ACTIVE VS PASSIVE SAMPLING OF VOCS IN IAQ FIELD STUDIES IN SELECTED ENERGY-EFFICIENT EUROPEAN OFFICE AND RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

摘要

In the context of the European research project HOPE (Health Optimization Protocol for Energy-efficient Buildings), the indoor air quality of energy-efficient offices and residential buildings was investigated. Field studies comparing the results ofactive and passive sampling on indoor air quality are scarce. In this HOPE study, both active and passive sampling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was conducted and the data obtained by four national teams compared. It comes out that, independently of being obtained by active or passive sampling, the trend is quite similar. In some cases the difference between the two methods concerning some compounds, can be explained by the fact that different activities (e.g. cleaning activities, paint work) taking place during the passive sampling period did not coincide with the active sampling time. In a few cases, the sensitivity of the passive method was not sufficient to catch all the compounds detected by the active method. Nevertheless, in general terms, it can be concluded that the use of passive sampling appears to be a good approach to obtain the necessary information on the exposure of people to indoor air.