Application of proton-transfer-reaction-mass-spectrometry for Indoor Air Quality research

Schripp, Tobias; Étienne, Samuel; Fauck, Christian; Fuhrmann, F.; Märk, Lukas; Salthammer, Tunga

doi:10.1111/ina.12061

Cited by 46 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…21−24 The fast response time, low detection limit, and mass accuracy have made the PTR-TOF-MS an increasingly used tool for outdoor and indoor air VOC measurements. 25 Individual cVMS standards (analytical grade, purity of >98%) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO). A 1 μL mL −1 calibration mixture was made by diluting each cVMS in hexane.…”

Section: ■ Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Siloxanes Are the Most Abundant Volatile Organic Compound Emitted from Engineering Students in a Classroom

Tang

Misztal

Nazaroff

et al. 2015

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

140

141

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Direct human emissions are known to contribute volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to indoor air via various mechanisms. However, few measurements that determine the emissions of a full suite of occupant-associated VOCs are available. We measured occupant-related VOC emissions from engineering students in a classroom using a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS). The dominant compound emitted was a cyclic volatile methylsiloxane (cVMS), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), which is a major inactive ingredient in some personal care products such as antiperspirants. D5 was found to contribute ∼30% of the total indoor VOC mass concentration as measured by the PTR-TOF-MS. Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) were detected at abundances that were 1−2 orders of magnitude lower. The per-person emission rate of these three cVMS declined monotonically from morning into the afternoon, consistent with expectations for emissions from daily morning application of personal care products.

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Section: ■ Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Siloxanes Are the Most Abundant Volatile Organic Compound Emitted from Engineering Students in a Classroom

Tang

Misztal

Nazaroff

et al. 2015

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

140

141

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“…Proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer. Proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer has been suggested to be a valuable instrument for indoor air quality research (Schripp et al, 2014). The operation principles of the PTR-MS have been described previously (De Gouw and Warneke, 2007;Lindinger and Jordan, 1998).…”

Section: Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution of human-related sources to indoor volatile organic compounds in a university classroom

et al. 2015

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Although significant progress has been made in understanding the sources and chemistry of indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the past decades, much is unknown about the role of humans in indoor air chemistry. In the spring of 2014, we conducted continuous measurements of VOCs using a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) in a university classroom. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) of the measured VOCs revealed a 'human influence' component, which likely represented VOCs produced from human breath and ozonolysis of human skin lipids. The concentration of the human influence component increased with the number of occupants and decreased with ventilation rate in a similar way to CO , with an average contribution of 40% to the measured daytime VOC concentration. In addition, the human skin lipid ozonolysis products were observed to correlate with CO and anticorrelate with O , suggesting that reactions on human surfaces may be important sources of indoor VOCs and sinks for indoor O . Our study suggests that humans can substantially affect VOC composition and oxidative capacity in indoor environments.

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“…For indoor air investigations, PTR‐MS is possibly suitable for VVOCs with rare [M + 1] + ions such as methanol (m/z 33), acetaldehyde (m/z 45), acetonitrile (m/z 42), ethanol (m/z 42), and acetic acid (m/z 42). Furthermore, there are many potential applications for the determination of VVOCs in test chambers (Schripp et al., ). In respiratory gas analytics, PTR‐MS today counts as one of the standard methods (Kushch et al., ; Riess et al., ).…”

Section: Analysis Of Vvocs In Indoor Airmentioning

confidence: 99%

Very volatile organic compounds: an understudied class of indoor air pollutants

Salthammer

2014

Indoor Air

Self Cite

128

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Very volatile organic compounds (VVOCs), as categorized by the WHO, are an important subgroup of indoor pollutants and cover a wide spectrum of chemical substances. Some VVOCs are components of products commonly used indoors, some result from chemical reactions and some are reactive precursors of secondary products. Nevertheless, there is still no clear and internationally accepted definition of VVOCs. Current approaches are based on the boiling point, and the saturation vapor pressure or refer to analytical procedures. A significant problem is that many airborne VVOCs cannot be routinely analyzed by the usually applied technique of sampling on Tenax TA â followed by thermal desorption GC/MS or by DNPH-sampling/ HPLC/UV. Some VVOCs are therefore often neglected in indoor-related studies. However, VVOCs are of high significance for indoor air quality assessment and there is need for their broader consideration in measurement campaigns and material emission testing. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. T. SalthammerThe copyright line for this article was changed on 8th January 2015 after original online publication.Received for review 28 September 2014. Accepted for publication 26 November 2014. Practical ImplicationsSo far, many very volatile organic compounds (VVOCs) are insufficiently considered, although they are of importance for the evaluation of indoor air quality and building product emissions. Moreover, an appropriate definition of VVOCs does not exist. Therefore, it is the purpose of this publication to shift VVOCs more into the focus of indoorrelated research. Potential VVOCs, their sources, indoor air concentrations, and analytical procedures are critically discussed.

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Application of proton-transfer-reaction-mass-spectrometry for Indoor Air Quality research

Cited by 46 publications

References 57 publications

Siloxanes Are the Most Abundant Volatile Organic Compound Emitted from Engineering Students in a Classroom

Siloxanes Are the Most Abundant Volatile Organic Compound Emitted from Engineering Students in a Classroom

Contribution of human-related sources to indoor volatile organic compounds in a university classroom

Very volatile organic compounds: an understudied class of indoor air pollutants

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