Ewha Womans University · Earth and Planetary Sciences
Professor Ji Yi Lee's research lab specializes in atmospheric chemistry, with a focus on the sources, seasonal variations, and health impacts of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in East Asia. The lab investigates polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), n-alkanes, and their oxygenated derivatives (oxy-PAHs) in urban and background environments, using advanced analytical techniques such as GC×GC-TOFMS to identify and quantify complex organic pollutants. Research also emphasizes long-term trends in air quality, emission source apportionment, and the environmental and physiological effects of airborne pollutants, particularly in megacities like Seoul and remote background sites in Korea. The lab plays a key role in understanding the transformation of air pollution in Northeast Asia, especially in response to emission control policies and seasonal combustion patterns.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and n-alkanes in particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5) were quantified at Seoul, Korea in 2018. The seasonal differences in the total concentration of PAHs and n-Alkanes were clear, where winter showed a higher concentration than that of summer. Compared to the PAHs measurements in 2002 at Seoul, the sum of PAHs concentrations in 2018 were reduced from 26.6 to 5.6 ng m<sup>-3</sup>. Major sources of the observed
The temporal trend of the particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) level was observed at Gosan, a background site in Korea, for 4 years between November 2001 and January 2004. The total average concentration of ambient particulate PAH compounds was 3.65 ± 4.74 ng m −3 , which was mainly affected by a rather small number of very high PAH level samples. The PAH level at Gosan was 1 or 2 orders higher than those at other remote sites and 1 or 2 orders lower than those in urban areas in nor
The atmospheric size distributions of particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) up to 10 μm in diameter were measured at Seoul in the summer and winter of 2003. The concentrations of total PAHs were from 4.32 to 5.48 ng m−3 in summer and from 25.6 to 35.9 ng m−3 in winter, respectively. Majority of the PAHs concentrations were found on fine particles (D p < 2.1 μm). The size distributions of individual PAH compounds were bimodal with the peaks in the 0.43–0.65- and 4.7–5.8-μm range in
The concentrations of oxy-PAHs in PM were found to be higher in winter than in summer, which might lead to greater electrophysiological instability through the ROS generation and disruption of calcium regulation.
It is imperative to understand the changes of the levels of air pollutants in Northeast Asia with respect to the changes of the emissions of air pollutants. In this study, we analyzed long-term trends of both the chemical composition of fine particles and gaseous species in Seoul, a megacity, and Baengnyeong Island, a background area located in the Yellow Sea of Republic of Korea (South Korea) from 2012 to 2019. Long-term changes of the concentrations of air pollutants were analyzed using the Ma
Advanced separation technology paired with mass spectrometry is an ideal method for the analysis of atmospheric samples having complex chemical compositions. Due to the huge variety of both natural and anthropogenic sources of organic compounds, simultaneous quantification and identification of organic compounds in aerosol samples represents a demanding analytical challenge. In this regard, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) has b
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