Characteristics of Spatial and Temporal Distribution of VOCs around Painting Facilities and Roadside Located near Cheonan Downtown Area

The Republic of Korea has established an air quality monitoring station (AQMS) to manage air quality. Recently, interest in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from various industrial processes and automobiles has increased worldwide, and it can adversely affect human health. Accordingly, in this study, we measured VOCs at areas adjacent to painting facilities and roadsides in an urban area using a mobile laboratory installed proton transfer reaction time of flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS) for a total of 14 times (M1 to M14) for 3 days. The result showed that the concentration of VOCs was higher on weekdays than on weekends and that acetone and methanol were the main components of VOCs at both times. The concentration of benzene was 0.4 ppb, which is below the domestic environmental standard (annual average of 1.5 ppb). In addition, the concentration of VOCs was higher in the sections of nearby road than near the painting facilities, indicating that air quality in urban areas may be impacted more strongly by pollutants from vehicles than by pollutants emitted from workplaces such as painting facilities. Lastly, the study found a stagnant section showing significantly high concentrations of VOCs, for which urgent measures are required to improve air quality.