• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.215-221
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• 2023

Background: There is little information about the airborne hazardous agents released during the heat treatment when manufacturing a welding material. This study aimed to evaluate the airborne hazardous agents generated at welding material manufacturing sites through area sampling. Methods: concentration of airborne particles was measured using a scanning mobility particle sizer and optical particle sizer. Total suspended particles (TSP) and respirable dust samples were collected on polyvinyl chloride filters and weighed to measure the mass concentrations. Volatile organic compounds and heavy metals were analyzed using a gas chromatography mass spectrometer and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, respectively. Results: The average mass concentration of TSP was 683.1±677.4 ㎍/m³, with respirable dust accounting for 38.6% of the TSP. The average concentration of the airborne particles less than 10 ㎛ in diameter was 11.2-22.8×10⁴ particles/cm³, and the average number of the particles with a diameter of 10-100 nm was approximately 78-86% of the total measured particles (<10 ㎛). In the case of volatile organic compounds, the heat treatment process concentration was significantly higher (p < 0.05) during combustion than during cooling. The airborne heavy metal concentrations differed depending on the materials used for heat treatment. The content of heavy metals in the airborne particles was approximately 32.6%. Conclusions: Nanoparticle exposure increased as the number of particles in the air around the heat treatment process increases, and the ratio of heavy metals in dust generated after the heat treatment process is high, which may adversely affect workers' health.

• Hwankyungkyoyuk
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.18-25
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• 2011

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde of newly-built school classroom indoor air on the neurobehavioral functions of students. The elementary schools that were opened in September 2008(as of September 2008) was selected for newly-built school and the elementary school that were opened in March 2006 was selected for control group schools. The concentration of formaldehyde(HCHO), a hazardous organic compound that exists in the air of classrooms, exceeded the standard value of $108.2{\mu}g/m^3$ in newly-built schools while it was $60.8{\mu}g/m^3$ in control group schools, which is around 60% of the standard concentration. However, the concentration of the total volatile organic compounds(TVOCs) was $788.9{\mu}g/m^3$ and $756.1{\mu}g/m^3$ in newly-built schools and control group schools respectively, which are approximately two times higher than the standard concentration. In newly-built schools, the mean reaction time of additions and symbol digit, respectively 3,020ms and 2,398ms in pre-exposure were increased to 3,167ms and 2,514ms respectively in post-exposure. The difference of mean reaction time between pre and post exposure was 146.8 ms, or 4.6%, and 116.7ms, or 4.8%, respectively, showing statistically-significant increase of reaction time(p<0.05). On the contrary, the difference of reaction time of both tests were not statistically significant in the control group schools. These results showed that the neurobehavioral performance of newly-built schools students were affected by volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde of classroom indoor air.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.747-757
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• 2014

Since the air contamination by air pollutants from indoor construction materials and daily supplies has been increased in recent decades, the public interest of using environmentally friendly products and improving indoor air quality also attracted much attention. As known as effects of phytoncide, it has been used in construction materials and daily supplies with various method. In this study, hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) was used because of its high contents of phytoncide. The leaves of hinoki cypress (C. obtusa), which generated by pruning, were extracted by steam distillation, and then used as humidification water source. Volatile organic compound (VOC) from C. obtusa were characterized by GC-MS (Gas chromatograph-Mass spectrophotometry) in order to evaluate effects and risks of using C. obtusa extracts. Total 86 types and 116 types of VOC were detected from distilled water (DI water) and C. obtusa extracts, respectively. Aromatic compounds (DI water: 13 types, 53%; C. obtusa extracts: 13 types, 38%) and terpenoids (DI water: 16 types, 23%; C. obtusa extracts: 23 types, 33%) were detected more diverse types and higher amount than other compound categories. No additional aromatic compounds were found from C. obtusa extracts, so C. obtusa extracts did not affect on aromatic compounds emission. However, in terpenoids, total amount of emission from C. obtusa extracts increased to 33% from 23% (DI water) and 7 more types of compounds were found from C. obtusa extracts. Especially, from C. obtusa extracts, terpinen-4-ol was emitted 71 times higher than DI water. During the humidification with C. obtusa extracts, emitted terpenoid compounds were well known for higher anti-bacterial, anti-insect, and anti-septic functions, but also these had anti-hypertensive and anti-cancer activities. Therefore, terpenoids from C. obtusa extracts can help to improve public health by using humidifier.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.627-636
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• 2001

This paper presents a numerical analysis of the emission process of volatile organic compound(VOC) from building material and its diffusion in a room. A polypropylene styrene-butadiene rubber(SBR) floor plate is chosen as the emission source of VOC. This study investigates spatial concentration distributions and time history of room-averaged VOC concentration for both with and without flushing. The results of this study show that for calculation based on ten-days period the room averaged VOC concentrations with and without flushing are quite different. the results thus suggest the need of flushing for new buildings.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.447-456
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• 2008

Limonene, pinene, and isoprene are abundant and ubiquitous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are found in various natural products and also produced from various manufacture processes. Limonene and pinene are major components of food additives and household products for enrichment of good flavors and elimination of malodors, and isoprene is a basal motif of monoterpenes such as limonene and pinene. They have shown many beneficial effects such as chemopreventive, chemotherapeutic, and antioxidant activities. Upon certain conditions, however, adverse effects of these compounds on human health have also been reported. Although they do not seem to have acute and severe toxicity to human, they can easily generate secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) when they react with oxygen and/or ozone, which have shown certain toxic effects on experimental animal models as well as on humans. Numerous household and scented products containing limonene, pinene, and isoprene are widely used in these days. However, biological consequences upon exposure to these products are largely unknown. The aim of this review is to summarize and analyze the current understanding on the biological effects of VOCs, in particular limonene, pinene, and isoprene, as well as their SOAs.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.198-204
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• 2009

Less used small diameter logs of black locust were heated at $250^{\circ}C$ for improving utilization. The volatile compounds emitted by the heated logs were analyzed. Their effect of formaldehyde absorption was evaluated with PB. Ester and acid compounds were dominant in content. Especially, methyl acetate and acetic acid showed the highest contents. The total content of aromatic compounds decreased as heating time increased. Amoung ketone compounds, The contents of 2-propanone, 2-pentanone, 3-petanone, 3-hexanone and cyclopentenone decreased with the increase of heating time, but the others did not. The contents of the chemicals, furfural and 3-pentanol, increased with heating time, while that of 2-methyl butanal decreased. It was hard to say that formaldehyde was absorbed by the heated black locust samples. Some decorative goods were designed with the heated logs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.37-41
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• 2013

In this work, we report the effect on the volatole organic compounds(VOCs) sensing properties of Copper phthalocyanine(CoPc) and Dilithium phthalocyanine(DiLiPc) thin films onto alumina substrates. Use evaporation method and the spin-coated method for sensing device. The materials of metallophthalocyanine macrocyclic compound solutions blended with N,N'-diphenyl-N,N'-bis(1-naphthyl)-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4"-diamine and/or Poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] solutions. The influence of the blended in with metallophthalocyanine macrocyclic compounds on the resistance have been measured and analyzed in five different volatole organic compounds. The following results were obtained: The AFM 3D image of thin films deposited on metallophthalocyanine macrocyclic compound shows that the surfaces roughness were about CuPc 4.1~14.3 nm(7.5~8.1%), DiLiPc 10.3~22.2 nm(7.9~11.5%). The resistances decreases upon increasing the concentration of vapor organic compounds to CuPc and DiLiPc thin films. That thin films blended Copper phthalocyanine(CoPc) and Dilithium phthalocyanine(DiLiPc) with N,N'-diphenyl-N,N'-bis(1-naphthyl)-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4"-diamine and/or Poly[2-methoxy--5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene]. The resistances of blended thin films with N,N'-diphenyl-N,N'-bis(1-naphthyl)-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4"-diamine and/or Poly[2-methoxy--5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] decreases upon increasing the concentration of volatole organic compounds(VOCs) on DiLiPc than CuPc compound thin films.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.147-160
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• 2002

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are an important public health issue in Korea and many important questions remain to be addressed with respect to assessing exposure to these compounds. Because they are ubiquitous and highly volatile, special techniques must be applied in their analytic determination Valid Personal exposure assessment methods are needed to evaluate exposure frequency, duration and intensity, as well as their relationship to personal exposure characteristics. Biological monitoring is also important since it may contribute significantly in risk assessment by allowing the estimation of effective absorbed doses. This study was on ducted to establish the environmental measurement, personal dosimetry and biological monitoring methods for VOCs. These methods are needed to compare blood, urinary and exhalation breath VOC levels and to provide tools for risk assessment of VOC exposure. Passive monitors (badge type) and a active samplers (trap) for the VOCs collection were used for air sampling. Methods development included determining the minimum detectable amounts of VOCs in each media, as well as evaluating collection methods and developing analytical procedures. Method reliability was assessed by determining breakthrough volumes and comparing results between laboratories and with other methods. A total capacity of trap used in this study was 60ι. Although variable by compound, the average breakthrough was 20％. Also, there was no loss of compounds in trap even if keep for 45 day in -7$0^{\circ}C$. The recovery of active and passive methods was 69％ ~ 126％ and method detection limit was 0.24 $\mu\textrm{g}$/trap and 0.07 $\mu\textrm{g}$/badge. There was no statistical difference (P > 0.05) between active and passive methods.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.363-376
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• 2003

In this study, the fugitive emission characteristics of airborne volatile organic compounds from different source categories were evaluated with respect to the concentrations measured in the vicinity of the sources. A total of 22 different sources were investigated, including gasoline storage and filling stations, painting spray booth, laundry, printing officer, textile industries, and a number of environmental sanitary facilities such as landfill, wastewater treatment and incineration plants. The target VOCs included 83 individual compounds, which were determined by adsorption sampling and thermal desorption coupled with GC/MS analysis. Overall, the aliphatic compounds appeared to be the most abundant class of compounds in terms of their concentrations, followed by aromatic, and halogenated hydrocarbons. As a single compound, however, toluene was the most abundant one, explaining 11% of the total VOC concentrations as an average of all the dataset. Among source categories, petroleum associated sources such as gasoline storage/filling stations, and laundry factory were identified as the most significant sources of aliphatic hydrocarbons, while aromatic VOCs were dominantly emitted from the sources handling organic solvents, such as painting booth, printing offices, and textile dyeing processes. However. there was no apparent pattern in terms of the contributions of eath group to the total VOCs concentrations in environmental sanitary facilities. It was also found that the activated carbon adsorption tower installed for the VOC emission control in some facilities do not show any effective performances, which may result in the increased VOC levels in the ambient atmosphere.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.17 no.E2
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• pp.35-42
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• 2001

Recent development of photocatalytic degradation method that is mediated by TiO$_2$ is of interest in the treatment of volatile organic compounds(VOCs). In this study, trichloroethylene(TCE) and acetone were closely examined in a batch scale of photo-reactor as a function of water vapor, oxygen, and temperature. Water vapor inhibited the photocatalytic degradation of acetone, while there was an optimum concentration in TCE. A lower efficiency was found in nitrogen atmosphere than air, and the effect of oxygen on photocatalytic degradation of acetone was greater than on that of TCE. The optimum reaction temperature on photocatalytic degradation was about 45$^{\circ}C$ for both compounds. NO organic byproducts were detected for both compounds under the present experimental conditions. It was ascertained that the photocatalytic reaction in a batch scale of photo-reactor was very effective in removing VOCs such as TCE and acetone in the gaseous phase.