Although airborne wear particles (AWPs) generated from wheel-rail contacts are the major source of particulate matter (PM) in subway systems, studies on reducing the generation of such particles in order to enhance air quality are extremely rare. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of applying water-lubricant (applying tap water) on improving air quality by reducing the mass concentration (MC) of AWPs from wheel-rail contacts at a train velocity of 73 km/h using a twin-disk rig. An optical particle sizer was used to measure the MC of particles with the diameter range of 0.3 μm~10 μm. The results showed that the generation trends regarding PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 were different for dry and water-lubricated conditions: all three PMs showed an increasing-decreasing trend with slip rate under dry conditions; however, they were almost constant with slip rate under water-lubricated conditions. The particle size distributions were also different for dry and water-lubricated conditions: the peak occurred in multi-modal with the largest peak at approximately 6 μm in diameter under dry conditions; whereas, the peak occurred in bi-modal with the largest peak at approximately 0.9 μm in diameter under water-lubricated conditions. In addition, MCs were mostly smaller under water-lubricated conditions than dry conditions except at approximately 0.9 μm in diameter. Applying water significantly decreased PM1~2.5 and PM2.5~10 by more than 95%. This caused a decrease in PM2.5 and PM10 by 48.1% and 78.5%, respectively. On the other hand, applying water increased PM0.3~1 (i.e., PM1) by 52.8%, possibly owing to the effect of water vapor and mineral crystals from tap water. Overall, these findings indicate that water-lubrication can improve air quality in subway systems by reducing the MC of APWs generated from wheel-rail contacts. This study may provide a reference for future studies seeking to improve air quality in subway systems by reducing AWPs generated from wheel-rail contacts by applying lubricants.

This study investigated the emission characteristics of airborne particles and bacteria from six types of household vacuum cleaners in the closed chamber. A test cleaner without HEPA filter was examined focusing on the first one minute of initial operation, observing significant generation of airborne particles, and especially for particle size of 0.5 to 2.5 μm, the generation rate increased up to 68.5 × 103 particles/min. Concentrations of airborne particles and bacteria depends on the production year, the motor power, and the dust filter efficiency of the vacuum cleaner. The observed results should be taken into consideration in the design of the vacuum cleaner as well as how they are operated in indoor environment.

2008년 동아시아 대륙에서 발생기원이 다른 먼지(황사)와 인위적 오염입자의 광역적 이동 사례를 NOAA위성 RGB 합성영상과 지상 입경별 분진(TSP, PM10, PM2.5)의 질량농도 관측으로 분석하였다. 또한 Terra/Aqua 위성 MODIS(Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) 센서의 AOD(Aerosol Optical Depth)와 FW(Fine aerosol Weighting)를 통해 동아시아 지역에서 발생기원이 다른 대기 에어로졸의 분포와 입자 크기 특성을 분석하였다. 중국 북부와 몽골, 그리고 중국 황토고원에서 모래폭풍이 발생하여 광역적으로 이동하여 청원에 먼지입자(황사)로 영향을 주는 6 개의 사례분석을 실시하였다. 질량농도 TSP중 PM10은 70%, PM2.5는 16%로 조대입자(〉 2.5 μm)의 비율이 큰 것은 사막과 반사막의 자연적 발생원에서 생성되었기 때문이다. 그러나, 모래 폭풍이 이동 과정에서 중국 동부의 산업 지역을 거쳐 유입하는 사례에서는 TSP 중 PM2.5가 23%까지 증가하기도 했다. 중국 동부로부터 황해를 거쳐 한반도로 유입한 5개 다른 사례의 경우, TSP 중 PM10, PM2.5가 각각 82, 65%로 나타났다. 이와 같이 PM2.5의 상대적 비율이 증가한 것은 인위적 오염입자의 영향 때문이다. 동아시아 지역에서 인위적 오염입자의 광역적 이동 사례에 대한 평균 AOD는 0.42±0.17로 황사에 의한 AOD(0.36±0.13)와 비교하여 대기 에어로졸에 대한 비율이 높게 나타났다. 특히, 중국 동부에서 황해, 한반도, 동해에 이르는 광역적 지역에 AOD값이 높게 분포했다. 인위적 오염입자의 사례는 FW가 평균 0.63±0.16로 모래폭풍의 이동 사례의 0.52±0.13 보다 높은 값을 보였다. 이는 대기 에어로졸에 대한 인위적 미세 오염 입자의 기여도가 클 수 있음을 제시하고 있다.

Airborne particles collected from a heavily industrialized site were analyzed by chemical speciation of seven trace metals: Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, and As. The average concentrations were as follows: Zn, 502.0 ± 230.7; Pb, 176.5 ± 310.9; Cu, 111.9 ± 82.7; As, 38.0 ± 31.0; Cr, 21.5 ± 24.4; Cd, 20.8 ± 17.4; and Ni, 11.4 ± 8.4 ng/m3. The median enrichment factor (EF) values of Cd (7,280), As (1,030), Cu (215), Zn (214), and Pb (143), with respect to iron, were much larger than 100. We observed that Cd was found in the soluble and exchangeable form (56.9%), and that Pb and Cr were found in carbonates, oxides and the reducible form (69.8% and 61.1%, respectively). These two forms, which are the most easily absorbed into human body tissue, predominated in most of the trace metals investigated in this study.