Volatile Organic Compounds in Ambient Air at Four Residential Locations in Seoul, Korea.

To investigate the environmental behavior of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urban areas, their concentrations were measured at four urban monitoring sites (namely, N, S, E, and W) in Seoul, Korea (February to December 2009). A total of 27 compounds were quantified that consist of four chemical groups: aromatic (AR), halogenated aromatic, halogenated paraffin, and halogenated olefin. Results were evaluated by focusing on these four functional groups just mentioned and their summation term as total VOC (TVOC) along with several individual species (mainly AR species, that is, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene). The highest concentration of chemical groups was found from AR (71.1±42.1 ppbC), while that for individual species confirmed the dominance of toluene (7.48±3.88 ppb). The analysis of spatial distribution indicated that high TVOC levels were recorded at sites N and W, while it was not so significant such as S and E in terms of TVOC budget. Seasonal variation of these VOCs was characterized by the peak values in December to reflect the combined effects of pronounced source activities and meteorological conditions. Analysis of spatial variations in VOC levels between the four urban sites indicated that their distributions are tightly affected by local source processes in each area.

Evaluation of ternary mobile phases for the analysis of carbonyl compound derivatives using high-performance liquid chromatography.

In this study, the feasibility of ternary mobile phases was examined in a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-based analysis of carbonyl compounds (CCs). To test the performance of different ternary phases, the liquid phase standards containing a 15 aldehyde/ketone-DNPH(o) mix were analyzed through a series of five-point calibration experiments. For this comparison, three types of ternary mobile phases were prepared initially by mixing water (W) with two of the following three organic solvents: isopropanol (I), methanol (M), and tetrahydrofuran (T). The resulting three types of ternary phases (named as WIM, WTM, and WIT) were tested and evaluated in relation to the water content or in terms of methanol-to-water ratio (M/W). The results derived by the three ternary phases revealed that the optimal resolution was attained near maximum water content, while those of WIT consistently suffered from poor resolution problems. The relative performances of WIM and WTM phases, if assessed by three key operating parameters (sensitivity, retention time, and resolution), were found to be reliable for most selected CCs with the decreasing M/W ratio.

Emission rates of volatile organic compounds released from newly produced household furniture products using a large-scale chamber testing method.

The emission rates of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured to investigate the emission characteristics of five types of common furniture products using a 5 m(3) size chamber at 25°C and 50% humidity. The results indicated that toluene and α-pinene are the most dominant components. The emission rates of individual components decreased constantly through time, approaching the equilibrium emission level. The relative ordering of their emission rates, if assessed in terms of total VOC (TVOC), can be arranged as follows: dining table > sofa > desk chair > bedside table > cabinet. If the emission rates of VOCs are examined between different chemical groups, they can also be arranged in the following order: aromatic (AR) > terpenes (TER) > carbonyl (CBN) > others > paraffin (PR) > olefin (HOL) > halogenated paraffin (HPR). In addition, if emission strengths are compared between coated and uncoated furniture, there is no significant difference in terms of emission magnitude. Our results indicate that the emission characteristics of VOC are greatly distinguished between different furniture products in terms of relative dominance between different chemicals.

Effect of HPLC binary mobile phase composition on the analysis of carbonyls.

The relative performance of the binary mobile phase in the high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of carbonyl compounds (CCs) was tested using the liquid-phase standards containing 15 aldehyde/ketone-DNPH mixture. The Hichrome column was employed for the analysis of CCs at a flow rate of 1.5 mL min( - 1). The binary mobile phases prepared using both acetonitrile/water (AW) and a possible alternative of methanol:water (MW) mixture were examined by their calibration results. The data derived from these two binary phases were then evaluated in terms of three key variables (i.e., resolution, relative sensitivity, and retention time). The relative water content (or the water to organic solvent ratio (W/A) or (W/M)) of the binary phase was found as the key variable for the performance. The results indicate that the optimal resolution of AW combination was attained consistently for most composition, while MW generally suffered from overpressure problem. The changes of water content in the AW mixture led to the changes of all three variables in the quantitative analysis of CCs. The obtained results confirm that the AW mixture should be the optimal elutant for the CC analysis, as other simple binary compositions like MW are limited in many respects.

Some insights into the relationship between urban air pollution and noise levels.

The relationship between noise and air pollution was investigated in eight different districts across Seoul, Korea, between September and November 2010. The noise levels in each district were measured at both roadside and non-roadside locations. It was found that the maximum levels of noise were generally at frequencies of around 1000 Hz. The equivalent noise levels (L(eq)), over all districts, averaged 61.4 ± 7.36 dB which is slightly lower than the noise guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO) of 70 dB for industrial, commercial, traffic, and outdoor areas. Comparison of L(eq) levels in each district consistently indicates that noise levels are higher at roadside sites than non-roadside sites. In addition the relative dominance of noise during daytime as compared to nighttime was also apparent. Moreover, the results of an analysis relating sound levels with air pollutant levels indicate strongly that the correlation between these two parameters is the strongest at roadside sites (relative to non-roadside sites) and during nighttime (relative to daytime). The results of our data analysis point to a positive, but complex, correlation between noise levels and air pollution.