Potential of Passive Sampling and Plant Absorption to Quantify Inhalation Exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds

Abstract

Emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from photocopiers was investigated to assess the potential health impacts on inhalation exposure to VOCs. VOCs samples were collected during working hours using SKC VOCs 575 series passive sample. Twenty-one quantified VOCs were measured and analyzed by GC-MS/MS. The results showed that the total VOCs concentration emitted in the photocopy centers A and B were 2.29×104 and 2.32×104 µg/m3, respectively. The highest detected chemical was trans-1,2-Dichloroethene at about 2.18×104 (photocopy center A) and 2.15×104 µg/m3 (photocopy center B (The results reveal that the non-carcinogenic risk for inhalation exposure to m-Xylene, p-Xylene, and trans-1,2-Dichloroethene were in the range 0.94-1.53 and 1.19-1.79 and 51.54-52.23, respectively, resulting in the hazard index (HI) of non-carcinogenic VOCs in total being greater than 1.0. This indicated that the cumulative effects of inhalation exposure to VOCs at low concentrations should be of concern, even though it does not exceed the occupational exposure limits and Threshold Limit Values-Time Weighted Average for the mixtures (TLV-TWAmix). Plants display a greener solution to reduce indoor air pollution. The bio-concentration levels of total VOCs in Epipremnum aureum were noted as 74.71 to 174.42, signifying that E. aureum is effective for removal of VOCs naturally and sustainably.

Benefits of Using Plants in Indoor Environments: Exploring Common Research Gaps

“…The unit of measurement refers to the volume enclosed within the pot in cm 3 [29], although most authors report only the diameter of the pot [10,11,21,[23][24][25]30]. This is used to give an indication of the size of the plant [10,39] and (supposedly) of its root system.…”

“…The category includes different attempts of quantifying greenery based on the leaf coverage of a plant. Aspects taken into consideration include (i) leaf "size" in terms of area or surface [11,13,18,21,22,24,25,[27][28][29][30]37], leaf length [33], and leaf volume [28]; (ii) leaf "quantity" in terms of mass [27] and volume occupied [36] (supposedly, by the leaf canopy including the air space between leaves).…”

“…For the purpose of this classification, all definitions of plant maturity were included: (i) life stage (seed, germination, growth, flower, fruit, etc.) [9,10,22,30,31]; (ii) age (days, weeks, years from being sown/to maturity) [25,30,36]. This parameter, wherever included, can give important information as to the plant's capacity to develop, as well as to its interaction with the environment.…”

“…Different measures describing the exchange and the movement of the air within the testing space. Mentioned aspects include: air freshness (mean age of the indoor air [17]), natural ventilation [30], air speed (air flow [11], air velocity [16,26]), turbulence (use of a chamber fan [22,27], air direction [16]), airtight conditions [27,29].…”

“…Testing space in an existing real-life indoor environment, with users performing their usual daily routines. The majority of the real-environment spaces tested are office spaces [17,36,40,41,43,44] or similar (photocopy center [30], a greenhouse used as office space [31], "room" not further defined but supposedly an office setting [13,42]). Other spaces tested include a classroom [35], indoor atriums [16,34], and private homes [41].…”