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Influence of relative humidity on VOC concentrations in indoor air.

Markowicz, Pawel LU and Larsson, Lennart LU (2015) In Environmental Science and Pollution Research 22(8). p.5772-5779
Abstract
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may be emitted from surfaces indoors leading to compromised air quality. This study scrutinized the influence of relative humidity (RH) on VOC concentrations in a building that had been subjected to water damage. While air samplings in a damp room at low RH (21-22 %) only revealed minor amounts of 2-ethylhexanol (3 μg/m(3)) and 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate (TXIB, 8 μg/m(3)), measurements performed after a rapid increase of RH (to 58-75 %) revealed an increase in VOC concentrations which was 3-fold for 2-ethylhexanol and 2-fold for TXIB. Similar VOC emission patterns were found in laboratory analyses of moisture-affected and laboratory-contaminated building materials. This study... (More)
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may be emitted from surfaces indoors leading to compromised air quality. This study scrutinized the influence of relative humidity (RH) on VOC concentrations in a building that had been subjected to water damage. While air samplings in a damp room at low RH (21-22 %) only revealed minor amounts of 2-ethylhexanol (3 μg/m(3)) and 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate (TXIB, 8 μg/m(3)), measurements performed after a rapid increase of RH (to 58-75 %) revealed an increase in VOC concentrations which was 3-fold for 2-ethylhexanol and 2-fold for TXIB. Similar VOC emission patterns were found in laboratory analyses of moisture-affected and laboratory-contaminated building materials. This study demonstrates the importance of monitoring RH when sampling indoor air for VOCs in order to avoid misleading conclusions from the analytical results. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
volume
22
issue
8
pages
5772 - 5779
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • pmid:25345920
  • wos:000352212300016
  • scopus:84938681877
  • pmid:25345920
ISSN
1614-7499
DOI
10.1007/s11356-014-3678-x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
89a607c3-d381-4182-ae5d-93ab4544be5d (old id 4733230)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25345920?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:14:22
date last changed
2022-04-27 20:00:26
@article{89a607c3-d381-4182-ae5d-93ab4544be5d,
  abstract     = {{Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may be emitted from surfaces indoors leading to compromised air quality. This study scrutinized the influence of relative humidity (RH) on VOC concentrations in a building that had been subjected to water damage. While air samplings in a damp room at low RH (21-22 %) only revealed minor amounts of 2-ethylhexanol (3 μg/m(3)) and 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate (TXIB, 8 μg/m(3)), measurements performed after a rapid increase of RH (to 58-75 %) revealed an increase in VOC concentrations which was 3-fold for 2-ethylhexanol and 2-fold for TXIB. Similar VOC emission patterns were found in laboratory analyses of moisture-affected and laboratory-contaminated building materials. This study demonstrates the importance of monitoring RH when sampling indoor air for VOCs in order to avoid misleading conclusions from the analytical results.}},
  author       = {{Markowicz, Pawel and Larsson, Lennart}},
  issn         = {{1614-7499}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{5772--5779}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Environmental Science and Pollution Research}},
  title        = {{Influence of relative humidity on VOC concentrations in indoor air.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3678-x}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s11356-014-3678-x}},
  volume       = {{22}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}