Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California.
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California.
Indoor Air. 2019 Jul;29(4):645-655. doi: 10.1111/ina.12561. Epub 2019 May 27.
Semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) emitted from building materials, consumer products, and occupant activities alter the composition of air in residences where people spend most of their time. Exposures to specific SVOCs potentially pose risks to human health. However, little is known about the chemical complexity, total burden, and dynamic behavior of SVOCs in residential environments. Furthermore, little is known about the influence of human occupancy on the emissions and fates of SVOCs in residential air. Here, we present the first-ever hourly measurements of airborne SVOCs in a residence during normal occupancy. We employ state-of-the-art semivolatile thermal-desorption aerosol gas chromatography (SV-TAG). Indoor air is shown consistently to contain much higher levels of SVOCs than outdoors, in terms of both abundance and chemical complexity. Time-series data are characterized by temperature-dependent elevated background levels for a broad suite of chemicals, underlining the importance of continuous emissions from static indoor sources. Substantial increases in SVOC concentrations were associated with episodic occupant activities, especially cooking and cleaning. The number of occupants within the residence showed little influence on the total airborne SVOC concentration. Enhanced ventilation was effective in reducing SVOCs in indoor air, but only temporarily; SVOCs recovered to previous levels within hours.
半挥发性有机化合物 (SVOCs) 从建筑材料、消费品和居民活动中排放出来，改变了人们大部分时间居住的住宅空气中的成分。特定的 SVOCs 暴露可能对人类健康构成风险。然而，人们对住宅环境中 SVOCs 的化学复杂性、总负担和动态行为知之甚少。此外，人们对人类居住对住宅空气中 SVOCs 的排放和归宿的影响知之甚少。在这里，我们首次在正常居住期间对住宅空气中的 SVOCs 进行了每小时的测量。我们采用了最先进的半挥发性热解吸气溶胶气相色谱法 (SV-TAG)。就丰度和化学复杂性而言，室内空气中的 SVOCs 含量始终高于室外。时间序列数据的特点是，一系列化学物质的背景水平随温度升高而升高，这突显出静态室内源持续排放的重要性。与偶发的居民活动，尤其是烹饪和清洁相关联的 SVOC 浓度会大幅增加。住宅内的居住人数对总空气 SVOC 浓度几乎没有影响。增强通风可以有效地降低室内空气中的 SVOCs，但只是暂时的；SVOCs 在数小时内恢复到之前的水平。
