Characterization and traceability analysis of volatile organic compounds emissions from polyurethane plastic runways.

The diversity of raw materials in polyurethane (PU) plastic runways leads to the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which poses health risk to athletic populations. Yet, the emission characteristics of VOCs from these runways and their primary sources remain unclear. In this study, we employed two methods: (1) environmental chamber-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for qualitative and quantitative detection of VOCs from plastic runways and their raw materials (e.g., PU adhesives [lower/upper layers] and rubber granules). The environmental conditions for VOC release were a temperature of 60 °C, relative humidity of 5 %, air exchange rate of 1.0 times/h; and (2) blowing trap-GC-MS for VOCs analysis of other raw materials such as diluents. By comparing VOCs emission profiles between the runways and their raw materials, the primary sources of VOCs in plastic runways can be elucidated. The study identified 101 VOCs emitted from the plastic runway, categorized as follows: 28 alkanes, 12 alkenes, 1 alkyne, 16 aromatic hydrocarbons, 31 halogenated hydrocarbons, 12 oxygenated organic compounds, and 1 nitrogenous organic compound. Mass concentration rankings were: oxygenated organic compounds (927.48 μg/m³) > alkanes (689.68 μg/m³) > halogenated hydrocarbons (630.69 μg/m³) > aromatic hydrocarbons (97.84 μg/m³) > alkenes (72.98 μg/m³) > nitrogenous organic compounds (33.28 μg/m³) > alkyne (0.02 μg/m³). The dominant monomeric VOCs included acetone (823.40 μg/m³), (Z)-1,2-dichloroethene (528.26 μg/m³), n-octane (235.93 μg/m³), 3-methylheptane (185.52 μg/m³), n-decane (169.26 μg/m³), hexanal (70.53 μg/m³), trans-2-pentene (63.14 μg/m³), and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (59.73 μg/m³). Through this analysis, now, clear guidance of the selection of raw material selection for preventing plastic runways was elucidated.