Abstract
A comprehensive air quality monitoring was carried out in this study to investigate the concentrations of criteria air pollutants in indoor and outdoor air of public facilities in Taegu area. Four different kinds of public facilities were seleced as sampling sites, which are underground stores, stations & terminals, general hospitals, and department stores. Each group of the public facilities was consisted of three different sampling sites. As a consequence, a total of 12 different sampling sites were surveyed throughout this study. Sampling was conducted simultaneously indoors, three times per day (in the morning, afternoon, and evening) and four times per year (spring, summer, fall, and winter) at each sampling site during the period of October 1994 to July 1995. A range of criteria pollutants were measured in order to obtain a broad profile of indoor and ambient air quality, including total suspended particles (TSP), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), formaldehyde (HCHO), sulfur dioxide ($SO_2$), and nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$). In addition, temperature, relative humidity, and air current were measured on site together with those air pollutants. Results of this study indicated that the indoor levels of TSP, CO, $SO_2, and NO_2$ appeared to be generally higher in stations/terminals and underground stores than those in department stores and hospitals. However, HCHO and $CO_2$ were found to have higher levels in the department stores and hospitals than other places, indicating that the effects of indoor sources for these pollutants are significantly different from other combustion related pollutants such as TSP, CO, and $SO_2$. It was also found that there are marked seasonal and daily variations both in indoor and outdoor air quality. In general, combustion related pollutants such as CO, $SO_2$ and $NO_2$ showed a typical pattern of higher levels in winter than insummer, and also higher in the morning and/or in the evening than in the afternoon. However, the seasonal and daily patterns of HCHO appeared to be opposite to the combustion related pollutants, i.e., higher both in summer and in the afternoon, implying the effect of temperature on the volatilization from indoor sources of HCHO. Results of correlation analyses between indoor and outdoor air quality also indicated that the effects of outdoor sources on the indoor levels of TSP, $SO_2$, CO, and $NO_2$ and much significant, whilst no significant correlations between indoor and outdoor levels were found for HCHO and $CO_2$.
