The indoor air quality of residences has been regulated by designating recommended standard levels of pollutants for newly built apartments. But as of yet, no related guideline has been established for dwellings that are already occupied. From a sociological viewpoint, the gap between the rich and poor has been gradually increasing with economic development, and this has extended to the diversification of house types and living environments. Specifically, people who have the lowest income levels may live in temporary houses such as vinyl greenhouses and shanty houses, and their living environment is mostly inadequate as a result. In this study, we surveyed the indoor air quality in normal and socially vulnerable houses after the occupation stage and tried to figure out the main factors influencing indoor air quality. Airborne fungi are detected more frequently in lower living standard houses. Put another way, the concentration of airborne bacteria and the volatile organic compound levels are much higher than in normal dwellings.

Indoor pollutants seem to have a negative affect on people from vulnerable households who are considered to be weak by the department of environmental health, such as the elderly, infants, children, patients, and pregnant women. In this study, the concentrations of pollutants were measured, especially those pollutants that endanger vulnerable households such as PM10, HCHO, TVOCs, TBC and fungi. The measurements were taken from September to October of 2013 in the Chungnam area. The results were as follows: PM10 33.2 μg/m3, HCHO 20.35 μg/m3, VOCs 132.30 μg/m3, TBC 562.71 CFU/m3 and fungi 362.04 CFU/m3. In the case of TBC and fungi, there were excessive concentrations at 30.9% and 49.3% compared to the standards set by WHO. In the case of fungi, buildings built before the 1980s showed a concentration of 446.23 CFU/m3, those built in the 1980s and 1990s had a concentration of 320.21 CFU/m3 and those built in the 2000s had a concentration of 313.43 CFU/ m3 indicating that fungi concentration was higher when the building was older. The correlation analysis between indoor air pollutants and factors affecting indoor concentrations indicate that HCHO (r = 0.423), TVOCs (r = 0.329), and humidity (r = 0.359) showed a significant difference (p < 0.01). The current study focused on vulnerable households that were unable to protect themselves from indoor pollutants and where poor living circumstances prevailed such as households that do not receive much sunlight; thus, more attention and focus needs to be given to these particular households