Model estimates of the contributions of environmental tobacco smoke to volatile organic compound exposures in office buildings.

摘要

Volatile organic compounds (VOC) in office buildings originate from multiple sources, such as outdoor air, building materials, occupants, office supplies, and office equipment. Many of the VOC found in office buildings are also present in environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), e.g., benzene, toluene, formaldehyde. Measurements made to date in Office buildings have been interpreted by some to imply that the contributions to ETS to VOC exposures in office buildings are small. Four different ventilation-infiltration scenarios were modeled for a typical office building. The purpose of this investigation was to provide first-order estimate of the range of contributions of ETS to VOC contributions in office buildings under various ventilation conditions through the use of a mass-balance model and to evaluate the significance of such contributions relative to the VOC concentration measured in office buildings. 25 refs., 1 fig., 4 tabs.