• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.149-157
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• 2009

In this study, recognized building-related health symptoms of various workers in dental college hospitals are surveyed and analyzed in order to improve indoor environment at dental college hospitals. We conducted a questionnaire survey for 682 workers in three dental college hospitals located in Seoul from Sep. 20 to Oct. 8, 2004. Most workers at dental hospitals complained about noise, poor ventilation, dusty environment, and air dryness. SBS symptoms score for subjects was 1.43${\pm}$0.74 (often feel) and major symptoms was throat, CNS, eye, and nose symptoms. Recognized Building-related health symptoms are significantly related to tasks, working experience, job-satisfaction, indoor environment recognition index, medical history, used to special material, and number of dental unit chair. Also working places and ventilation are significantly related to the symptom. Based on the results, it can be said that special dental treatment causes undesirable environment such as noise, dust, and bad odor. It is also related to recognized building related health symptoms reported by workers at dental hospitals. So managemental efforts are needed to improve indoor environment which is related by dental treatment.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.105-106
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• 2017

Background: Atopic dermatitis one of the most common chronic skin diseases, is caused by various environmental and genetic factors. Methods: A total of 2609 healthy newborns who were enrolled in the COCOA study (COCOA) from 2008 to 2015 were surveyed for indoor environmental exposure to fungi during gestation and then diagnosed postnatally for atopic dermatitis. The fungi collected during the gestation of 20 normal subjects and 20 infants that developed atopic dermatitis were identified using Illumina's MiSeq platform and analyzed for their diversity and species. Results: A total of 2,609 respondents were surveyed (52.8% male and 47.2% female) Children, 1, 2, and 3 years old diagnosed with atopic dermatitis comprised 15.2%, 15.7%, and 14.1% of the respondents, respectively. The prevalence of exposure to mold during gestation was 1.46 (95% CI, 1.05-2.04) and 1.52 (95% CI, 0.95-2.43), in the first and third years after birth, respectively. One-year-old children with atopic dermatitis and no fungal markers detected in the bathroom environment during gestation accounted for less than 5% (aOR, 1.51; 95%CI, 0.96-2.38) and in the group less than 5 ~ 30% (aOR, 2.21; 95%CI, 1.00-4.89), 3-year-old children had an increased prevalence of atopic dermatitis of more than 30% (aOR, 9.48, 95%CI 1.42-63.13). Conclusions: Exposure to indoor fungi during gestation and infancy is associated with the development of atopic dermatitis in children. The phyla and genera of the fungi in the indoor house dust differed during gestation. This suggests that exposure to indoor fungi during gestation may be associated with the development of atopic dermatitis in children. Future research will be necessary to establish the underlying mechanisms.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.748-753
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• 2008

In modern buildings, the air-tightness and insulation for energy saving resulted in degradation of Indoor Air Quality(IAQ). It has brought out new diseases such as New Building Syndrome(NBS) and Sick Building Syndrome(SBS) to the tenants of such buildings. As a result, researches on the Dynamic Breathing Building(DBB) are being undertaken to minimize energy loss as well as to improve IAQ. DBB is a state-of-the-art technology to build channels inside the wall so that air migrates between indoor and outdoor, which improves insulation performance and IAQ. This study attempts to evaluate the improvement of DBB employed in real buildings. As analyzing tools, IAQ improvement and particle degradation while were evaluated while the required indoor ventilation rate was satisfied. DBB were installed in the twin test cells at Korea Institute of Energy Research(KIER). From the test, IAQ was compared with outdoor air base on the concentration of particle matter(PM10). As a results, the concentration of particle dust (PM10) within the breathing walls was reduced by 80% at 0.7 ACH, 67% at 2 ACH, 63% at 3 ACH respectively. As ACH is higher, Dnamic Isulation(DI) and normal wall permit more PM10 particles being infiltrated.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.334-342
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• 2022

The stringent air environment conservation act forced to build an indoor dome for coal storage. However, it causes some problems due to accumulation of fly ash and harmful substances inside. To solve this problem, this study analyzed the pattern of internal airflow and the amount of ventilation for an indoor coal yard. Overall, the airflow inside the indoor coal yard tended to move to the southwest facing the mountain. In addition, sea-breeze was blowing from the northern louver window facing the sea, where airflow was flowing in. The total flow rate flowing into the indoor coal yard was 918,691 m³/h, and the number of natural ventilation per hour was 0.6 times. Therefore, it is proposed to install a forced ventilation device at the location where internal air flow is concentrated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2021.05a
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• pp.397-399
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• 2021

The increase in single-person households and the development of Home IoT technology make it important to improve the convenience of the residential environment. In addition, the increase in indoor activities caused by COVID-19 calls for the development of products to make life more convenient for single-person households. This trend of increased indoor activity has made it easier to interact with the current residential environment than before, and as a result, the need to develop technology for Home IoT is emerging. Therefore, the Home IoT system will be developed to monitor the information needed to maintain an ideal indoor environment such as temperature, humidity, and fine dust. The system will also interact with users, and propose a system that improves safety in indoor activities by equipping the home with IoT sensors for preventing safety accidents such as gas leakage and fire.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.65-72
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• 2020

In this study, the indoor fine dust concentration in an office of the Korea Knowledge Industry Center was measured for about 80 hours when the concentration of atmospheric PM_2.5 was very high. The effect of the operation of the air cleaner and the forced ventilation system on the indoor PM_2.5 was investigated, and the particle size distribution of the indoor and outdoor particles was analyzed. When forced ventilator and air purifiers were partially used, the indoor PM_2.5 concentrations were maintained between 27.7 ㎍/㎥ and 32.9 ㎍/㎥ when the atmospheric PM_2.5 was 127.7 ㎍/㎥ to 141.6 ㎍/㎥ during working hours. It is more effective to operate the air purifier without operating the forced ventilation system when the concentration of the PM_2.5 is high since the PM_2.5 penetrating the installed filter is continuously introduced indoor from the outside.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.287-295
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• 2010

Dust samples have been collected from streets, schools, subway stations and households in Daegu metropolitan city. Samples were sieved through a 100 ${\mu}m$ mesh and the concentration of 14 elements have been determined using by ICP after acid extraction. Results showed that Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na and V were influenced by natural sources while Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were influenced by anthropogenic sources. The measured values were remarkably higher in components from natural sources than in components from anthropogenic sources. In particular, school dust had higher levels of Ca and Pb and subway station dust had higher levels of Cu and Zn. The percentage composition of chemicals from subway stations, households, and schools were remarkably higher in components from anthropogenic sources than that from streets. It is well recognized that anthropogenic sources were affected by indoor dust. Results of pollution index of hazardous heavy metals indicated that schools, households, and subway stations were more contaminated than streets and urban areas typically had higher pollution index than rural areas. The correlation analysis among trace elements seem to suggest that there were correlations between components of soil/road dust resuspension, and components of waste incineration and fuel combustion.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.393-401
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• 2013

Objectives: Endotoxins in dust generated in occupational settings is known to contribute to the occurrence of respiratory illness among workers. The relationship between the level of endotoxins in total dust or respirable particulates collected from swine farms and immunological markers related with respiratory allergy was evaluated among swine husbandry workers. Materials and Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from ten workers at ten swine farms at Gyeonggi province, Korea. Peripheral mononuclear cells were stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin for 48 hours. The levels of various cytokines produced at culture supernatants were determined using a commercially available ELISA kit. The concentration of particulate matter($PM_{10}$) in the indoor air of the swine farms was evaluated using a PVC membrane filter and mini volume air sampler, and endotoxin levels in the dust were measured by Limulus Amebocyte Lysate Kinetic QCL method. Results: Levels of endotoxins in the total dust were categorized into high(geometric mean: $109.35EU/m^3$) and low concentrations (geometric mean: $0.95EU/m^3$) for five swine farms. Interleukin-4 levels were higher in the high endotoxin group than in the low endotoxin group, while interferon-${\gamma}$ levels were lower in the high endotoxin group than in the low endotoxin group. The ratio (interferon-${\gamma}$ to interleukin-4), indicating immunologic skewedness against allergic reactivities, was lower in the high endotoxin group($1.15{\pm}0.60$) than the low endotoxin group($3.09{\pm}2.38$). In addition, the level of interleukin-13, another cytokine contributing to the occurrence of allergic responses, was significantly higher in the at the high endotoxin group($1.12{\pm}0.37ng/m{\ell}$) than in the low endotoxin group($0.37{\pm}0.04ng/m{\ell}$). Hematologic assessment showed significantly lower cellularity in the number of total leukocytes, neutrophils, and eosinophils in the high endotoxin group than in the low endotoxin group. Conclusions: Even though a sufficient number of swine workers and farms were not investigated, this study generlly suggests that the immunological function of swine farm workers exposed to high levels of endotoxin could be modulated toward allergic reactivities.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.463-469
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• 2009

We performed the experimental study on the control of suspended dust in a cement packaging process for various ventilation systems. To effectively remove the dust generated in the cement packaging process, three different kinds of ventilation system, such as local exhaust ventilation, electrostatic scrubber, and local air supply system, were adopted. Dust concentrations in the packaging process were measured with the variation of the airflow rate of the ventilation systems and then their ventilation performance were evaluated. From the results, we knew that the ventilation performance was the best when the local exhaust ventilation and the electrostatic scrubber were simultaneously operated in the packaging process. In the electrostatic scrubber system, the effect of the airflow rate on the indoor dust removal efficiency was negligible so hat he system ust be operated at $2,700m^3/h$ for saving power consumption.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.472-480
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• 2019

Selection of the plant material for planting to reduce fine dust should comprehensively consider the visual characteristics, such as the shape and texture of the plant leaves and form of bark, which affect the adsorption function of the plant. However, previous studies on reduction of fine dust through plants have focused on the absorption function rather than the adsorption function of plants and on foliage plants, which are indoor plants, rather than the outdoor plants. In particular, the criterion for selection of fine dust reduction species is not specific, so research on the selection criteria for plant materials for fine dust reduction in urban areas is needed. The purpose of this study is to identify the priorities of eight indicators that affect the fine dust reduction by using the fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making model (MCDM) and establish the tree selection criteria for the urban planting to reduce fine dust. For the purpose, we conducted a questionnaire survey of those who majored in fine dust-related academic fields and those with experience of researching fine dust. A result of the survey showed that the area of leaf and the tree species received the highest score as the factors that affect the fine dust reduction. They were followed by the surface roughness of leaves, tree height, growth rate, complexity of leaves, edge shape of leaves, and bark feature in that order. When selecting the species that have leaves with the coarse surface, it is better to select the trees with wooly, glossy, and waxy layers on the leaves. When considering the shape of the leaves, it is better to select the two-type or three-type leaves and palm-shaped leaves than the single-type leaves and to select the serrated leaves than the smooth edged leaves to increase the surface area for adsorbing fine dust in the air on the surface of the leaves. When considering the characteristics of the bark, it is better to select trees that have cork layers or show or are likely to show the bark loosening or cracks than to select those with lenticel or patterned barks. This study is significant in that it presents the priorities of the selection criteria of plant material based on the visual characteristics that affect the adsorption of fine dust for the planning of planting to reduce fine dust in the urban area. The results of this study can be used as basic data for the selection of trees for plantation planning in the urban area.