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Passive air sampling of VOCs, O3, NO2, and SO2 in the large industrial city of Ulsan, South Korea: spatial–temporal variations, source identification, and ozone formation potential

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Abstract

Concerns about volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have increased due to their toxicity and secondary reaction with nitrogen oxides (NOX) to form ozone (O3). In this study, passive air sampling of VOCs, O3, NO2, and SO2 was conducted in summer, fall, winter, and spring from 2019 to 2020 at six industrial and ten urban sites in Ulsan, the largest industrial city in South Korea. Over the entire sampling period, the concentration of toluene (mean: 8.75 μg/m3) was the highest of the 50 target VOCs, followed by m,p-xylenes (4.52 μg/m3), ethylbenzene (4.48 μg/m3), 3-methylpentane (4.40 μg/m3), and n-octane (4.26 μg/m3). Total (Σ50) VOC levels did not statistically differ between seasons, indicating that large amounts of VOCs are emitted into the atmosphere throughout the year. On the other hand, O3, NO2, and SO2 exhibited strong seasonal variation depending on the meteorological conditions and emission sources. The spatial distribution of Σ50 VOCs, NO2, and SO2 indicated that industrial complexes were major sources in Ulsan, while O3 had the opposite spatial distribution. Using a positive matrix factorization model, five major sources were identified, with industrial effects dominant. Aromatic compounds, such as m,p,o-xylenes, toluene, and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, significantly contributed to O3 formation. The VOC/NO2 ratio and O3 concentrations suggested that reducing VOC emissions is more effective than reducing NO2 emissions in terms of preventing the secondary formation of O3. The findings of this study allow for a better understanding of the relationship between VOCs, O3, NO2, and SO2 in industrial cities.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean Government (RS-2023–00209329 and 2020R1A6A1A03040570) and the National Institute of Environment Research (NIER-2020–04-04–054). We acknowledge EACL members at UNIST for sampling.

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  1. Department of Civil, Urban, Earth, and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea

    Seong-Joon Kim, Ho-Young Lee, Sang-Jin Lee & Sung-Deuk Choi

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Seong-Joon Kim: Writing – original draft preparation. Ho-Young Lee: Formal analysis and investigation. Sang-Jin Lee: Resources. Sung-Deuk Choi: Supervision, Project administration.

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Kim, SJ., Lee, HY., Lee, SJ. et al. Passive air sampling of VOCs, O3, NO2, and SO2 in the large industrial city of Ulsan, South Korea: spatial–temporal variations, source identification, and ozone formation potential. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 125478–125491 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31109-z

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