Microbial and non-microbial volatile organic compounds from indoor materials subjected to dust and moisture

摘要

Humans spend the majority of theirtime in an indoor environment where they are exposed to microbiological and chemical processes that influence the air quality. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted from various indoor sources and derive from chemical processes and microbial metabolism. Microbial VOC (mVOC) are produced by bacteria and fungi and their production is strongly correlated with water activity and the surface that they grow on such as carpet, wood or drywall. The goal of the Chemistry of Homes- Environmental Microbes and Moisture (CHEMM) project funded by the Alfred P Sloan Foundation is to understand the roles that microorganisms play in shaping the indoor environment, with a specific focus on the role of humidity and how it affects chemical activity of the microbiome in terms of changes in the magnitude and composition of mVOC emissions. Here, we show recent results from chemistry and microbiology experiments. We focus on the total and speciated time-resolved emission rates of VOCs from carpets and other substrates inoculated with natural and sterile indoor dust. We show the transition in chemical composition and VOC abundance dynamics as a function of air humidity. We track the enhancements and depletions of volatile constituents overtime and discriminate between microbial and non-microbial VOCs to ultimately understand unknown mechanisms behind the uptake and production of VOCs and to quantify the role of air humidity on shaping microbial life on these microhabitats.