on February 2. However, the highest Ca2+ concentration was recorded 2-3 hours after the second cold front had passed.

This research investigated the effect of the eruption of Japan Sakurajima volcano on the concentration of ultrafine particle when the north Pacific high pressure exists in the Busan in summer. As a result of analyzing the forward trajectory using the HYSPLIT model, the air parcel from Sakurajima volcano passed through the sea in front of Busan at 1500 LST on July 17, 24 hours after the volcanic eruption. As a result of analyzing the PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in the Busan for two days from July 16 to 17, 2018, the Sakurajima eruption in Japan, it can be seen that there was a high increase in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations compared to the previous day. As a result of analyzing the backward trajectory, the air mass that reached Busan at 1300 LST on July 17, 2018 has moved near the Sakurajima volcano at 1,500 m, 2,000 m, and 3,000 m. The concentration of SO4 2- in PM2.5, the concentration of all three stations in Busan showed a sharp increase from 1000 LST on July 17th. Looking at the NH4 + concentration in PM2.5, it shows a very similar variation trend to SO4 2-, and the correlation coefficient between the two components is 0.96 for Jangrimdong and Yeonsandong, and 0.85 for Busan New Port. Looking at the NO3 - concentration in PM2.5, the same high concentrations as SO4 2- and NH4 + were not observed in the afternoon of July 17th.

This study was conducted to propose a way to increase the accuracy and precision of β-ray measurement equipment. Statistical processing results of equivalent evaluation data from 2016 to 2021 confirmed that the concentration of micro dust measured by β-ray measurement equipment was higher than that of micro dust sampler. According to quarterly data, it was confirmed that the data from the third quarter (July to September) showed a different trend from other periods, which is assumed to be due to weather conditions. This study indicates that automatic micro-dust measurement equipment evaluation at air pollution measuring stations during the third quarter should be excluded. The evaluation cycle should be changed from once every two years to quarterly. In addition, when the criterion for determining equivalence evaluation falls within the range of the slope and intercept values of the existing trend line, it is necessary to evaluate the R2 value together and reduce the slope from 0.9-1.1 to 0.9-1.0.

Today’s cities require deeper understanding of the thermal environment and PM10 as their management becomes more critical. Based on these circumstances, this study investigated the Granger causality between the thermal environment and PM10 of the 25 districts of Seoul, the most populous and urbanized city in Korea. The results of the Granger causality test on the thermal environment and PM10 were classified into 12 types. Except for type 12, the temperature and urban island heat intensity of the other 11 types operated as a Granger-cause to each other in both directions. Temperature operates as a Granger-cause of urban island heat intensity in type 12. The PM10 level and urban pollution island intensity operated as a Granger-cause to each other in all districts. For types 1 and 2, thermal environment operated as a Granger-cause to PM10 in one direction, and type 3–type 12 confirmed that thermal environment and PM10 operated as a Granger-cause in both directions. Findings reveal the intricate c

This study analyzed the characteristics of high PM2.5 episodes that meets the concentration criteria of Emergency Reduction Measures Plan (ERMP) in Busan during the 2015-2020, and compared with those in Seoul. As a first step, the CAPSS-2017 emission data was employed to analyze the emission differences between Busan and Seoul, and pointed out that Busan emission included the dominance of ship emissions (37.7%) among total PM2.5 city emissions, whereas fugitive PM2,5 emission was the highest in Seoul. These emission characteristics are indicating that the controlling action plan should be uniquely applied to cope with ERMP in each region. We selected extremely high PM2.5 episode days that meet the criteria of ERMP levels. In Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam region, 15, 16, and 8 days of extremely high PM2.5 cases were found, respectively, whereas Seoul showed approximately doubling of occurrences with 37 cases. However, the occurrences in summer season indicated big differences between two cities: the proportion of summer-season occurrence was 13-25% in Busan, whereas no single case have occurred in Seoul. This is suggesting the needs of comprehensive summer emission reduction plan with focusing on sulfur reduction to effectively cope with the ERMP levels in summer in the southeastern region, including Busan.

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the spatio-temporal characteristics of ultrafine dust generation in East Asia and the synoptic climate patterns related to its dispersal which has its adverse effects on public health across East Asia. To achieve this purpose, Level 3 monthly Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) data extracted from MODIS satellite imagery (MOD08_M3) representing particle matters less than 2.5 micrometer (PM2.5) and the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis I upper-level climatic data associated with the exacerbation of ultrafine dust problem are analyzed for the recent 20-year (2001-2020) period. Analyses of long-term average MOD08 data show that high AOD value exceeding 0.5 or more frequently occurred in populous cities in East Asia but mainly in the vicinity of densely populated large rivers and the eastern lowlands in China between mid-winter and mid-spring, which is attributable to the accumulation effects of continuous fossil fuel consumption for heating and manufacturing. Despite the overall decreasing trend of ultrafine dust across China in the 2010s, the weakened westerlies in the warmer climate as well as its continuous generation from the densely populated industrial regions of China provide a favorable synoptic climate condition for frequent severe ultrafine dust problems across East Asia including South Korea. These results indicate that ultrafine dust from China is a long-lasting transboundary environmental problem across East Asia, which needs long-term international cooperation in developing the sustainable policies.

This research investigated the characteristics of fine particles during cold front passage in Busan, on March 19, 2020. The cold front speed was 17.4 m/s (about 63k km/hr), moving from the northwest to the southeast, and with a width of about 64 km. The backward trajectory analysis showed that a southern sea air parcel flowed into Busan before the cold front passage, carrying continental materials from China transported into Busan after cold front passage. The PM10 concentration in Busan showed a rapid increase after passing through the cold front, with PM2.5 showing a high concentration during cold front passage. The PM2.5/PM10 ratio was 0.10 - 0.30. When the cold front passed, SO4 2-, NO3 -, Ca2+, NH4 +, Na+, and K+ in PM2.5 showed a rapid increase, with SO4 2- showing the most significant increase. These results indicated that understanding the characteristics of fine particles during cold front passage in Busan could provide insight into establishing a strategy to control urban air quality.

This research investigated the characteristics of fine particle concentration and ionic elements of PM2.5 during sea breeze occurrences during summertime in Busan. The PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations of summertime sea breeze occurrence days in Busan were 46.5 ㎍/㎥ and 34.9 ㎍/㎥, respectively. The PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations of summertime non-sea breeze occurrence days in Busan were 25.3 ㎍/㎥ and 14.3 ㎍/㎥, respectively. The PM2.5/PM10 ratios of sea breeze occurrence days and non-sea breeze occurrence days were 0.74 and 0.55, respectively. The SO4 2-, NH4 +, and NO3 - concentrations in PM2.5 of sea breeze occurrence days were 9.20 ㎍/㎥, 4.26 ㎍/㎥, and 3.18 ㎍/㎥ respectively. The sulfur oxidation ratio (SOR) and nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR) of sea breeze occurrence days were 0.33 and 0.05, respectively. These results indicated that understanding the fine particle concentration and ionic elements of PM2.5 during sea breeze summertime conditions can provide insights useful for establishing a control strategy of urban air quality.

In this study, the composition and morphology of deposited dust particles with size ranging from a few to tens ㎛ were investigated using SEM/EDX (scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer). Then deposited dust particles were classified into 8 groups: quartz, aluminosilicates, ca-rich, Fe/Ti oxide, carbon-rich, industrial particle, Fe-rich, and biogenic particle. The sources of deposited dust were high in the order of aluminosilicates 41% > biogenic 18% > Fe-rich 11% > quartz and C-rich 8% > industrial 7% > Fe/Ti oxide 5% > Ca-rich 1%. In particular, the ratio of biogenic particles was relatively high due to influence of pollen. The ratio of carbon-rich was 11% at YM site, 10% at MD site, and 4% at MO site, and the site close to the large emission source was high.

This study analyzes the effect of negative air ions on the concentration of airborne particulate matter and evaluates the expected purification efficiency of open spaces for particulate matter by investigating the amount of negative air ions generated by plants. This study establishes a negative air ion generation treatment environment, plant environment, and control environment to measure the purification efficiency of particulate matter under the conditions of each, analyzing the expected purification efficiency by designing a particulate matter purification model. Results show that the amount of generated negative air ion according to environment was negative air ion generation treatment environment > plant environment > control environment; this order also applies to the particulate matter purification efficiency. Moreover, it took 65 min for the negative ion generation treatment environment, 90 min for the plant environment, and 240 min for the control environment to reach the standard expected purification efficiency of particulate matter concentration of 960 mg/m³ for PM10. For PM2.5, with the designated maximum concentration of 700 mg/m³, it took 60 min for the negative ion generation treatment environment, 80 min for the plant environment, and more than 240 min for the control environment. Based on these results, the expected purification efficiency compared to the control environment was quadrupled in the negative ion generation treatment environment and tripled in the plant environment on average.

This study investigated the nitrate formation process, and mass closure of Particulate Matter (PM) were calculated over the urbanized area of Jeju Island. The data for eight water-soluble inorganic ions and nineteen elements in PM2.5 and PM10 were used. The results show that the nitrate concentration increased as excess ammonium increased in ammonium-rich samples. Furthermore, nitrate formation was not as important in ammonium-poor samples as it was in previous studies. According to the sum of the measured species, approximately 45~53% of gravimetric mass of PM remained unidentified. To calculate the mass closure for both PM2.5 and PM10, PM chemical components were categorized into secondary inorganic aerosol, crustal matter, sea salt, trace matter and unidentified matter. The results by the mass reconstruction of PM components show that the portion of unidentified matter was decreased from 52.7% to 44.0% in PM2.5 and from 45.1% to 29.1% in PM10, despite the exclusion of organic matter and elemental carbon.

Fine dust is one of the most critical environmental issues in Korea, and the government recognizes the need to establish customized reduction policies based on regional characteristics. Several studies on air pollutants investigate whether factories affect the distribution of fine dust in a particular region. However, understanding the impact of the entire industry sector requires further investigation. This study identifies the impacts of industrial characteristics on fine dust levels of 141 municipalities across Korea in 2016. A total of 23 variables were used, of which 12 referred to industries and 11 to general characteristics of each city. Due to the high correlation between independent variables, partial least squares (PLS) regression models were used. The analysis identified 14 significant variables for PM10 and 13 for PM2.5. Therefore, the results suggest that local industrial characteristics can significantly influence fine dust levels and provide suggestions for establishing customized reduction policies based on local characteristics.

Particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μM (PM2.5) is one of the major environmental pollutants. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), an endocrine disrupting chemical in PM2.5, has been utilized for the manufacturing of polyvinyl chloride to increase the flexibility of final products. In the present study, we investigated the ecotoxicological effect of DEHP on the viability of skin keratinocytes (HaCaT). DEHP induced apoptotic cell death mediated by phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase through the production of intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). Interestingly, we found that DEHP induces the phosphorylation of the nuclear factor-kappa B responsible for the expression of cleaved caspase-3 as an executional cell death protease in HaCaT cells. On the basis of these results, we suggest that DEHP in PM2.5 induces the apoptotic death of human keratinocytes via ROS-mediated signaling events.

We analyzed the recent characteristics of Particulate Matter (PM) including PM10 (PM with diameter of less than 10μm) and PM2.5 (PM with diameter of less than 2.5μm) observed in Busan metropolitan area, and compared them with those measured in Seoul metropolitan area. This analysis includes the monthly, seasonal, and annual variations and differences, in emissions and chemical compositions observed in both Busan and Seoul areas. Synoptic meteorological conditions were investigated at the time when high PM concentrations occurred in each of the two areas. The results showed clearly decreasing trends of annual mean concentrations with strong seasonal variations: lower in summer and higher in winter in both areas. In comparison with Seoul, the seasonal variation in Busan demonstrated relatively lower, but showed greater summer fluctuations than in Seoul metropolitan area. This is implying the importance of secondary generation of PM in summer via active photochemical reaction in Busan area. In high concentration days, Busan’s chemical composition of sulfate was higher than that of nitrate in summer, whereas nitrate was higher than sulfate in Seoul. The ratios of NO3 - to SO4 2-(N/S ratio) showed lower in Busan approximately by a factor of 1/2(half of N/S ratio) in Busan compared with that in Seoul. Others such as synoptic characteristics and emission differences were also discussed in this study.

Asthmatics are more susceptible to fine particulate matters (PM2.5), compared to the general population. It has been reported that indoor PM2.5 is mainly generated by combustion of fossil fuels, meat or fish In particular, asthmatics are known to be more susceptible to indoor PM2.5 because 65 ∼ 95% of child or adult asthmatics stay inside the house. Thus, understanding the association between indoor activity patterns and variations in indoor PM2.5 levels is important. The purpose of this study is to determine the distribution of hourly indoor PM2.5 concentrations in asthmatics’ homes, and to evaluate its association with pan-frying cooking activity patterns, the most common PM2.5 emission related activity. From November 2017 to February 2018, real-time PM2.5 concentrations were measured in the living room of each asthmatic’s house (n = 35) for three weeks at 1 minute intervals. At the same time, self-reported daily activity patterns, hourly proportion (%) of cooking activities, were also recorded every hour over three weeks for each patient. In this study, we provided quantitative evidence that the distribution patterns of indoor hourly PM2.5 concentrations were associated with indoor cooking activities, especially in the homes of adult asthmatics. In addition, we observed that PM2.5 emitted by pan-frying could maintain even over up to 2 hour lagtime.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship of fine dust PM10 and heavy metals in PM10 in Asian dust flowing into Gwangju from 2013 to 2018. The migration pathways of Asian dust was analyzed by backward trajectory analysis using HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) model, and the change of heavy metal concentration and heavy metal content per 1 μg/m3 of fine dust PM10 in Gwangju area were analyzed. Also, the characteristics of the heavy metals were analyzed using the correlation between the heavy metals in PM10. As a result of analyzing Asian dust entering the Gwangju region for 6 years, the average concentration of PM10 measured in Asian dust was 148 μg/m3, which was about 4.5 times higher than in non-Asian dust, 33 μg/m3. A total of 13 Asian dust flowed into the Gwangju during 6 years, and high concentration of PM10 and heavy metals in that were analyzed in the C path flowing through the Gobi/Loess Plateau-Korean Peninsula. As a result of the correlation analysis, in case of Asian dust, there was a high correlation between soil components in heavy metals, so Asian dust seems to have a large external inflow. On the other hand, in case of non-Asian dust, the correlation between find dust PM10 and artificial heavy metal components was high, indicating that the influence of industrial activities in Gwangju area was high.