Development of new analytical and measurement methods for characterizing the emission of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) from building and consumer materials

摘要

Phthalates and organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), two families of SVOCs, are ubiquitous indoor pollutants that are added to various indoor building and consumer materials to enhance their properties. However, these compounds are of great research interest due to the severe health effects they cause. The gas-phase concentration of SVOCs in equilibrium with the material surface (yO) is a key parameter in determining indoor emission of materials and estimating the risk of human exposure to these compounds. However, their high molecular weight and low vapor pressure make them hard to study due to their adsorption on different indoor surfaces after emission from the hosting material (sink effect). Few studies are available on the presence of SVOCs in indoor air compared to those that study their presence in settled dust. Moreover, most of the developed yO-measurement methods are of certain limitations. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to develop analytical and measurement methods for characterizing the emission of phthalates and OPFRs emitted from vinyl floorings and polyurethane foams (PUF), respectively into indoor air at room temperature. A robust ATD-GC-MS (Automated Thermal Desorption - Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectroscopy) method has been developed and validated for characterizing eight chosen phthalates and seven OPFRs with LOD ranging from 0.004 to 0.019 u.g/m3 for an air sampling volume of 72 L. For the measurement method, the micro-chamber recommended by ISO 16000-25 for studying SVOCs is used as the emission device. yO is calculated at different elevated temperatures then is determined at room temperature by extrapolation according to van't Hoff's equation [In(yO) versus 1/T]. Therefore, developing fast and robust method for measuring yO of emitted SVOCs into indoor air at ambient temperature is a necessity for estimating the risk of human indoor exposure to these compounds, and the micro-chamber extrapolation method is a promising one.