Indoor air quality in homes, offices and restaurants in Korean urban areas—indoor/outdoor relationships

Air quality monitoring was carried out to collect data on the levels of various indoor and ambient air constituents in two cities in Korea (Seoul and Taegu). Sampling was conducted simultaneously indoors and outdoors at six residences, six offices and six restaurants in each city during summer 1994 and winter 1994–1995. Measured pollutants were respirable suspended particulate matter (RSP), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In addition, in order to evaluate the effect of smoking on indoor air quality, analyses of parameters associated with environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) were undertaken, which are nicotine, ultraviolet (UVPM), fluorescence (FPM) and solanesol particulate matter (SolPM). The results of this study have confirmed the importance of ambient air in determining the quality of air indoors in two major Korean cities. The majority of VOCs measured in both indoor and outdoor environments were derived from outdoor sources, probably motor vehicles. Benzene and other VOC concentrations were much higher during the winter months than the summer months and were not significantly greater in the smoking sites examined. Heating and cooking practices, coupled with generally inadequate ventilation, also were shown to influence indoor air quality. In smoking sites, ETS appears to be a minor contributor to VOC levels as no statistically significant relationships were identified with ETS components and VOCs, whereas very strong correlations were found between indoor and outdoor levels of vehicle-related pollutants. The average contribution of ETS to total RSP concentrations was estimated to range from 10 to 20%.

[1]  V. Feron,et al.  Review : Toxicology of Volatile Organic Compounds in Indoor Air and Strategy for Further Research , 1992 .

[2]  E. Crouch,et al.  The carcinogenic risk of some organic vapors indoors: A theoretical survey , 1987 .

[3]  Larry C. Holcomb,et al.  Review : Indoor Concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds: Implications for Comfort, Health and Regulation , 1995 .

[4]  K. Bächmann,et al.  Airborne measurements of nonmethane Hydrocarbons over Western Europe: Vertical distributions, seasonal cycles of mixing ratios and source strengths , 1985 .

[5]  J. Conner,et al.  Method for assessing the contribution of environmental tobacco smoke to respirable suspended particles in indoor environments , 1990 .

[6]  F. Black,et al.  Composition of automobile evaporative and tailpipe hydrocarbon emissions , 1980 .

[7]  M. Khalil,et al.  Atmospheric benzene and toluene , 1983 .

[8]  Risto Kostiainen,et al.  Volatile organic compounds in the indoor air of normal and sick houses , 1995 .

[9]  Yukio Yanagisawa,et al.  A Personal Sampler for Measurement of Nitrogen Dioxide in Ambient Air , 1980 .

[10]  J. E. Yocom.  Indoor - outdoor air quality relationships: a critical review , 1982 .

[11]  J D Spengler,et al.  Indoor/outdoor measurements of volatile organic compounds in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia. , 1989, JAPCA.

[12]  C. W. Sweet,et al.  Toxic volatile organic compounds in urban air in Illinois , 1992 .

[13]  J. Shah,et al.  Distribution of volatile organic chemicals in outdoor and indoor air: a national VOCs data base. , 1988, Environmental science & technology.

[14]  R. Perry,et al.  Vehicle Emissions and Effects on Air Quality: Indoors and Outdoors , 1994 .

[15]  J. Shah,et al.  Inter-urban comparison of ambient volatile organic compound concentration in U.S. cities. , 1989, JAPCA.

[16]  Alfred T. Hodgson,et al.  Volatile Organic Compounds in Twelve California Office Buildings: Classes, Concentrations and Sources , 1994 .

[17]  J. Schnoor,et al.  Volatile organic compounds in the environment , 1996 .

[18]  R. Hornung,et al.  Estimation of Average Concentration in the Presence of Nondetectable Values , 1990 .

[19]  M. W. Ogden,et al.  Determination of volatile organic compounds and ETS apportionment in 49 homes , 1995 .

[20]  R. Ferek,et al.  Measurement of volatile organic chemicals at selected sites in California , 1992 .

[21]  R. Perry,et al.  The sources and behaviour of tropospheric anthropogenic volatile hydrocarbons , 1992 .

[22]  T. Lumpkin,et al.  Measurements of VOCs from the TAMS Network , 1992 .

[23]  Keith Phillips,et al.  Assessment of personal exposures to Environmental Tobacco Smoke in British nonsmokers , 1994 .

[24]  D. MacDougall,et al.  Guidelines for data acquisition and data quality evaluation in environmental chemistry , 1980 .

[25]  P. Fellin,et al.  VOCs in representative canadian residences , 1994 .

[26]  Lance Wallace,et al.  Comparison of volatile organic levels between sites and seasons for the total exposure assessment methodology (TEAM) study , 1987 .

[27]  Richard A. Wadden,et al.  Source fingerprints for receptor modeling of volatile organics , 1989 .

[28]  Rein Otson,et al.  Assessment of the influence of climatic factors on concentration levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in canadian homes , 1994 .

[29]  Ambient Air Benzene Concentrations in Canada (1989-1993): Seasonal and Day of Week Variations, Trends, and Source Influences , 1995 .

[30]  T. Kawamoto,et al.  Personal exposure to nitrogen dioxide from indoor heaters and cooking stoves , 1993, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[31]  John D. Spengler,et al.  Driver exposure to volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, ozone and nitrogen dioxide under different driving conditions , 1991 .

[32]  Christopher Proctor,et al.  Exposure to carbon monoxide, respirable suspended particulates and volatile organic compounds while commuting by bicycle , 1991 .

[33]  G. B. Leslie,et al.  Review : Indoor Air Pollution from Combustion Sources in Developing Countries , 1993 .