Air quality and human health - Air Pollution Modeling and Its Application - page 498

7.9 Temporal Trends of PCDDs/Fs in Ambient Air
in Seoul, Korea

Yong-suk Choi 1 , Min-young Kim 1 , Seok-won Eom 1 , and Seoung-gu Ahn 2

1

Waste engineering team, Seoul Metropolitan Government Public Health and Environment
Research Institute, Sechogu Yangjaedong 202-3, Seoul 137-130, Korea
2

Professor, Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Seoul, Dongdaemungu
Jeonnongdong 90, Seoul 130-743, Korea

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine dioxin levels and to assess
temporal trends of the atmospheric content of these pollutants in Seoul. Moreover,
patterns of PCDDs/Fs isomers have been investigated and the relationship between
the level of dioxin in ambient air and seasonal fluctuation was investigated.
Ambient air monitoring for dioxin in Seoul has been conducted continuously over
the 7 years: January 2002 through December 2008. An estimated 450 samples in
ambient air were collected by PUF air sampler and analyzed for PCDDs/Fs using
HRGC-HRMS. I-TEQ values of dioxin in ambient air ranged from 22 to 563 fg
I-TEQ/m 3 with a mean 142 fg I-TEQ/m 3 . Our findings show that contemporary
PCDDs/Fs levels in ambient air have declined since the 2002s. Special characteristics
were found according to the seasonal changes. The PCDDs/Fs levels in this study
were higher in the winter compared to the summer.

1. Instruction

Polychlorinated dibenzo- p -dioxins(PCDDs) and dibenzofurans(PCDFs) are believed
to be formed unintentionally by many industrial activities including a variety of
thermal processes. Once released into the atmosphere, these toxicants can be
transported far from their original sources, and as a result, their presence can be
determined in remote areas. Although PCDDs/Fs levels is very low in
environment, they have been found virtually in almost all areas of earth and ocean
ecosystem.
There are a lot of previous studies that have reported for determining PCDDs/Fs
levels in ambient air. Choi et al. (2008) researched PCDDs/Fs levels at three different
sites in Hong Kong. The annual average concentrations of PCDDs/Fs congener at
three sampling sites were 69.8 ± 44.0 fg WHO-TEQ/m 3 , 152 ± 1,470 fg WHO-
TEQ/m 3 , 102 ± 71.10 fg WHO-TEQ/m 3 , respectively. Raun et al. (2005) reported

concentrations of 17 dioxins congeners in ambient air in Huston. The annual mean