Identifying the relationship between VOCs emission and temperature/humidity changes in new apartments in the hot desert climate

Abstract

Much previous research in different countries describes a strong dependence on temperature and humidity for indoor air pollutants generated from building materials. Since many types of building materials are complexly applied in residential buildings in UAE and are constantly using air-conditioning, the result might be different from the characteristics of indoor air pollutants from a small chamber experiment. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the concentration of indoor air pollutants according to changes in temperature and humidity in newly built apartments before moving in. As a methodology, a field measurement was performed in 23 housing units in five different residential towers in Ajman, United Arab Emirates. Before the measurement, a 7-day bake-out was completed, and the target units were measured 30 days before moving in. The result showed that formaldehyde (HCHO) and VOCs such as benzene (C6H6), toluene (C7H8), ethylbenzene (C8H10), xylene (C8H10), and styrene (C8H8) have consistent humidity dependence within the range of 15 %–60% of relative humidity (RH). It was impossible to confirm the temperature dependency since it showed different characteristics for each apartment between 22°C and 33°C. There is a limit to predicting the occurrence of indoor air pollutants in the apartment only with microclimatic factors since there are many other variables, such as various building materials, management history of materials, and construction methods. However, it was proven that there is an emission cut-off point where the generation of indoor air pollutants deviates from a linear relationship in the RH 40%–50% and 25°C. These temperature and humidity ranges are synchronized with daily life ranges.

Correlating Temperature, Airtightness, and Pollutant Concentrations: Insights into Indoor Air Quality in Ajman Apartment Buildings

“…Ultimately, this study focuses on the measurement and analysis of HCHO and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), which are known to be the main causes of SBS in IAQ (Jung, Mahmoud and Alqassimi, 2022). The research specifically targets newly constructed apartments at Ajman Al Jurf area.…”

“…Ajman is currently the fifth The Effects of Hazardous Substances on the Human. Adapted from(Jung, Mahmoud and Alqassimi, 2022).…”

Atmospheric Properties and Their Observable Correlations with Volatile Organic Compounds Emission Concentration at Some Gas Stations in Port Harcourt City

“…The emission of VOCs and formaldehyde can be influenced by various factors such as temperature and relative (Cheng et al, 2022). Chuloh et al (2022) reported that an increase in humidity tends to increase the level of VOCs concentrations. According to the findings of Zhou et al (2019), an increase in relative humidity enhances the release of VOCs.…”

Experimental Study of the TVOC Distribution in a Car Cabin

“…Third, the thermal decomposition of materials can occur at higher temperatures, leading to the release of additional VOCs [28]. Finally, higher temperatures can lead to increased humidity levels, which can enhance the release of VOCs from some materials [29].…”