UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Edinburgh EH26 0QB, United Kingdom; Department of Geography and Environment, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom.
UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Edinburgh EH26 0QB, United Kingdom.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jul 10;881:163497. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163497. Epub 2023 Apr 14.
Plastic products are ubiquitous in our homes, but we know very little about emissions from these products and their subsequent impact on indoor air quality. This is the first study to systematically determine temperature-dependent emissions of volatile organic compounds from commonly used plastic consumer products found in the home. The plastic types included high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS) and polyester rubber. Plastic samples were exposed to increasing temperatures (between 18 and 28 °C) in controlled environmental chambers, connected to a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass-spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS), where real-time emissions were detected. Average emission rates were determined and used to initialise an indoor air chemistry model (INCHEM-Py) at the highest and lowest experimental temperatures, to explore the impact these product emissions have on the indoor air chemistry. The PS tubing plastic proved to be the highest emitting polymer per surface area. Almost all selected VOC emissions were found to have a linear relationship with temperature. Upon observing the impacts of primary VOC emissions from plastics in modelled simulations, the hydroxyl radical concentration decreased by an average of 1.6 and 10 % relative to the baseline (with no plastics included) at 18 °C and 28 °C respectively. On the other hand, formaldehyde concentrations increased by 29 and 31.6 % relative to the baseline conditions at 18 °C and 28 °C respectively. The presence of plastic products indoors, therefore, has the potential to impact the indoor air quality.
塑料制品在我们的家庭中无处不在，但我们对这些产品的排放及其对室内空气质量的后续影响知之甚少。这是第一项系统地确定家庭中常用塑料消费品的挥发性有机化合物排放随温度变化的研究。所涉及的塑料类型包括高密度聚乙烯（HDPE）、聚丙烯（PP）、聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET）、聚苯乙烯（PS）和聚酯橡胶。将塑料样品暴露在受控环境室中的升高温度（18 至 28°C 之间）下，连接到质子转移反应飞行时间质谱仪（PTR-ToF-MS），实时检测排放情况。确定平均排放率，并在最高和最低实验温度下用于初始化室内空气化学模型（INCHEM-Py），以探索这些产品排放对室内空气化学的影响。PS 管塑料被证明是每单位表面积排放最高的聚合物。几乎所有选定的挥发性有机化合物排放都被发现与温度呈线性关系。在观察模拟中塑料的主要挥发性有机化合物排放的影响时，与没有塑料参与的基线相比，羟基自由基浓度分别平均降低了 1.6%和 10%，在 18°C 和 28°C 下。另一方面，甲醛浓度分别比基线条件增加了 29%和 31.6%，在 18°C 和 28°C 下。因此，室内塑料产品的存在有可能影响室内空气质量。
