• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.97-108
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• 1996

A new type of passive samplers were designed and produced by authors. After evaluating the quality of activated carbon by measuring recovery rate of organic vapors and steadiness of sampling rate, activated carbon with 30 - 35 mesh produced by Company S in Korea was selected. In each passive sampler, an amount of 400 mg of the activated carbon was filled in 25-mm cassette and covered by fixed screen (or wire screen with 100 mesh). In addition to the fixed screen, a wind screen (or wire screen with 300 mesh) was also attached at outer face. The sampling rate of the new Korean passive samplers was estimated Conclusions obtained in the study are as follows. 1. Sampling rates of the newly developed Korean passive samplers were affected by sampling time. For n-hexane, sampling rates of 15- and 60-minute samples were 70.92 and 37.45 ml/min, respectively. Sampling rate of both 200- and 450-minute samples was 25.96 ml/min. It is concluded that, when passive samplers are used for measuring organic vapors, samples be collected longer than 60 minutes. 2. Sampling rate of the passive samplers was also affected by airborne concentration of organic vapors. Lower sampling rates were determined at level of 1/2 threshold limit values (TLVs) recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). It is recommended that sampling rate of the passive samplers be obtained at site by measuring concentrations using both the NIOSH Method and passive samplers simultaneously. 3. When the passive samplers, which collected organic vapors, were exposed to clean air for five hours, there was no significant loss of organic vapors due to reverse diffusion. 4. When samples were stored at room temperature ($21.8{\pm}0.7^{\circ}C$) and refrigerator ($3.8{\pm}0.7^{\circ}C$), there was no significant difference in the accuracy of results. For trichloroethylene and n-hexane, accuracies were within 25 % at both temperatures until seven days. However, poor accuracy exceeding 25 % was indicated in toluene from the first day. It is recommended that samples be stored at freezing temperature below $0^{\circ}C$. 5. Sampling efficiency was significantly affected by direction of the passive samplers. Results of samplers facing wind and down, respectively, were compared. Lower amount of organic vapors were collected when the sampler was oriented down. It is recommended that, when air velocity is low in plants, the passive samplers be oriented to the wind. However, when air velocity is high, the passive samplers be oriented down.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.360-368
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• 2012

Objective: This study was carried out to use pine needles as a passive air sampler (PAS) of atmospheric Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). Methods: PCB concentrations in ambient air ($C_a$, ng/$m^3$) and deposited on pine needles ($C_p$, ng/g dry) were analyzed simultaneously from June 1 to December 31. Air samples were taken using a low volume PUF active air sampler and the overall average air volume was about 900-1,000 $m^3$. Pine needles were collected at the end of August and December near the air sampler. Results: $C_a$ were higher at higher air temperature and lower chlorinated PCB congeners, but $C_p$ showed irregular distribution. The average PCB sampling rates from air to pine needles were 0.116 (0.002-0.389) $m^3$/day - g dry. Conclusions: A poor correlation was shown between $C_a$ and $C_p$. However, a good correlation was shown between the logarithm of octanol-air partitioning coefficient ($logK_{oa}$) and log ($C_p/C_a$), and the interrelation was better with longer sampling time (June to December) than shorter sampling time (June to August). The average PCB sampling rates from air to pine needles were the lowest with respect to PUF disk, XAD-2 resin and semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) PAS. The average ratio ($C_{a-calc}/C_{a-meas}$) of calculated ($C_{a-calc}$) and measured ($C_{a-meas}$) PCB concentration was 0.69 with a shorter sampling time and 1.24 with a longer, so $C_{a-calc}$ was close to $C_{a-meas}$. It was found that pine needles can be used as PAS of atmospheric PCBs, and are especially suitable for long-time PAS.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.483-491
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to develop an ozone passive sampler and to evaluate its performance p-Acetamidophenol using as the reagent for ozone reacts specifically with the ambient ozone to produce a fluorescence material (p-acetamidopheonl dimer). The volume of absorbent solution and the extraction time determined at suitable conditions for measuring ozone were 100$\mu$L and 60 min, respectively. The changes of fluorescence were observed with incresing the storage period of passive samplers in ambient air. but the cool storage in a refrigerator did not remarkably influence the increase of fluorescence. The measurement for the precision oi the passive sampling was carried out with duplicate measurement of passive samplers. The intra-class correlation coefficients of passive samplers using dry and wet filters were 0.992 and 0.962, respectively The results from field validation tests indicated practical agreement (dry filter: r=0.963, wet filter: r=0.995) between the passive sampler and an UV photometric $O_3$ analyzer. The limit of quantification of ozone passive samplers with sampling time of 8 hr (wet filter) and 24 hr (dry filter) were 8.0 ppb and 2.7 ppb, respectively.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.102-111
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• 2016

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the use of polyurethane foam disk passive air samplers (PUF PAS) for better measurement of atmospheric polychlorinared dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) concentrations compared to PUF PAS combined with high volume air samplers (HVS). Methods: Air samples were collected by a low volume air sampler (LVS) and PUF PAS. A total of two pairs were continuously collected for six months, but the PUF was replaced every two months. Results: A good correlation was shown ($R^2=0.8595$, p<0.0001) between atmospheric PCDD/Fs concentration measured by the LVS and PUF PAS. The average air sampling rate ($1.5m^3/day-sampler$) of all PCDD/Fs congeners showed a middle of the means which were measured using a HVS by other researchers in different cities. In addition, the air sampling rates of the LVS for each congener made less difference than did those of the HVS. Conclusion: It was found that measurements using the LVS were less influenced by atmospheric peak PCDD/Fs concentrations. However, trace POPs such as PCDD/Fs may involve relatively large analytical errors in measurement, and as a result the air sampling rate of the respective PCDD/Fs isomer is also likely to involve errors. The method of using a regression straight line between the concentrations obtained from the LVS and those from the PUF PAS was judged higher than the method using the air sampling rate, since the former compensated for the experimental errors in the process of evaluation of atmospheric PCDD/F concentrations using the PUF PAS.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 1998

Filter badge type sampler has not been widely used to evaluate air quality over large cities in Korea while it can be successfully used for multi-point sampling and analysis. We evaluated the passive sampler as a new tool to monitor air quality over large cities. We latticed Metropolitan Seoul into $2{\times}2Km$ to give 136 points. $NO_2$ concentrations were measured at all the points in the Spring and Summer of 1997. According to the passive sampler data, natural green zones generally recorded lower $NO_2$ concentrations than major streets and traffic congestion areas. Passive samplers with abundant 136 points gave more detailed picture of $NO_2$ distribution while auto-monitoring network did not clearly provide the characteristics of local land use. Also, passive samplers gave 15% higher values than auto-monitoring network. The correlation between the two values appears very high judging from the regression slope of 0.92 and correlation coefficient of 0.91. This study clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the passive sampler as a tool to monitor air quality over large cities.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.500-509
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• 2009

Passive samplers have been used for many years for the sampling of organic vapors in work environment atmospheres. Currently, all passive samplers used in domestic occupational monitoring are foreign products. This study was performed to evaluate variable parameters for the development of passive organic samplers, which include the geometry of the device and diffusive length for the sampler design. Four prototype diffusive lengths; A-1(4.5 mm), A-2(7.0 mm), A-3(9.5 mm), A-4(12.0 mm) were tested for adsorption performances to a chemical mixture (benzene, toluene, trichloroethylene, and n-hexane) according to the US-OSHA's evaluation protocol. A dynamic vapor exposure chamber developed and verified by related research was used for this study. The results of study are as follows. The results in terms of sampling rate and recommended sampling time test indicate that the most suitable model was A-3 (9.5 mm diffusive lengths on both sides) for passive sampler design in time weighted average (TWA) assessment. Sampling rates of this A-3 model were 45.8, 41.5, 41.4, and 40.3 ml/min for benzene, toluene, trichloroethylene, and n-hexane, respectively. The A-3 models were tested on reverse diffusion and conditions of low humidity air (35% RH) and low concentrations (0.2 times of TLV). These conditions had no affect on the diffusion capacity of samplers. In conclusion, the most suitable design parameters of passive sampler are: 1) Geometry and structure - 25 mm diameter and 490 $mm^2$ cross sectional area of diffusion face with cylindrical form of two-sided opposite diffusion direction; 2) Diffusive length - 9.5 mm in both faces; 3) Amount of adsorbent - 300 mg of coconut shell charcoal; 4) Wind screen - using nylon net filters (11 ${\mu}m$ pore size).

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.481-494
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• 2005

The monitoring of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the atmosphere is a basis for the study of the fate of POPs in multimedia environments. Recently, passive air samplers (PASs) for POPs have been developed. In this paper, we deal with the principle, properties, and applications of the PAS. The principle of PAS, which has no pump, is physical sorption of semi-volatile organic chemicals on various sorbent materials. The PAS is much smaller than a high-volume air sampler and does not need electricity. These properties of the PAS make it possible to conduct various-scaled environmental monitoring all over the world including the Arctic and Antarctic, but the major disadvantage of PAS is its long sampling periods up to 2 years. To date, four kinds of PAS have been developed: polyurethane foam (PUF), polymer-coated glass (POG), semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs), and XAD resin-based PAS. Among them, SPMDs have been commercialized and are most widely used now. Meanwhile, the POPs emitted from China have a large potential to influence the levels and fates of POPs in Korea. Since characteristics of PAS are quite useful to monitor long-range transport of POPs, the use of PAS is highly recommended.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.187-195
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• 2007

Long-term passive diffusive samplers(PDS) have been used to measure $NO_2\;and\;SO_2$ concentrations at 21 sampling sites in Daejeon, Korea during the period of January 2000 - December 2002. The spatial distributions of annual $NO_2\;and\;SO_2$ concentrations were mapped. Average annual $NO_2$ concentration over the sampling period was $28.5{\pm}12.5\;ppb$, ranging from 1.2 to 81.7 ppb. Average annual $SO_2$ concentration over the sampling period was $7.7{\pm}4.8\;ppb$, ranging from 0.6 to 26.8 ppb. On average, $NO_2$ concentration was approximately 5.8%(1.6 ppb) larger in 2002. $SO_2$ concentration was decreased by 13%(1.1 ppb) during the sampling period. The seasonal variation of $NO_2\;and\;SO_2$ concentration was observed with a tendency to be higher in fall and winter. $NO_2\;and\;SO_2$, concentrations measured at different site types(patterns of land use) show significant difference. The observed difference in concentration was associated with difference in emissions of $NO_2$ from motor vehicles and $SO_2$ by non-traffic fuel consumption for heating.

• Journal of odor and indoor environment
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.362-371
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• 2018

Indoor Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are classified as known or possible toxicants and odorants. This study characterized VOC levels in 11 homes in an area in the capital of Seoul by using two different methods of VOCs sampling, which are the active sampling using a thermal sorption tube and the passive sampling using a diffusion sampler. When using the active sampling method, the total target VOC concentration ranged from 41.7 to $420.7{\mu}g/m^3$ (mean $230.4{\mu}g/m^3$ ; median $221.8{\mu}g/m^3$) during winter and 21.3 to $1,431.9{\mu}g/m^3$ (mean $340.1{\mu}g/m^3$; median $175.4{\mu}g/m^3$) during summer. When using the passive method, 29.6 to $257.5{\mu}g/m^3$ (mean $81.8{\mu}g/m^3$; median $49.4{\mu}g/m^3$) during winter and 1.2 to $5,131.1{\mu}g/m^3$ (mean $1,758.8{\mu}g/m^3$; median $1,375.1{\mu}g/m^3$) during summer. Forty-nine VOCs were quantified and toluene showed the highest concentration regardless of the season and the sampling method studied. The distribution of VOCs was relatively varied by using the active method. However, it showed a low correlation with indoor environmental factors such as room temperature, humidity and ventilation time. The correlation between indoor environmental factors and VOCs were relatively high in the passive method. In particular, these characteristics were confirmed by principal component analysis.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.116-125
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• 2015

Objective: This study was carried out to use pine needles as a passive air sampler (PAS) for atmospheric polychlorinared dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs). Methods: PCDD/Fs concentrations in ambient air ($C_a$, $pg/m^3$) and deposited pine needles ($C_p$, pg/g dry) were analyzed simultaneously from June 1 to December 31. Air samples were taken using two low volume PUF active air samplers with an overall average air volume of approximately $1,200Sm^3$. Pine needles were collected the end of December near the air sampler. PCDD/Fs was analyzed by HRGC/HRMs. Results: A good correlation was shown ($R^2=0.6357$, p=0.0001) between $C_a$ and $C_p$, but a better correlation ($R^2=0.7372$, p<0.0001) existed between the logarithm of octanol-air partitioning coefficient ($LogK_{oa}$) and Log($C_p/C_a$). The average PCDD/Fs sampling rates from air to pine needles were 0.045($0.018-0.185m^3/day-g\;dry$). Conclusion: It was found that pine needles can be used as PAS for atmospheric PCDD/Fs, and they are especially suitable for long time PAS compared to PUF disk PAS.