School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710054, China.
School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710054, China; Vertiv Tech (Xi'an) Co., Ltd, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710065, China.
Environ Res. 2021 Mar;194:110681. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110681. Epub 2021 Jan 9.
Phthalate esters (PAEs) are ubiquitous and among the most abundant semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in indoor environments. Due to their low saturated vapor pressure, SVOCs tend to adhere to indoor surfaces and particulate matters, which may result in higher total concentrations than occur in the gas phase alone. Thus, gas/particle partitioning of PAEs plays an important role in their indoor fates and health risks. However, the influence of indoor environmental parameters, including temperature and humidity, on the partitioning of PAEs between air and particles is rarely known. In this study, a novel experimental system was designed to investigate the effects of temperature and humidity on partitioning behavior between gas- and particle-phase PAEs. The chamber experiments were conducted at temperatures of 12.5 °C, 17.5 °C, 24.0 °C, 29.5 °C and 40.0 °C and moisture contents of 3.5 g/kg, 5.0 g/kg, 6.5 g/kg, 8.0 g/kg and 9.5 g/kg dry air. The results showed that higher temperatures led to stronger emission of phthalate esters from the PVC panel, which resulted in higher gas-phase concentrations of phthalate esters and particle-phase concentrations. In addition, temperature has a strong negative effect on the gas/particle partition coefficient (K), and an order of magnitude difference in K was observed between 12.5 and 40 °C. There are exponential decay laws between K and the absolute temperature. However, a smaller effect of humidity than of temperature on K was revealed, and no obvious law was found. Moreover, K of compounds with larger molecular weights are more obviously influenced by the variations in environmental factors. This study is of positive significance for reducing the health risks of PAEs by guiding the regulation of indoor environmental parameters.
邻苯二甲酸酯（PAEs）广泛存在，是室内环境中最丰富的半挥发性有机化合物（SVOCs）之一。由于其饱和蒸气压低，SVOCs 容易附着在室内表面和颗粒物上，这可能导致总浓度高于气相中的浓度。因此，PAEs 的气/粒分配在其室内归宿和健康风险中起着重要作用。然而，室内环境参数（包括温度和湿度）对 PAEs 在空气和颗粒物之间分配的影响知之甚少。在这项研究中，设计了一种新的实验系统来研究温度和湿度对 PAEs 在气-粒相分配行为的影响。在 12.5°C、17.5°C、24.0°C、29.5°C 和 40.0°C 的温度和 3.5g/kg、5.0g/kg、6.5g/kg、8.0g/kg 和 9.5g/kg 干空气湿度下进行了腔室实验。结果表明，较高的温度导致从 PVC 面板中释放出更强的邻苯二甲酸酯，从而导致气相中邻苯二甲酸酯浓度和颗粒相浓度升高。此外，温度对气/粒分配系数（K）有很强的负影响，在 12.5 和 40°C 之间观察到 K 的数量级差异。K 与绝对温度之间存在指数衰减规律。然而，湿度对 K 的影响小于温度，且未发现明显规律。此外，分子量较大的化合物的 K 受环境因素变化的影响更为明显。本研究通过指导调节室内环境参数，对降低 PAEs 的健康风险具有积极意义。
