Industrial complex areas are an important factor that contributes to economic development. However, these areas also produce a significant amount of noxious air pollutants. In particular, PM10 emitted from industrial complex areas can lead to detrimental effects on human health. This study was conducted to survey environmental conditions and measure the concentration of PM10 in indoor and outdoor living spaces in Yeosu and Gwangyang. In Yeosu, the level of PM10 concentration in indoor living spaces was measured at 49.38 μg/m3, while the outdoor level was measured at 43.60 μg/m3. In Gwangyang, the PM10 concentration in indoor living spaces was measured at 20.08 μg/m3 while the outdoor measurement came to 18.14 μg/m3. When analyzing the percentage of those who were highly concerned with environmental pollution among a survey group of 200 people, Yeosu City had a rate of 76.5%, while Gwangyang City had a comparable rate of 73%. When looking at the time-activity patterns of residents in both locations, Yeosu residents spend more than 80.0% of their time inside their living spaces, while Gwangyang residents spend more than 70.0% of time inside their living spaces. These high rates are largely due to the fact that most of the residents of these areas are elderly. In both Yeosu and Gwangyang, it was found that 40% of residents use TV and radio rather than newspapers or handouts to obtain information about environmental pollution problems in their area.

Koreans have sedentary lifestyles and use under-floor heating called Ondol as home heating systems. Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) caused by VOCs released from flooring material has been of significant interest in residential apartments. In this study, we measured exposure to VOCs by having test subjects breathe under conditions of high surface temperature. The results showed that the emission level of VOCs was high at 40oC in the early stage of the experiment. However, 20 days after the experiment began, the emission level was reduced by 0.9-4 times in each product at 40oC. The exposure to VOCs released from floor coverings was measured by taking into account the average respiratory rate, weight, and activity hour of test subjects and presuming that people are exposed to VOCs all the time while staying indoors. The level of emission from FJR of low-cost PVC floor coverings was the highest among the tested coverings, but the exposure to VOCs emission from the covering was relatively low at 0.025 mg/kg/day at 40oC. The amount of toluene detected from this experiment was the highest among VOCs emitted from floor coverings. The hazard quotient (HQ) of toluene detected in this test was over 20 times smaller than the risk characterization level of 0.1. It was, therefore, estimated that the emission of toluene from the floor surface would not be critically harmful to residents.