• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.55-56
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• 2006

This thesis describes the use of measured aerosol size distributions and size-resolved hygroscopic growth to examine the physical and chemical properties of several particle classes. The primary objective of this work was to investigate the optical and cloud forming properties of a range of ambient aerosol types measured in a number of different locations. The tool used for most of these analyses is a differential mobility analyzer / tandem differential mobility analyzer (DMA / TDMA) system developed in our research group. To collect the data described in two of the chapters of this thesis, an aircraft-based version of the DMA / TDMA was deployed to Japan and California. The data described in two other chapters were conveniently collected during a period when the aerosol of interest came to us. The unique aspect of this analysis is the use of these data to isolate the size distributions of distinct aerosol types in order to quantify their optical and cloud forming properties. I used collected data during the Asian Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-Asia) to examine the composition and homogeneity of a complex aerosol generated in the deserts and urban regions of China and other Asian countries. An aircraft-based tandem differential mobility analyzer was used for the first time during this campaign to examine the size-resolved hygroscopic properties of particles having diameters between 40 and 586 nm. Asian Dust Above Monterey (ADAM-2003) study was designed both to evaluate the degree to which models can predict the long-range transport of Asian dust, and to examine the physical and optical properties of that aged dust upon reaching the California coast. Aerosol size distributions and hygroscopic growth are measured in College Station, TX to investigate the cloud nucleating and optical properties of a biomass burning aerosol generated from fires on the Yucatan Peninsula. Measured aerosol size distributions and size-resolved hygroscopicity and volatility were used to infer critical supersaturation distributions of the distinct particle types that were observed during this period. The predicted CCN concentrations were used in a cloud model to determine the impact of the different aerosol types on the expected cloud droplet concentration. RH-dependent aerosol extinction coefficients are calculated at a wavelength of 550 nm.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2005

A number of carbonyl compounds including formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are well known for their toxicity and irritancy. Hence, acquisition of both qualitative and quantitative tool for their analysis is essential to resolve issues associated with malodor or indoor pollution. Using HPLC/UV method, we examined various aspects involved in the measurements of formaldehyde in environmental samples. The results of our analysis indicated that its detection was made as low as 0.5 ppb (assuming 5 L of sample volume), while its precision was maintained near 2% in terms of relative standard error (RSE). When the stability of calibration was checked by variability of slope values obtained over long-term period (e.g., one month), its values were found to remain constantly with RSE values of 3%. It was also found that liquid-phase reaction between formaldehyde and DNPH proceed very slowly to attain equilibrium (one and half hour), while requiring adequate amount of DNPH to form their derivatives. The overall results of our study thus suggest that there are a number of factors to consider for the accurate analysis of formaldehyde in ambient air.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.573-583
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• 2005

Fugitive dust, which is emitted in the ambient air without first passing through a stack or duct designed to control flow, is frequently generated by means of wind erosion from storage yards at Pohang Steel Wokrs. The size distribution of fugitive dust is mostly in the range of coarse particulate which is deposited as soon as emitted and less harm to human health; however $20\%$ of fugitive dust contains PM 10 known as one of most harmful airborne pollutant. Consequently, effective control and reduction of fugitive dust is strongly requested by the local society, but it is not easy so far because the generation and dispersion of fugitive dust highly depends on meteorological conditions, and it being occurred for irregularity. This research presented a fugitive dust control system for each meteorological condition by providing statistical prediction data obtained from a statistical analysis on the probability of generating the threshold velocity at which the fugitive dust begins to occur, and the frequency occurring by season and by time of the wind direction that can generate atmospheric pollution when the dispersed dust spreads to adjacent residential areas. The research also built a fugitive dust detection system which monitors the weather conditions surrounding storage yards and the changes in air quality on a real-time basis and issues a warning message by identifying a situation where the fugitive dust disperses outside the site boundary line so that appropriate measures can be taken on a timely basis. Furthermore, in respect to the spraying of water to prevent the generation of fugitive dust from the storage piles at the storage yard, an advanced statistical meteorological analysis on the weather conditions in Pohang area and a case study of fugitive dust dispersion toward outside of working field during $2002\∼2003$ were carried out in order to decide an optimal water-spraying time and the number of spraying that can prevent the origin of fugitive dust emission. The results of this research are expected to create extremely significant effects in improving surrounding environment through actual reduction of the fugitive dust produced from the storage yard of Pohang Steel Works by providing a high-tech warning system capable of constantly monitoring the leakage of fugitive dust and water-spray guidance that can maximize the water-spraying effects.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.329-337
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• 2007

This study considers the characteristics of nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$), ozone ($NO_3$) and sulfur dioxide ($SO_2$) in three cities of Daegu-Gyeongbuk Area (Daegu, Pohang, and Gumi), which have different city or industrial characteristics, over a time period of 2 years. The diurnal, weekly, monthly and seasonal concentration variations of criteria air pollutants were attributed to compounds or city types. However, the seasonal variations of $O_3$ concentrations were dependent on compounds, but not on city types. Lower $O_3$ concentrations were observed in July when comparing with other summer months. For $SO_2$ and $NO_2$, the concentrations were higher in Daegu when compared to Pohang and Gumi, while the concentrations of $O_3$ were higher in Pohang and Gumi. $SO_2$ exhibited higher levels in the morning hours, while $O_3\;and\;NO_2$ exhibited higher levels in the afternoon hours for all cities. For $O_3$, the concentrations observed during Sunday were higher than those of other week or weekend days. Furthermore, the monthly and seasonal concentration variations of air pollutants depended on compounds or city types. It if noteworthy that the current monthly and seasonal variations were consistent with several prey ious studies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 1999

Open dump of refuse causes groundwater and soil contamination by leachate and air pollution by LFG(Landfill Gas). In this paper, in order to perform a study about reduction of high leachate and LFG collection & control, using a 3-D, 2-phase, transient FDM model, the analysis of simultaneous flow of leachate and LFG has been carried out. In present numerical analysis it is assumed that 58 percents of LFG will evaporate to the ambient air and the recharge rate of a landfill be 12 percent of the average precipitation per year. All other data were excerpted at the point of 1995 when three refuse layers had been buried. From numerical analysis we concluded that maximum head value is approximately 26 mH2O<-에이치투오 (2.52 atm) in the center of the system and that installing venting trench plays an important role in landfill stabilization. Evan with the assumption of three layers constructed and low recharge rate applied, it is found that cumulative leachate and LFG productions will be 15.1 million 세제곱미터, 5.58 billion 세제곱미터, respectively after 40 years.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.857-861
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• 2010

Recently photochemical smog has become a serious urban air pollution. And VOC is the major pollutant for it. With the advance of industrialization and urbanization, MSWI fly ash and sewage sludge and melting slag were generated. It is necessary to de-toxificate ashes, because they contain many toxic constituents and probably lead to contaminate the environment. The objective of this research was to prepare multi-functional brick which is able to remove VOCs in ambient air. The bricks were made of MSWI fly ash, sewage sludge and slag. The benzene adsorption experiment by brick was acted to evaluate its adsorptivity. And also photocatalyst material was coated to enhance its adsorptivity and the endurance on the brick. According to the result, the benzene showed 74~96%. The removal efficiency was increased and the breakpoint time was lengthened by coating a brick.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.16-37
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• 2018

In this study, difference in chemical composition of $PM_{2.5}$ observed between the year 2013 and 2015 at six air quality intensive monitoring stations (Bangryenogdo (BR), Seoul (SL), Daejeon (DJ), Gwangju (GJ), Ulsan (US), and Jeju (JJ)) was investigated and the possible factors causing their difference were also discussed. $PM_{2.5}$, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), and water-soluble ionic species concentrations were observed on a hourly basis in the six stations. The difference in chemical composition by regions was examined based on emissions of gaseous criteria pollutants (CO, $SO_2$, and $NO_2$), meteorological parameters (wind speed, temperature, and relative humidity), and origins and transport pathways of air masses. For the years 2013 and 2014, annual average $PM_{2.5}$ was in the order of SL ($${\sim_=}DJ$$)>GJ>BR>US>JJ, but the highest concentration in 2015 was found at DJ, following by GJ ($${\sim_=}SJ$$)>BR>US>JJ. Similar patterns were found in $SO{_4}^{2-}$, $NO_3{^-}$, and $NH_4{^+}$. Lower $PM_{2.5}$ at SL than at DJ and GJ was resulted from low concentrations of secondary ionic species. Annual average concentrations of OC and EC by regions had no big difference among the years, but their patterns were distinct from the $PM_{2.5}$, $SO{_4}^{2-}$, $NO_3{^-}$, and $NH_4{^+}$ concentrations by regions. 4-day air mass backward trajectory calculations indicated that in the event of daily average $PM_{2.5}$ exceeding the monthly average values, >70% of the air masses reaching the all stations were coming from northeastern Chinese polluted regions, indicating the long-range transportation (LTP) was an important contributor to $PM_{2.5}$ and its chemical composition at the stations. Lower concentrations of secondary ionic species and $PM_{2.5}$ at SL in 2015 than those at DJ and GJ sites were due to the decrease in impact by LTP from polluted Chinese regions, rather than the difference in local emissions of criteria gas pollutants ($SO_2$, $NO_2$, and $NH_3$) among the SL, DJ, and GJ sites. The difference in annual average $SO{_4}^{2-}$ by regions was resulted from combination of the difference in local $SO_2$ emissions and chemical conversion of $SO_2$ to $SO{_4}^{2-}$, and LTP from China. However, the $SO{_4}^{2-}$ at the sites were more influenced by LTP than the formation by chemical transformation of locally emitted $SO_2$. The $NO_3{^-}$ increase was closely associated with the increase in local emissions of nitrogen oxides at four urban sites except for the BR and JJ, as well as the LTP with a small contribution. Among the meterological parameters (wind speed, temperature, and relative humidity), the ambient temperature was most important factor to control the variation of $PM_{2.5}$ and its major chemical components concentrations. In other words, as the average temperature increases, the $PM_{2.5}$, OC, EC, and $NO_3{^-}$ concentrations showed a decreasing tendency, especially with a prominent feature in $NO_3{^-}$. Results from a case study that examined the $PM_{2.5}$ and its major chemical data observed between February 19 and March 2, 2014 at the all stations suggest that ambient $SO{_4}^{2-}$ and $NO_3{^-}$ concentrations are not necessarily proportional to the concentrations of their precursor emissions because the rates at which they form and their gas/particle partitioning may be controlled by factors (e.g., long range transportation) other than the concentration of the precursor gases.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.320-328
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• 2016

Among biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in the natural ecosystem, monoterpenes, along with isoprene, play important roles in atmospheric chemistry and make significant impacts on air pollution and climate change, especially due to their contribution to secondary organic aerosol production and photochemical ozone formation. It is essential to measure monoterpene concentrations accurately for understanding their oxidation processes, emission processes and estimation, and interactions between biosphere and atmosphere. Thus, traceable calibration standards are crucial for the accurate measurement of monoterpenes at ambient levels. However, there are limited information about developing calibrations standards for monoterpenes in pressured cylinders. This study describes about developing primary standard gas mixtures (PSMs) for monoterpenes at about 2 nmol/mol, near ambient levels. The micro-gravimetric method was applied to prepare monoterpene (${\alpha}$-pinene, 3-carene, R-(+)-limonene, 1,8-cineole) PSMs at $10{\mu}mol/mol$ and then the PSMs were further diluted to 2 nmol/mol level. To select an optimal cylinder for the development of monoterpene PSMs, three different kinds of cylinders were used for the preparation and were evaluated for uncertainty sources including long-term stability. Results showed that aluminum cylinders with a special internal surface treatment (Experis) had little adsorption loss on the cylinder internal surface and good long-term stability compared to two other cylinder types with no treatment and a special treatment (Aculife). Results from uncertainty estimation suggested that monoterpene PSMs can be prepared in pressured cylinders with a special treatment (Experis) at 2 nmol/mol level with an uncertainty of less than 4%.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.191-204
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• 2017

Concerns on the air pollution problem caused by ambient fine particles have become a big social issue in Korea. Important factors that should be addressed to develop effective and efficient air quality management policy, especially, against fine particles are discussed and research and policy directions to address these factors are suggested. It is suggested that two factors are in high priority; one is scientific understanding of the major formation mechanisms of fine particles and the other is the process of policy decision and implementation. For the scientific understanding, smog chamber measurement, intensive field study, and chemical transport model development that can simulate the characteristics of Northeast Asia are considered to be important. For the policy directions, priority setting of the proposed policies and development and implement of effective communication sytem are considered to be important.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.189-201
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• 1999

Lead (Pb) is ubiquitous in the urban environment and is a well-known toxic element. It may cause adverse health effects on hematopoietic system, peripheral and central nervous systems, kidney functions, and others. In recent decades, lead concentration in blood has been widely used one of indicators for lead exposure and risk evaluation. In this study, we determined the blood-lead levels in general populations of Korea, and investigated the relationship among blood-lead levels, sociobehavioral factors, and lead concentrations in the contacted environments such as ambient air, drinking water, and foods. The study subjects consisted of volunteers who had lived in the residential or industrial area in Korea. Information about gender, age, living area, occupation, smoking, heat system, and dietary habits, etc was collected using a self-reported questionnaires. The lead concentrations of environments were collected by literature search to the study area. Participated subjects in industrial area were 726 and their blood-lead levels were 8.58 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for males and 6.26 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for female in average. The other subjects in residential area were 317 and their blood-lead levels were 4.58 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for males and 3.49 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for female in average. The distribution of blood-lead level in the industrial subjects was well fitted to the log -normal distribution and that in the residential subjects was well fitted to the normal distribution. Blood-lead levels in both area were affected by gender, smoking habit, age and residence duration except age in industrial area and residence duration in residential area. It was identified that 30% of blood-lead level was contributed from the inhalation of ambient air in the industrial area, and 8.4% of blood-lead level was from that in the residential area. from this study, it would be suggested for the health risk assessment and management of lead pollution concerns in urban, industrial and rural areas.