Exposure to volatile organic compounds in residences adjacent to dyeing industrial complex

Original Article
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Abstract

Objectives

The present study was designed to evaluate residential exposure to selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) relative to the proximity of the Daegu dyeing industrial complex (DDIC).

Methods

A series of surveys was conducted to measure the concentrations of five aromatic VOCs (toluene, benzene, m-xylene, p-xylene, and o-xylene) and methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) in the industrial outdoor air within the DDIC and in residential outdoor and indoor air based on the relative proximity of the DDIC.

Results

The geometric mean (GM) toluene value for the outdoor air samples from residential area R1 located near the DDIC (255 μg/m3) was about seven-times higher than that from residential area R2 located further away from the DDIC (36.9 μg/m3), whereas no significant difference was found in the outdoor air concentrations of the other target compounds between the two residential areas. Moreover, the elevated outdoor toluene levels outweighed the indoor sources with respect to the environmental exposure of residents near the DDIC. However, for the other target VOCs there was no significant difference between the residential exposure of residents living close to and a certain distance away from the DDIC.

Conclusions

The present study confirmed that residents in neighborhoods near the DDIC were exposed to elevated outdoor toluene levels compared with residents living further away from such a source. Furthermore, it appeared that the DDIC was a potential contributor to the nearby residential outdoor toluene levels.

Keywords

Dyeing industry Indoor and outdoor VOCs Proximity Residential exposure 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

The current study could not have been accomplished without the dedicated support of the residents of the 100 households surveyed and two company owners. The authors wish to thank four graduate students (J.H. Park, K.Y. Kim, J.W. Oh, and J.K. Kim) from the Department of Environmental Engineering, Kyungpook National University, for their sample collecting and/or analyses. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their thoughtful corrections and valuable suggestions for our manuscript. This work was supported by a grant from the Korean Ministry of Environment.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2004

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Environmental EngineeringKyungpook National UniversityDaeguKorea
  2. 2.Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, College of MedicineYonsei UniversitySeoulKorea

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