Analysis of volatile organic compounds from building materials for indoor air quality assessment

摘要

Government regulations and industry association green rating tools and standards are increasing demand for more environmentally sustainable buildings in order to reduce carbon in non-residential building designs and practices. Building materials represents around 15% of building lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, and presents a significant opportunity for carbon reduction but also provide long-term exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in indoor environments. Indoor air quality (IAQ) assessments are therefore required to ensure safe and productive work environments; these include the collection and analysis of ambient air from various locations within a building. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was utilised to identify the VOCs and olfactory analysis was used to identify odorants within these samples. This paper illustrates the VOCs present in different indoor environments and demonstrates the use of olfactory characterisation to identify nuisance odorants. More than 150 compounds were identified by GC-MS including a range of alkanes, aldehydes, ketones, aromatic hydrocarbons and terpenes; however only a limited number of these contribute to the odour observed within the indoor environment.