• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.14-25
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• 2008

Benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and m-, p-, and o-xylene, the most influential aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs), were measured in Bangkok, Thailand, one of the most rapidly developing urban areas in Southern East Asia. The purpose of this study is to characterize the ambient air quality with respect to above mentioned aromatic compounds. The data were monitored in ten sites which cover roadside area, residential area and background area. Canister technique was used to obtain air sample at 24 hour interval per a month during April-August in 2007. GC/MS with three stage preconcentrator was used to analyze these samples. The average concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene m-, p-xylene and o-xylene are 5.8, 36.1, 4.1, 11.0 and $3.7{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. They were observed to be distributed in a log-normal form. Moreover, o-xylene and m, p-xylene exhibited a very good correlation (r=0.976). The slope of the regression equation between them was 3.07 which consisted with a previous reported value. The average ratio of toluene to benzene was 6.4 in April, May June and August. This value was comparable to the ones measured in other Asian cities. Two types of statistical analyses, cluster and factor analyses, were applied to the data in this study. Well characterization was made to understand the air quality of Bangkok area.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.127-138
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• 2018

This study measured indoor and outdoor levels of hydrocarbon volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene isomers (collectively referred to as BTEX), as well as 13 carbonyl compounds, at 20 homes in Seoul, South Korea. Along with the sampling of BTEX and carbonyls, indoor concentrations of the air pollutants nitrogen oxide (NO) and carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) were also measured at each home. These measurements were used to understand the characteristics of BTEX and carbonyls by calculating the various ratios and correlation coefficients between measured contaminant levels. We found that carbonyls were mostly originated from indoor sources, while BTEX were originated from both indoor and outdoor sources. A high correlation between indoor levels of NO and BTEX indicated that traffic emissions were also an important sources of BTEX.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.150-160
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• 2014

Greenhouse gas (GHG) and Air Pollution (AP) emission inventories have been constructed and estimated independently up-to-date in Seoul. It causes difficulty in GHG and AP integrated management due to a difference in emission inventories. In this study, we constructed GHG and AP integrated emission inventories for direct and indirect sources in Seoul during the year 2010 in Energy activities for estimating GHG and AP emissions were derived from IPCC guideline, guidelines for local government greenhouse inventories, air pollutants calculation manual, and Indirect Emission Factors (IEF) reported by Korea Power Exchange. The annual GHG emission was estimated as 50,530,566 $tonCO_{2eq}$, of which 54.8% resulted from direct sources and the remaining 45.2% from indirect sources. Among direct sources, transportation sector emitted the largest GHG, accounting for 47.3% of the total emission from direct sources. As with indirect sources, purchased electricity sector only emitted 98.6% of the total emission from indirect sources. The annual AP emission was estimated as 283,701 tonAP, of which 85.9% was contributed by the combined AP emissions of transportation and fugitive sectors. Estimation of individual air pollutant showed that the largest source were transportation sector for CO, $NO_x$, TSP, $PM_{10}$ and NH3, non-energy sector for $SO_x$, and fugitive sector for VOCs. This study found some limitations in estimating GHG and AP integrated emissions, such as nonconforming emission inventories between GHG and AP, and no indirect AP emission factor of purchased electricity, and so on. Those should be further studied and improved for more effective GHG and AP integrated management.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.153-160
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• 1998

The concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere were measured from the Yochon Industrial Estate and compared with those from Tongkwangyang and Seoul. The first important phenomenon observed in the air of Yochon was high concentrations of alkenes and in particular, ethylene and propene. For most dominant species, their means and standard deviations were high simultaneously. Concentrations of several major aliphatic species exhibited a similar pattern of diurnal variation, however, with different species combination on each day. Concentrations of several hazardous aromatic species also exhibited a similar pattern of diurnal variation on the same day, which was different from that observed in the diurnal variation of major aliphatic species. It was interpreted that some species were intermittently released from relevant processes. It was also understood that high concentrations and variations of VOC species in Yochon were localized and not related to high average concentrations of ozone in Yochon and Tongkwangyang areas.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.179-185
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• 2010

Benzene is known as a ubiquitous air pollutant and has a carcinogenic influence on the human body. Benzene is also metabolized to other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the body such as phenol and hydroquinone (HQ). The metabolites are accumulated and further oxidized by myeloperoxidase in bone marrow. They act as toxic agents and cause a variety of diseases, including cancer, atopic dermatitis and asthma. In this study, we examined the effects of benzene and its metabolites on proliferation, differentiation and chemotaxis of EoL-1 cells, the human eosinophilic leukemia cell line. These chemicals had no effect on the proliferation of EoL-1 cells. Benzene decreased the differentiation of EoL-1 cells induced by butyric acid. HQ was induced the cell death during butyric acid-induced EoL-1 cell differentiation. In a chemotaxis experiment, benzene, phenol and HQ enhanced the cell migration induced by Lkn-1 but not by MCP-1, eotaxin, MIP-$1{\alpha}$ and RANTES. These findings provide the effect of VOCs on the regulation of eosinophil-involved immune response.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.536-546
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• 2016

The diurnal variations of $O_3$ and $NO_2$ in an urban park and the effects of air temperature and wind speed on the diurnal variations are investigated. $O_3$ and $NO_2$ concentrations were observed at a site in an urban park of Seoul from 27 July 2015 to 9 August 2015. The $O_3$ and $NO_2$ concentrations observed in the urban park are compared to those observed at the Gangnam air quality monitoring station (AQMS). The $O_3$ concentration is higher in the urban park than at the Gangnam AQMS in the daytime because the amount of $O_3$ dissociated by NO is smaller as well as partly because the amount of $O_3$ produced in the oxidation process of biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is larger in the urban park than at the Gangnam AQMS. The $NO_2$ concentration is lower in the urban park than at the Gangnam AQMS during day and night because the observation site in the urban park is relatively far from roads where $NO_x$ is freshly emitted from vehicles. The difference in $NO_2$ concentration is larger in the daytime than in the nighttime. To examine the effects of air temperature and wind speed on the diurnal variations of $O_3$ and $NO_2$, the observed $O_3$ and $NO_2$ concentrations are classified into high or low air temperature and high or low wind speed days. The high $O_3$ and $NO_2$ concentrations in the daytime appear for the high air temperature and low wind speed days. This is because the daytime photochemical processes are favorable when the air temperature is high and the wind speed is low. The scatter plots of the daytime maximum $O_3$ and minimum $NO_2$ concentrations versus the daytime averages of air temperature and wind speed show that the daytime maximum $O_3$ and minimum $NO_2$ concentrations tend to increase as the air temperature increases or the wind speed decreases. The daytime maximum $O_3$ concentration is more sensitive to the changes in air temperature and wind speed in the urban park than at the Gangnam AQMS.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.122-129
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• 2015

In previous study, VOC emission characteristics of coating materials for wood finishing were conducted and results showed that eco-friendly products has about 15~46% lower TVOC emission than typical products. In this study, lower TVOC emitted coating materials were applied on pine and then changes of VOC emission characteristics from pine with treatments were determined. Non-treated pine emitted $604.7{\mu}g/m^2h$ of TVOC that contained 66% of NVOC ($399.7{\mu}g/m^2h$). However, $V_2$ finished pine showed no NVOC emission rather than AVOC emission that consisted of Toluene, Ethylbenzene, m,p-Xylene, o-Xylene, 1,2,4- Trimethylbenzene. All coating materials inhibited ${\alpha}$-Pinene emission which originally from pine, but waterborne stain ($W_1$ and $W_3$) showed lower disruption of that emission. Moreover, $W_3$/wood showed higher NVOC emission such as ${\alpha}$-Terpinol, Terpinen-4-ol which are known as antioxidant substrates. Based on results, VOC emission characteristic of pine was significantly affected by coating materials with negatively in terms of ${\alpha}$-Pinene emission or positively in terms of NVOC emission. Therefore, coating material is important factor for indoor air quality when it would apply on wood products. For the future study, VOC emission characteristic of coated wood will be conducted continuously.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.149-163
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• 2021

In this study, the changes in ozone (O3) concentrations due to the removal of power plant emissions were analyzed using a community multi-scale air quality (CMAQ) model. Two different CMAQ model simulations, one considering the emissions from the Hadong power plant and one without considering the emissions, were conducted to investigate the effect of the emissions on the changes in the O3 concentrations in the surrounding areas. Subsequently, the CMAQ simulations exhibited an increase in the O3 concentration (25.24%) despite a decrease in the NOx (-18.87%) and volatile organic carbon (VOC, -11.27%) concentrations, which are major O3 precursors. The changes in the NO and O3 concentrations due to the removal of power plant emissions presented a strong negative correlation (r= -0.72). This indicated that the increase in the O3 concentration was mainly attributed to the significantly decreased NO concentration, thus, mitigating the O3 titration reaction (NO+O3→NO2+O2). Additionally, due to the VOC-limited (i.e., NOx-saturated) conditions in the study region, NO affected the O3 concentration, indicating that the O3 concentrations in a particular region are not only proportional to the increase or decrease in emissions. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the chemical O3 production and loss in a particular region is necessary to accurately evaluate the effect of emission control on the changes in the O3 concentration.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2018

Nation-wide systematic and comprehensive measurements of air quality criteria species have been made over 340 sites currently in Korea since 1990. Using these data, temporal and spatial trends of $SO_2$, $PM_{10}$, $NO_2$, $O_3$, CO and $O_x(NO_2+O_3)$ were analyzed to characterize and evaluate implementing efficiency of air quality policy and regulations. Due to strict and effective policy to use cleaner fuels in late 1980s and 1990s, the primary pollutants, such as $SO_2$, CO, and $PM_{10}$ decreased sharply by early 2000s in all parts of Korea. After this period, their concentrations declined with much lower rates in most parts of Korea. In addition, isolated but noticeable numbers of places, especially in major ports, newly developing towns and industrial parks, sustained high levels or even showed further degradation. Despite series of emission control strategies were enforced since early 1990s, $NO_2$ concentrations haven't changed much till 2005, due to significant increase in number of automobiles. Nevertheless, we confirmed that the staggering levels of $NO_2$ and $PM_{10}$ improved evidently after 2005, especially in Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), where enhanced regulations for $NO_2$ and $PM_{10}$ emissions was imposed to automobiles and large emission sources. However, their decreasing trends were much lessened in recent years again as current air quality improvement strategies has been challenged to revise further. In contrast to these primary species, annual $O_3$, which is secondary product from $NO_2$ and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), has increased consistently with about 0.6 ppbv per year in every urban part of Korea, while yearly average of daily maximum 8-hour $O_3$ in summer season had a much higher rate of 1.2 ppbv per year. Increase of $O_3$ can be explained mainly by reductions of NO emission. Rising background $O_3$ in the Northeast Asia and increasing oxidizing capacity by changing photochemistry were likely causes of observed $O_3$ increase. The future air quality policy should consider more effective ways to lower alarming level of $O_3$ and $PM_{10}$.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.12 no.E
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• pp.19-28
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• 1996

A pore concensation-based separation technique was studied experimentally using toluene and xylene in a nitrogen stream. The removal rate of toluene and xylene on a microporous ceramic membrane was enhanced by increasing the partial pressure difference across the membrane, but the selectivity was reduced with increasing flux of nitrogen. This was found both in vacuum and pressure modes of operation. The experimental results from this study suggest that the pores mear the inlet portion of the module were filled with the organic solvent while the pores near the exit section of the module were slightly opened as the solvent concentration was depleted along the module. In the case of xylene, the rate of N$_{2}$ permeation was reduced considerably relative to toluene, resulting in a much higher separation gactor. Condensibility of xylene appeared to be higher than that of toluene, the potential for pore condensation-based separation of xylene was also found to be higher than that for toluene.