• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.445-460
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• 2018

Exposure to indoor air pollution is an emerging world-wide problem, with growing evidence that it is a major cause of morbidity worldwide. Whilst most indoor air pollutants are of outdoor origin, these combine with a range of indoor sourced pollutants that may lead to high pollutant levels indoors. The pollutants of greatest concern are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM), both of which are associated with a range of serious health problems. Whilst current buildings usually use ventilation with outdoor air to remove these pollutants, botanical systems are gaining recognition as an effective alternative. Whilst many years research has shown that traditional potted plants and their substrates are capable of removing VOCs effectively, they are inefficient at removing PM, and are limited in their pollutant removal rates by the need for pollutants to diffuse to the active pollutant removal components of these systems. Active botanical biofiltration, using green wall systems combined with mechanical fans to increase pollutant exposure to the plants and substrate, show greatly increased rates of pollutant removal for both VOCs, PM and also carbon dioxide ($CO_2$). A developing body of research indicates that these systems can outperform existing technologies for indoor air pollutant removal, although further research is required before their use will become widespread. Whilst it is known that plant species selection and substrate characteristics can affect the performance of active botanical systems, optimal characteristics are yet to be identified. Once this research has been completed, it is proposed that active botanical biofiltration will provide a cheap and low energy use alternative to mechanical ventilations systems for the maintenance of indoor environmental quality.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.143-149
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to propose a management method to maintain the pleasant indoor air quality of the dental clinic by measuring and analyzing the indoor air quality of the dental clinic. The measurement was conducted in two rooms, a lobby where many residents stay in the reception room for waiting for medical treatment, and a VIP room where treatment activities are mainly performed. Measurement items are Temperature, Humidity, $CO_2$, CO, $NO_2$, $CH_2O$, VOC, $PM_{10}$ and measurement were taken on April 27, 2018. As a result of analyzing the temperature and humidity of the dental clinic, it was analyzed that the average indoor temperature was maintained at $25^{\circ}C$ and the humidity was kept at around 50%, maintaining proper indoor temperature and humidity environment. $CO_2$ was 855ppm in the VIP Room, which satisfied the maintenance standard. In the case of the lobby, it was analyzed to be 1,160ppm, which exceeded the maintenance standard and it is judged that the carbon dioxide generated by the respiration of the people staying in the lobby is the main reason. The mean concentration of formaldehyde in the VIP room was analyzed as $436{\mu}g/m^3$, exceeding the maintenance standard, and $2,100{\mu}g/m^3$ for the VOC exceeded the recommended standard. It was analyzed that the concentration was relatively higher due to the use of disinfectant and other drugs. The mean concentration of PM-10 in the lobby was analyzed as $65{\mu}g/m^3$ and it was analyzed that it satisfied the maintenance standard. To maintain a pleasant indoor air quality in a dental clinic it is necessary to minimize the effects of formaldehyde, VOC, $CO_2$ in the VIP rooms and lobby. For this purpose, the entire ventilation system and air purification system of the dental clinic should be installed. In case of the VIP room, local exhaust ventilation should be installed and workers should wear personal protective equipment.

• Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.19-31
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• 2022

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify indoor air quality in various living spaces using sensors that can measure noise, vibration, fine dust, and odor in real time and to propose optimal indoor air quality maintenance management using Internet of Things(IoT). Research design, data and methodology: Using real-time sensors to monitor physical factors and environmental air pollutants that affect the comfort of the residential environment, Noise, Vibration, Atmospheric Pressure, Blue Light, Formaldehyde, Hydrogen Sulfide, Illumination, Temperature, Ozone, PM10, Aldehyde, Amine, LVOCs and TVOCs were measured. It were measured every 1 seconds from 4 offices and 4 stores on a small scale from November 2018 to January 2019. Results: The difference between illuminance and blue light for each measuring point was found to depend on lighting time, and the ratio of blue light in total illumination was 0.358 ~ 0.393. Formaldehyde and hydrogen sulphide were found to be higher than those that temporarily attract people in an indoor office space that is constantly active, requiring office air ventilation. The noise was found to be 50dB higher than the office WHO recommendation noise level of 35 ~ 40dB. The most important factors for indoor environmental quality were temperature> humidity> illumination> blue light in turn. Conclusions: Various factors that determine the comfort of indoor living space can be measured with real-time sensors. Further, it is judged that the use of IoT can help maintain indoor air quality comfortably.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2022

Background: Air pollution is increasing together with industrialization and urbanization. In order to reduce air pollution, public transportation is recommended rather than private cars, and the number of passengers using public transportation is increasing accordingly. This study observes the concentration of indoor pollutants in city buses over time. Through this means, we intend to suggest a plan to manage the indoor air quality in city buses. Objectives: The concentration of indoor pollution in public transportation was investigated from April 2021 to January 2022. Based on this, we evaluated the exposure to indoor pollutants. Methods: Six city bus lines in an industrial city were selected for the research, and indoor pollution was measured through IoT (Internet of Things)-based sensor-type measuring devices. The concentration of pollutants was measured every minute, and statistical data were constructed based on the measurement results. Results: In all the city buses studied, the average concentration of pollutants were below the guidelines. However, some measurement results showed cases of exceeding the guidelines. As a result of the analysis by time zone, there were more cases in which pollutants exceeded the standard value during rush hour compared to at other times. A risk assessment for PM₁₀ was performed by evaluating the excess mortality risk from exposure and the risk from inhalation exposure. Conclusions: All measured indoor pollutants in the city buses did not exceed the guidelines. Also, the risk assessment results were found to be within the level of safety. However, if a city bus is used for a long time, there is a possibility that there may be an impact on the human body due to inhalation exposure, so additional management is required.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.870-878
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• 2003

The maintenance of thermal equilibrium between the human body and its environment is one of the primary requirements for health, wellbeing and comfort. For the effective control of indoor thermal environment, thermostat or humidistat is used. But, it is not sufficient to control the indoor thermal environment using only one or two parameters as human response for the indoor comfortable environment. So an environmental thermal index is required for the control of indoor thermal environment effectively. In this study, a PMV sensor has been developed which has integrated from various kinds of individual sensors for temperature, humidity, air velocity, radiant temperature. After applying the PMV and PPD equation, it is possible to monitor the indoor thermal environment with the sensor system, which is adopted to the circuit for optimization according to the human response with the metabolic rate and activities. The measurement was carried out to verify the performance of the integrated sensor system in comparison with existing measurement system, the PMV meter. As a result, the possibility of applying the PMV sensor to control the indoor thermal environment simultaneously was examined.

• Journal of odor and indoor environment
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.322-329
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• 2018

The objective of this study is to identify the research trend in the field of indoor environment in Korea. We collected 419 papers published in the Journal of the Korean Society for indoor environment between 2004 and 2018, and attempted to produce datasets using a topic modeling technique, Latent Dirichlet Allocation(LDA). The result of topic modeling showed that 8 topics ("VOCs investigation", "Subway environment", "Building thermal environment", "School health", "Building particulate matter", "Asbestos risk", "Radon risk", "Air cleaner and treatment") could be extracted using Gibbs sampling method. In terms of topic trends, investigation of volatile organic compounds, subway environment, school health, and building particulate matter showed a decreasing tendency, while the building thermal environment, asbestos risk, radon risk, air cleaners, and air treatment showed an increasing tendency. The results of this topic modeling could help us to understand current trends related indoor environment, and provide valuable information in developing future research and policy frameworks.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.1235-1243
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• 2003

Under controlled conditions in an environmental chamber, 24 experiments were performed to compare the ability of a Variable-Air-Volume/Bypass Filtration System(VAV/BPFS) to remove indoor pollutants and to conserve energy with the ability of conventional Variable Air Volume(VAV) system. The specific conclusions of this paper were; first, the VAV/BPFS was more efficient than the VAV system in removing particulate matter, TVOC, and target VOCs. The total effective removal rate of PM for the VAV/BPFS was two times as high as that of the VAV system. The total effective removal rate of TVOC for the VAV/BPFS was 20 percent higher than that of the VAV system. Also each target VOC concentration was reduced by using the VAV/BPFS. Second, clean air delivery rate was increased by using VAV/BPFS due to additional filtration rate. Otherwise, the VAV/BPFS decreased outdoor supply air rate above 25 percent relative to the rate of VAV system. Third, total energy consumption by the VAV/BPFS was lower than that of the VAV system during the period with indoor thermal load, occupied time. The energy saving of the VAV/BPFS ranged from 11 to 16 percent. The VAV/BPFS improves indoor air quality more efficiently than the VAV system, and it reduced energy consumption. Retrofitting the VAV system with the VAV/BPFS was easy The use of VAV/BPFS is, therefore, recommended far buildings with VAV system as well as for buildings at designing stage.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.277-288
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• 2012

This study investigated exposure to air pollutants in rooms in low-income houses at Shomolu (R1), Mafoluku (R2) and Mushin (R3) in Lagos state. The concentrations of most measured exceeded limits of Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) for indoor air quality. Air quality index (AQI) in rooms studied was unhealthy for sensitive people in terms of CO, unhealthy in terms of $SO_2$ and very unhealthy in terms of $NO_2$ while moderate air quality was obtained in terms of $PM_{10}$ in most rooms. High concentrations of carbontetrachloride, formaldehyde and xylene measured could have been responsible for some of the health complaints of the occupants. Factor analysis shows that cooking with kerosene, use of gasoline generator and insecticide were the major contributors to indoor air pollution in these rooms. Therefore, there is need to urgently tackle poverty as all affected by these pollutants were poor who live in substandard houses without kitchens.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.1180-1185
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• 2006

Modern people spend most of time at indoor space, such as office or classroom. Especially, occupants are exposed to the airtight indoor air quality (IAQ) for a long time, At present, many studies on the air-conditioning systems are more focused on the individual thermal comfort than the thermal efficiency due to increase of the concern of health. There are several factors which are influenced thermal comfort, such as temperature, humidity, convection and air movement, etc. Also, the individual factor, such as age, gender, Physical constitution and habit, should be considered. The 4-way cassette type air conditioner is known to bring out better performance about thermal comfort than the traditional one. This study is performed on the higher ceiling environment than the common buildings or classrooms. Also, this study analyzed on the Indoor thermal comfort by diffusing direction of 4-way cassette air conditioner with various discharge angles, $45^{\circ},\;50^{\circ},\;55^{\circ}$ and $60^{\circ}$. Using a commercial code, FLUENT, three-dimensional transient air thermal flow fields are calculated with appropriate wall boundary conditions and standard $k-{\epsilon}$ turbulence model. Results of velocity and temperature distributions are graphically depicted with various discharge angles.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.32 no.5 s.92
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• pp.398-403
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• 2006

Indoor air quality can be affected by indoor sources, ventilation, decay and outdoor levels. Understanding the effectiveness of indoor air quality control depends on knowledge of the characteristics of air pollutants in indoor air, especially their quantities and persistence, and the relevance of indoor sources to these factors. Toluene within new and established houses has been determined and factors significant to its presence have been identified. A total of 30 selected houses in Seoul, Asan and Daegu areas that were constructed within 4 years and over 4 years of construction were measured the concentration of toluene from July to September in 2004. Toluene emission decay of double-exponential model exhibited good fit of $Y=276.37e^{-1.21x}(R^{2}=0.34,\;P=0.06)$ for 2 years and then $Y=51.54e^{-0.11x}(R^{2}=0.40,\;P=0.0)$ from 23 years in new houses. In case of living in new houses, noncarcinogenic health effects of exposure to toluene was 1.38 of hazard quotient (HQ) comparing to toluene reference dose of 0.13 mg/kg-day.