A SIMPLE METHOD TO DETERMINE VOC EMISSIONS FROM CONSTANT EMISSION SOURCES AND ITS APPLICATION IN INDOOR AIR QUALITY STUDIES

摘要

For constant emission sources, volatile organic compound (VOC) emission factors can be determined by their concentrations in static chambers. It is based on the hypothesis that the concentration in the static chamber increases linearly over time when the concentration in the chamber air is significantly lower than the surface concentration of the emission source. In the method, VOCs in the chamber air are collected using passive samplers determined by solvent extraction and GC/MS analysis. Emission factors of seven selected liquid-based consumer products have been determined. These products were deployed in two residential houses to evaluate the resulting VOC concentrations indoors. Target VOCs in the air of source room and living room, as well as in the personal exposure zone, were monitored. VOCs with high emissions from the products had the most significant increase in concentrations compared to the background data, while VOCs with no or low emissions had little impact. A simple mass balance model was applied to compare the measured and predicted VOC concentrations in the house. The model prediction based on emission factors obtained using the static chamber method represents a worst-case scenario.