Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are secondary pollutant precursors having adverse impacts on the environment and human health. Although VOC emissions, their sources, and impacts have been investigated, the focus has been on large-scale industrial sources or indoor environments; studies on relatively small-scale enterprises (e.g., auto-repair workshops) are lacking. Here, we performed field VOC measurements for an auto-repair painting facility in Korea and analyzed the characteristics of VOCs emitted from the main painting workshop (top coat). The total VOC concentration was 5069–8058 ppb, and 24–35 species were detected. The VOCs were mainly identified as butyl acetate, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene compounds. VOC characteristics differed depending on the paint type. Butyl acetate had the highest concentration in both water- and oil-based paints; however, its concentration and proportion were higher in the former (3256 ppb, 65.5%) than in the latter (2449 ppb, 31.1%). Comparing VOC concentration before and after passing through adsorption systems, concentrations of most VOCs were lower at the outlets than the inlets of the adsorption systems, but were found to be high at the outlets in some workshops. These results provide a theoretical basis for developing effective VOC control systems and managing VOC emissions from auto-repair painting workshops.

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Total hydrocarbon (THC), including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), is emitted during the operations of an auto-repair painting workshop. VOCs are especially hazardous pollutants because of their impacts on ozone formation and human health. To reduce the THC generated from small auto-repair painting shops, the Korean government conducts a support program to enable them to shift from an old to a new adsorption system. Although lab-scale evaluations of the pollutant reduction efficiencies of some adsorption devices have been carried out, actual field evaluations are lacking. In this study, three auto-repair shops (one with an old and two with new air pollutant adsorption systems) in Seoul were selected to evaluate their removal efficiencies with respect to THC and VOCs during painting and drying operations. Results show that the THC removal efficiencies were − 41.3–35.4% and 17.2 − 59.2% for the old and new adsorption systems, respectively. The removal efficiencies of the top five VOC species such as butyl acetate, toluene, 1,2,3-trimethylbenzene, m,p-xylene, and ethylbenzene were positive (+) and negative (−) for the new and old adsorption systems, respectively. These results provide a theoretical basis that endorses the government support policy for the removal of air pollutants from the emissions of small businesses that are not well managed, such as auto-repair painting, printing, and dry cleaning.

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