The
chemical composition of indoor air is strongly driven by the
composition and properties of indoor surfaces. At the Chemical Assessments
of Surfaces and Air (CASA) campaign, we performed controlled additions
of ammonia (reaching up to 297 ppb to 662 ppb) to investigate the
impacts of changing surface basicity on the fate of gaseous and particulate
acids and bases in an unoccupied house. In response to ammonia injections,
nitrogen-containing compounds (C2–7H3–11N1O0–3) were emitted from surfaces to
the gas phase with signals increasing 101% to 104% compared to their signals prior to ammonia addition. At the same
time, oxygen-containing compounds (C1–7H2–6O2–3) were removed from the gas phase by indoor
surface partitioning. Indoor surface pH and aerosol pH likely increased
during these controlled ammonia injections relative to their baseline
conditions. We estimate indoor surface pH to be nearly 5 and indoor
aerosol pH to range from 2 to 4 during this experiment. At each ammonia
injection, we observed ammonium and nitrate concentrations in the
aerosol phase to increase due to gas-particle partitioning of ammonia
and nitric acid. This gas-particle-surface exchange showed strong
dependence on relative humidity; evaporation of gaseous bases was
more pronounced at lower relative humidity when surface-associated
water volume was reduced, while gas-to-particle partitioning of inorganic
species was greater in the presence of more aerosol liquid water at
higher relative humidity. From cooking experiments, which represent
realistic sources of acids and bases to the indoor environment but
which emit 10 times less ammonia than was introduced to the house
via pure ammonia injection experiments, we predict that surfaces may
still be important sources of these basic gases to indoor air.