Souza Pedro A F, Crilley Leigh R, Iranpour Yashar E, Dave Jay, VandenBoer Trevor C, Kahan Tara F
Department of Chemistry, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5C9, Canada.
Department of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
ACS Earth Space Chem. 2025 Jun 2;9(6):1622-1632. doi: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.5c00046. eCollection 2025 Jun 19.
Cleaning activities are essential for maintaining hygiene in indoor environments but can significantly influence indoor air quality (IAQ). We investigated emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM) during cleaning events across various indoor settings including two laboratories, an office, and a residential bathroom, with room volumes ranging from 22 to 206 m and air changes rates (ACR) of 0.85-9.14 h. Four cleaning solutions with different active ingredients were evaluated: quaternary ammonium compounds (quats), hydrogen peroxide (HO), sodium hypochlorite (bleach), and thymol. Cleaning increased PM by 0.7-14.5 μg m, depending on location and cleaning solution, with quats generally yielding the greatest increases. Measured total volatile organic compound (TVOC) mixing ratios also increased following cleaning by 10-104 ppbv, with the exception of experiments performed using thymol. We note that sensors such as the photoionization detector (PID) used in this work do not provide quantitative TVOC measurements. In general, greater emissions of PM and TVOCs were observed in locations with lower ACR. We also measured PM in a lobby, elevator, and public bathroom in a hotel with a number of COVID-positive occupants during routine surface disinfection using a quats-based disinfectant: increases of 5.5-14.2 μg m were observed. This study demonstrates that emissions other than active ingredients can affect IAQ during surface cleaning, and provides information that may help mitigate harmful effects. It also provides insight into the use and limitations of low-cost sensors (LCS) in determining IAQ impacts from cleaning.
清洁活动对于维持室内环境的卫生至关重要，但会对室内空气质量（IAQ）产生重大影响。我们调查了在包括两个实验室、一间办公室和一间住宅浴室在内的各种室内环境中进行清洁活动期间挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）和颗粒物（PM）的排放情况，房间体积从22立方米到206立方米不等，换气率（ACR）为0.85 - 9.14次/小时。评估了四种含有不同活性成分的清洁溶液：季铵化合物（季铵盐）、过氧化氢（H₂O₂）、次氯酸钠（漂白剂）和百里酚。根据位置和清洁溶液的不同，清洁使PM增加了0.7 - 14.5微克/立方米，季铵盐通常导致的增加量最大。清洁后测得的总挥发性有机化合物（TVOC）混合比也增加了10 - 104 ppbv，但使用百里酚进行的实验除外。我们注意到，本研究中使用的光离子化检测器（PID）等传感器无法提供TVOC的定量测量。一般来说，在换气率较低的位置观察到更多的PM和TVOC排放。我们还在一家有多名新冠病毒检测呈阳性人员的酒店的大堂、电梯和公共浴室中，在使用基于季铵盐的消毒剂进行日常表面消毒期间测量了PM：观察到增加了5.5 - 14.2微克/立方米。这项研究表明，表面清洁过程中除活性成分外的其他排放物会影响室内空气质量，并提供了可能有助于减轻有害影响的信息。它还深入了解了低成本传感器（LCS）在确定清洁对室内空气质量影响方面的用途和局限性。
