A study on distribution characteristics of volatile organic compounds in Paju industrial complex area, using proton transfer reaction-time of flight mass spectrometry

• Published in: Asian journal of atmospheric environment (Online) Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 1 - 13
• Main Author: Kim, So-Young
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Nature Singapore 02.01.2024; Springer; 한국대기환경학회
• Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; LCD (liquid crystal display); Meteorology; Paju; PTR-ToF-MS (proton transfer reaction-time of flight-mass spectrometer; Research Article; Volatile organic compounds (VOCs); 대기과학; Paju; PTR-ToF-MS (proton transfer reaction-time of flight-mass spectrometer; Volatile organic compounds (VOCs); LCD (liquid crystal display)
• ISSN: 2287-1160; 1976-6912; 2287-1160
• DOI: 10.1007/s44273-023-00023-8

Paju City is located in the northwest of Gyeonggi-do, and its chemical emissions in 2020 were 1,287,917 kg, the 4th highest in Gyeonggi-do. In particular, the Munsan High-Tech Industrial Complex in Paju has LCD manufacturing plants and partner companies distributed in groups, and the volatile organic compounds used by these companies are causing many problems, such as causing bad odors, to the local community. In this sense, real-time analyzing equipment (proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry) was mounted on a vehicle for this study to look into the air quality around VOCs-using companies inside the High-tech Industrial Complex in Munsan, Paju from October 19 to October 21, 2020. According to measurement results, toluene was detected the most at 25.7 ppb, followed by carbon tetrachloride (17.6 ppb), ethylbenzene (17.2 ppb), and xylene (8.5 ppb), which demonstrates that there is a need to control these substances to resolve the issue with VOCs in the region. In particular, benzene designated as the air quality standard was detected at 1.0 ppb in some sites, which is below the threshold (1.5 ppb). However, it was detected at 2.1 to 4.4 ppb, exceeding the threshold in most sites. Thus, continuous monitoring is expected to keep VOCs under control in Paju Industrial Complex down the road, using real-time measuring equipment.