IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i4p2446-d754039.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Risk Assessment of Indoor Air Quality and Its Association with Subjective Symptoms among Office Workers in Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Dayoung Jung

    (Department of Occupational Health, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan 42472, Korea
    Environmental Health Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon 22733, Korea)

  • Youngtae Choe

    (Department of Occupational Health, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan 42472, Korea)

  • Jihun Shin

    (Department of Occupational Health, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan 42472, Korea)

  • Eunche Kim

    (Department of Occupational Health, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan 42472, Korea)

  • Gihong Min

    (Department of Occupational Health, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan 42472, Korea)

  • Dongjun Kim

    (Department of Occupational Health, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan 42472, Korea)

  • Mansu Cho

    (Department of Occupational Health, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan 42472, Korea)

  • Chaekwan Lee

    (Institute of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Medical School, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea)

  • Kilyong Choi

    (Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, Anyang University, Anyang 14028, Korea)

  • Byung Lyul Woo

    (Industrial Hygiene, Preventive Medicine, Force Health Protection, U. S. Army Medical Department Activity-Korea/65th Medical Brigade, Unit # 15281, APO (Army Post Office) AP (Armed Force Pacific) 96271-5281, USA)

  • Wonho Yang

    (Department of Occupational Health, Daegu Catholic University, Gyeongsan 42472, Korea)

Abstract

The 2014 Time-Use Survey of Statistics Korea revealed that office workers are increasingly spending more than eight hours at work. This study conducted an exposure assessment for office workers in Korea. Indoor and outdoor air pollutants were measured in offices. A self-administered questionnaire was employed to determine work information, indoor air quality (IAQ) awareness, and subjective symptoms for 328 workers. Indoor air concentrations for measured air pollutants were below IAQ guideline values. The average concentrations of target air pollutants did not show significant differences except for benzene, which had relatively a higher concentration in national industrial complexes. The indoor benzene, ethylbenzene, and acetaldehyde concentrations were higher in offices where workers were having dry eye, ophthalmitis, and headache symptoms. This study provides reference values to manage IAQ in offices, suggesting that if the benzene concentration exceeds 4.23 μg/m 3 in offices, it could cause dry eye symptoms. Considering the increasing working hours for office workers and health effects, workers’ exposure to indoor pollutants should be reduced. In addition, the IAQ was heavily influenced by outdoor air levels and various indoor sources. Therefore, in areas with relatively high air pollution, greater monitoring and management is required considering the influence of outdoor air quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Dayoung Jung & Youngtae Choe & Jihun Shin & Eunche Kim & Gihong Min & Dongjun Kim & Mansu Cho & Chaekwan Lee & Kilyong Choi & Byung Lyul Woo & Wonho Yang, 2022. "Risk Assessment of Indoor Air Quality and Its Association with Subjective Symptoms among Office Workers in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-12, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2446-:d:754039
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2446/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/2446/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Rongpeng & Hong, Tianzhen, 2017. "Modeling of HVAC operational faults in building performance simulation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 178-188.
    2. Chung-Yen Lu & Jia-Min Lin & Ying-Yi Chen & Yi-Chun Chen, 2015. "Building-Related Symptoms among Office Employees Associated with Indoor Carbon Dioxide and Total Volatile Organic Compounds," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-13, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohammad Arar & Chuloh Jung, 2022. "Analyzing the Perception of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) from a Survey of New Townhouse Residents in Dubai," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Nicola Magnavita, 2023. "Workplace Health Promotion Embedded in Medical Surveillance: The Italian Way to Total Worker Health Program," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-11, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shen, Yuxuan & Pan, Yue, 2023. "BIM-supported automatic energy performance analysis for green building design using explainable machine learning and multi-objective optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    2. Zhong, Fangliang & Calautit, John Kaiser & Wu, Yupeng, 2022. "Assessment of HVAC system operational fault impacts and multiple faults interactions under climate change," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    3. Hyo-Jun Kim & Young-Hum Cho, 2021. "Optimal Control Method of Variable Air Volume Terminal Unit System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Silvia Vilčeková & Ilija Zoran Apostoloski & Ľudmila Mečiarová & Eva Krídlová Burdová & Jozef Kiseľák, 2017. "Investigation of Indoor Air Quality in Houses of Macedonia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, January.
    5. Younghoon Kwak & Jeonga Kang & Sun-Hye Mun & Young-Sun Jeong & Jung-Ho Huh, 2020. "Development and Application of a Flexible Modeling Approach to Reference Buildings for Energy Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-22, November.
    6. Ying-Yi Chen & Fung-Chang Sung & Mei-Lien Chen & I-Fang Mao & Chung-Yen Lu, 2016. "Indoor Air Quality in the Metro System in North Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Hong, Yejin & Yoon, Sungmin & Kim, Yong-Shik & Jang, Hyangin, 2021. "System-level virtual sensing method in building energy systems using autoencoder: Under the limited sensors and operational datasets," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    8. Yoon, Y. & Jung, S. & Im, P. & Salonvaara, M. & Bhandari, M. & Kunwar, N., 2023. "Empirical validation of building energy simulation model input parameter for multizone commercial building during the cooling season," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    9. Daly, Daniel & Carr, Chantel & Daly, Matthew & McGuirk, Pauline & Stanes, Elyse & Santala, Inka, 2023. "Extending urban energy transitions to the mid-tier: Insights into energy efficiency from the management of HVAC maintenance in ‘mid-tier’ office buildings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    10. Li, Tingting & Zhou, Yangze & Zhao, Yang & Zhang, Chaobo & Zhang, Xuejun, 2022. "A hierarchical object oriented Bayesian network-based fault diagnosis method for building energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PB).
    11. Georgios Martinopoulos & Anna Serasidou & Panagiota Antoniadou & Agis M. Papadopoulos, 2018. "Building Integrated Shading and Building Applied Photovoltaic System Assessment in the Energy Performance and Thermal Comfort of Office Buildings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-24, December.
    12. Im, Piljae & Joe, Jaewan & Bae, Yeonjin & New, Joshua R., 2020. "Empirical validation of building energy modeling for multi-zones commercial buildings in cooling season," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    13. Luca Gugliermetti & Fabrizio Cumo & Sofia Agostinelli, 2024. "A Future Direction of Machine Learning for Building Energy Management: Interpretable Models," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-27, February.
    14. Koo, Jabeom & Yoon, Sungmin, 2022. "In-situ sensor virtualization and calibration in building systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    15. Max Emil S. Trothe & Hamid Reza Shaker & Muhyiddine Jradi & Krzysztof Arendt, 2019. "Fault Isolability Analysis and Optimal Sensor Placement for Fault Diagnosis in Smart Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-12, April.
    16. Baldi, Simone & Zhang, Fan & Le Quang, Thuan & Endel, Petr & Holub, Ondrej, 2019. "Passive versus active learning in operation and adaptive maintenance of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C), pages 1-1.
    17. Yan, Biao & Yang, Wansheng & He, Fuquan & Zeng, Wenhao, 2023. "Occupant behavior impact in buildings and the artificial intelligence-based techniques and data-driven approach solutions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    18. Yimin Chen & Guanjing Lin & Eliot Crowe & Jessica Granderson, 2021. "Development of a Unified Taxonomy for HVAC System Faults," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-25, September.
    19. Vithawat Surawattanasakul & Wachiranun Sirikul & Ratana Sapbamrer & Kampanat Wangsan & Jinjuta Panumasvivat & Pheerasak Assavanopakun & Supang Muangkaew, 2022. "Respiratory Symptoms and Skin Sick Building Syndrome among Office Workers at University Hospital, Chiang Mai, Thailand: Associations with Indoor Air Quality, AIRMED Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-14, August.
    20. Winkler, Jon & Das, Saptarshi & Earle, Lieko & Burkett, Lena & Robertson, Joseph & Roberts, David & Booten, Charles, 2020. "Impact of installation faults in air conditioners and heat pumps in single-family homes on U.S. energy usage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2446-:d:754039. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.