ISSN : 1598-6616(Print)
ISSN : 2287-6731(Online)
ISSN : 2287-6731(Online)
Journal of Korean Society of Odor Research and Engineering Vol.8 No.3 pp.136-143
Risk Assessments of Exposure to Airborne Volatile Organic Compounds in Gumi Industrial Complex Areas, Korea
Abstract
In this paper the lifetime risk assessment of exposure to airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in environmental atmosphere was carried out in one of the Korean industrial city, Gumi based on their measurements of VOCs at five representative outdoor monitoring sites. According to this study toluene, trichloroethylene, and dichloromethane are three main VOCs in Gumi. The carcinogenic risks 5the carcinogenic VOC are greater than the benchmark concentration (1.0E-6) in all five designated sites. Particularly, the Lifetime Cancer Risk in industrial complex 1 and 2 reached 9.64E-5 and 1.32E-4, respectively, both of which are far higher than the benchmark risks. The components of predominant risk in industrial areas are found as chloroform, benzene and trichloroethylene, while those of other sites are benzene and chloroform. It was estimated that the contributions of those componentsto cancer risk are not less than 90%. For non carcinogenic VOCs, the total hazard indices in 5 monitored sites are less than 1. The hazard index in industry complex No. 2 recorded the highest among 5 sites up to 0.663 due to the dominant contribution of 1, 2-dichloropropane by up to 50% (0.335). Based on this analysis, effective emission reduction for chloroform, benzene, trichloroethylene, and 1,2-dichloropropane will rapidly I the cancer risks and hazard indices in Gumi.
