The purpose of this study was to investigate the concentration of indoor air pollutants at 63 elementary schools, 41 middle schools and 51 high schools in Ulsan from the beginning of May to the end of December, 2008. To assess the indoor air quality of the various classrooms, the 8 indoor air pollutants such as CO₂, CO, NO₂, O₃, PM₁₀, TVOCs, HCHO and TBC were measured and analyzed. The mean concentrations of PM10 and TBC in the elementary schools were significantly higher than those of middle and high schools (p < 0.01). For the HCHO, the multi-use practice rooms showed an average 1.5 times higher than general classrooms. In schools located in urban areas, the concentrations of CO, O₃, PM₁₀, HCHO and TBC were lower than in the vicinity of industrial complexes. The exceeding rate of the school air quality maintenance limits in the 6 air pollutants by law were 6.7%, 3.5%, 1.7%, 18.2%, 13.0% and 18.4% for CO₂, NO₂, O₃, PM₁₀, HCHO and TBC, respectively. Based on these results PM₁₀ and TBC have to be in the order of priority of need to improve the classroom air quality in elementary school of Ulsan.

Keywordsschool,indoor air pollutant,indoor air quality