Concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds in Indoor Air - A Review

Brown, Stephen K.; Sim, Malcolm Ross; Abramson, Michael J.; Gray, C. M.

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0668.1994.t01-2-00007.x

Cited by 477 publications

(320 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Table 4 Volatile organic compounds commonly found indoors: typical indoor concentrations and rate constants for their reaction with ozone. N. B.: units of concentration are ''mg/m 3 '' rather than ''ppb'', reflecting units used by Brown et al (1994) in their review of the literature Common indoor organic Brown et al, 1994;Daisey et al, 1994;Shields et al, 1996;Girman et al, 1999 (Mallard et al, 1998); Atkinson et al (1992); and Seinfeld and Pandis (1998) …”

Section: Reactions With Other Indoor Chemicalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ozone in Indoor Environments: Concentration and Chemistry

Weschler¹

2000

Indoor Air

620

532

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The concentration of indoor ozone depends on a number of factors, including the outdoor ozone concentration, air exchange rates, indoor emission rates, surface removal rates, and reactions between ozone and other chemicals in the air. Outdoor ozone concentrations often display strong diurnal variations, and this adds a dynamic excitation to the transport and chemical mechanisms at play. Hence, indoor ozone concentrations can vary significantly from hour-to-hour, day-to-day, and season-to-season, as well as from room-to-room and structure-to-structure. Under normal conditions, the half-life of ozone indoors is between 7 and 10 min and is determined primarily by surface removal and air exchange. Although reactions between ozone and most other indoor pollutants are thermodynamically favorable, in the majority of cases they are quite slow. Rate constants for reactions of ozone with the more commonly identified indoor pollutants are summarized in this article. They show that only a small fraction of the reactions occur at a rate fast enough to compete with air exchange, assuming typical indoor ozone concentrations. In the case of organic compounds, the ''fast'' reactions involve compounds with unsaturated carboncarbon bonds. Although such compounds typically comprise less than 10% of indoor pollutants, their reactions with ozone have the potential to be quite significant as sources of indoor free radicals and multifunctional (ªCΩO, ªCOOH, ªOH) stable compounds that are often quite odorous. The stable compounds are present as both gas phase and condensed phase species, with the latter contributing to the overall concentration of indoor submicron particles. Indeed, ozone/alkene reactions provide a link between outdoor ozone, outdoor particles and indoor particles. Indoor ozone and the products derived from reactions initiated by indoor ozone are potentially damaging to both human health and materials; more detailed explication of these impacts is an area of active investigation.Key words Ozone; I/O ratio; Indoor chemistry; Aldehydes; Particulates; Free radicals. Practical ImplicationsIndoor ozone contributes to total ozone exposures, and reactions driven by indoor ozone produce submicron particles that contribute to total particulate exposures. Indoor ozone concentrations are highly variable, but can be reasonably esti- Ozone reacts too slowly with most airborne pollutants for the process to be of practical significance. Ozone does react at a faster rate with a small subset of indoor pollutants, but the oxidation products are themselves potentially irritating to humans and damaging to materials.

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Section: Reactions With Other Indoor Chemicalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ozone in Indoor Environments: Concentration and Chemistry

Weschler¹

2000

Indoor Air

620

532

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“…Most people spend 70 to 90% of their time indoors, where the concentration of VOCs in the atmosphere is typically from 2 to 20 times greater than concentrations found outdoors (Brown et al 1994). The perceived effect of VOCs can broadly be divided into odour and sensory irritation, the latter being so important that 40% of the workplace threshold limit values (TLVs) of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists are based on this effect (Alarie1981).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An algorithm for nasal pungency thresholds in man

Abraham

Kumarsingh

Cometto‐Muñiz

et al. 1998

Archives of Toxicology

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where the independent variables are solute descriptors: π 2 H is the dipolarity/polarizability, ∑α H 2 and ∑β 2 H are the overall or effective hydrogen-bond acidity and basicity, and L 16 is the solute Ostwald solubility coefficient on hexadecane at 25 °C. Surprisingly, the aliphatic aldehydes and carboxylic acids fit the correlation and with respect to nasal pungency thresholds in man for brief (1-3 s) presentations must be regarded as `nonreactive' compounds. It is suggested mere transport of the compound from the air stream to the receptor area largely determines the potency to produce pungency. Various chemical properties of the receptor area are deduced from the coefficients in Eq. i.

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“…In indoor settings they are emitted by wood products, are used as solvents (e.g., solvents based on pine oil), and are often used as odorants in cleaning products and air fresheners. Because of their widespread use, terpenes are commonly found in indoor air at higher concentrations than in the ambient air (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29). Limonene, a terpene with a citrus/lemon fragrance, is among the terpenes most often identified in indoor settings.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ozone and limonene in indoor air: a source of submicron particle exposure.

Wainman

Zhang

Weschler

et al. 2000

Environ Health Perspect

225

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Little information currently exists regarding the occurrence of secondary organic aerosol formation in indoor air. Smog chamber studies have demonstrated that high aerosol yields result from the reaction of ozone with terpenes, both of which commonly occur in indoor air. However, smog chambers are typically static systems, whereas indoor environments are dynamic. We conducted a series of experiments to investigate the potential for secondary aerosol in indoor air as a result of the reaction of ozone with d-limonene, a compound commonly used in air fresheners. A dynamic chamber design was used in which a smaller chamber was nested inside a larger one, with air exchange occurring between the two. The inner chamber was used to represent a model indoor environment and was operated at an air exchange rate below 1 exchange/hr, while the outer chamber was operated at a high air exchange rate of approximately 45 exchanges/hr. Limonene was introduced into the inner chamber either by the evaporation of reagent-grade d-limonene or by inserting a lemon-scented, solid air freshener. A series of ozone injections were made into the inner chamber during the course of each experiment, and an optical particle counter was used to measure the particle concentration. Measurable particle formation and growth occurred almost exclusively in the 0.1-0.2 microm and 0.2-0.3 microm size fractions in all of the experiments. Particle formation in the 0.1-0.2 microm size range occurred as soon as ozone was introduced, but the formation of particles in the 0.2-0.3 microm size range did not occur until at least the second ozone injection occurred. The results of this study show a clear potential for significant particle concentrations to be produced in indoor environments as a result of secondary particle formation via the ozone-limonene reaction. Because people spend the majority of their time indoors, secondary particles formed in indoor environments may make a significant contribution to overall particle exposure. This study provides data for assessing the impact of outdoor ozone on indoor particles. This is important to determine the efficacy of the mass-based particulate matter standards in protecting public health because the indoor secondary particles can vary coincidently with the variations of outdoor fine particles in summer.

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Concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds in Indoor Air - A Review

Cited by 477 publications

References 29 publications

Ozone in Indoor Environments: Concentration and Chemistry

Ozone in Indoor Environments: Concentration and Chemistry

An algorithm for nasal pungency thresholds in man

Ozone and limonene in indoor air: a source of submicron particle exposure.

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