VOCs in industrial, urban and suburban neighborhoods—Part 2: Factors affecting indoor and outdoor concentrations

Abstract Many microenvironmental and behavioral factors can affect concentrations of and exposures to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Identifying these determinants is important to understand exposures and risks, and also to design policies and strategies that minimize concentrations. This study is aimed at determining factors associated with VOC concentrations found indoors in residences and outdoors in ambient air. It utilizes results from a comprehensive field study in which 98 VOCs were measured both inside and outside of 159 residences in three communities in southeast Michigan, USA. Additional measurements included indoor CO2 concentrations, temperature, relative humidity, building and neighborhood characteristics, and occupant activities, assessed using a questionnaire and comprehensive walkthrough investigation. Factors potentially affecting concentrations were identified using bivariate and multivariate analyses. Outdoors, seasonal and community effects were observed. Indoors, seasonal effects were limited to the urban and industrial communities, largely due to changes in ambient levels. Elevated indoor VOC concentrations were associated with eight sources or activities: the presence of an attached garage; recent renovations; older residences; indoor smoking; less frequent window or door opening; higher CO2 concentrations; and lower ventilation rates. VOC levels were uninfluenced by building materials (wood vs. brick), flooring type (carpeting vs. wood), stove type (gas or electric), number of occupants, air freshener use, and hobbies involving arts and crafts. Factor analyses identified up to five factors for the ambient VOC measurements, and up to 10 factors for the indoor measurements, which further helped to explain the variability of concentrations and associations between VOCs.

[1]  Hilary R. Hafner,et al.  Source apportionment of VOCs in the Los Angeles area using positive matrix factorization , 2007 .

[2]  Lance Wallace,et al.  HUMAN EXPOSURE TO VOLATILE ORGANIC POLLUTANTS: Implications for Indoor Air Studies ⁄ , 2001 .

[3]  Kiyoshi Sakai,et al.  A comparison of indoor air pollutants in Japan and Sweden: formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide, and chlorinated volatile organic compounds. , 2004, Environmental research.

[4]  Matti Jantunen,et al.  VOC source identification from personal and residential indoor, outdoor and workplace microenvironment samples in EXPOLIS-Helsinki, Finland , 2001 .

[5]  M. F. Mohamed,et al.  Volatile organic compounds in some urban locations in United States. , 2002, Chemosphere.

[6]  H. S. Sandhu,et al.  Seasonal variations of volatile organic compounds in Edmonton, Alberta , 1997 .

[7]  Philip K. Hopke,et al.  Recent developments in receptor modeling , 2003 .

[8]  K. Reijula,et al.  Measurement and analysis of nicotine and other VOCs in indoor air as an indicator of passive smoking. , 1998, Annals of Occupational Hygiene.

[9]  L. Kupper,et al.  Variability of environmental exposures to volatile organic compounds , 2004, Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology.

[10]  L. E. Alevantis,et al.  Use of volatile tracers to determine the contribution of environmental tobacco smoke to concentrations of volatile organic compounds in smoking environments , 2008 .

[11]  Uwe Schlink,et al.  Seasonal cycle of indoor-VOCs: comparison of apartments and cities , 2004 .

[12]  Eylem Çetin,et al.  Ambient volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations around a petrochemical complex and a petroleum refinery. , 2003, The Science of the total environment.

[13]  Steven J. Emmerich,et al.  Air and Pollutant Transport from Attached Garages to Residential Living Spaces – Literature Review and Field Tests , 2003 .

[14]  Hal Levin,et al.  Volatile organic compounds in indoor air: A review of concentrations measured in North America since 1990 , 2003 .

[15]  L. Wallace,et al.  Continuous measurements of air change rates in an occupied house for 1 year: The effect of temperature, wind, fans, and windows* , 2002, Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology.

[16]  H. Stenlund,et al.  Variability of personal chemical exposure in eight office buildings in Sweden , 2004, Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology.

[17]  P. Paatero,et al.  Positive matrix factorization: A non-negative factor model with optimal utilization of error estimates of data values† , 1994 .

[18]  Margaret L Phillips,et al.  Determinants of exposure to volatile organic compounds in four Oklahoma cities , 2005, Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology.

[19]  C. W. Sweet,et al.  Toxic volatile organic compounds in urban air in Illinois , 1992 .

[20]  Shelly L. Miller,et al.  Source apportionment of exposure to toxic volatile organic compounds using positive matrix factorization , 2001, Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology.

[21]  K Ikeda,et al.  Variations of formaldehyde and VOC levels during 3 years in new and older homes. , 2006, Indoor air.

[22]  G. Ananth,et al.  Human Activities as Sources of Volatile Organic Compounds in Residential Environments , 1992, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[23]  J. C. Remmers,et al.  A survey of household products for volatile organic compounds , 1992 .

[24]  B. Turpin,et al.  Source proximity and outdoor-residential VOC concentrations: results from the RIOPA study. , 2006, Environmental science & technology.

[25]  R. Perritt,et al.  Results from the 1987 total exposure assessment methodology (team) study in Southern California , 1992 .

[26]  R. Mukund,et al.  Source attribution of ambient air toxic and other VOCs in Columbus, Ohio , 1996 .

[27]  Lance Wallace,et al.  Emissions of volatile organic compounds from building materials and consumer products , 1987 .

[28]  R M Harrison,et al.  Concentrations and sources of VOCs in urban domestic and public microenvironments. , 2001, Environmental science & technology.

[29]  Michael Greenberg,et al.  Multivariate Analysis on Levels of Selected Metals, Particulate Matter, VOC, and Household Characteristics and Activities from the Midwestern States NHEXAS , 2001 .

[30]  Stephen K. Brown,et al.  Concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds in Indoor Air – A Review , 1994 .

[31]  Chunrong Jia,et al.  VOCs in industrial, urban and suburban neighborhoods, Part 1: Indoor and outdoor concentrations, variation, and risk drivers , 2008 .

[32]  W. Jo,et al.  Personal volatile organic compound (VOC) exposure of children attending elementary schools adjacent to industrial complex , 2004 .

[33]  H. J. Arnold.  Introduction to the Practice of Statistics , 1990 .

[34]  M. W. Ogden,et al.  Determination of volatile organic compounds and ETS apportionment in 49 homes , 1995 .

[35]  Will Ollison,et al.  A pilot study using scripted ventilation conditions to identify key factors affecting indoor pollutant concentration and air exchange rate in a residence , 2004, Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology.

[36]  Richard B. Gammage,et al.  Indoor Air and Human Health , 1986, The Lancet.

[37]  Chunrong Jia,et al.  Migration of volatile organic compounds from attached garages to residences: a major exposure source. , 2007, Environmental research.

[38]  S. Batterman,et al.  Composition and emissions of VOCs in main- and side-stream smoke of research cigarettes , 2007 .

[39]  Stuart Batterman,et al.  TVOC and CO2 Concentrations as Indicators in Indoor Air Quality Studies , 1995 .

[40]  W. Ott,et al.  The Effect of Opening Windows on Air Change Rates in Two Homes , 2002, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[41]  Chunrong Jia,et al.  Development and comparison of methods using MS scan and selective ion monitoring modes for a wide range of airborne VOCs. , 2006, Journal of environmental monitoring : JEM.

[42]  Yu-Jin Choi,et al.  Investigation of sources of volatile organic carbon in the Baltimore area using highly time-resolved measurements , 2004 .

[43]  S. K. Brown,et al.  Volatile organic pollutants in new and established buildings in Melbourne, Australia. , 2002, Indoor air.

[44]  Sung-Ok Baek,et al.  Characterization of trace organic compounds associated with aged and diluted sidestream tobacco smoke in a controlled atmosphere—volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons , 2004 .

[45]  P. J. Callahan,et al.  Volatile organic compounds as breath biomarkers for active and passive smoking. , 2002, Environmental health perspectives.

[46]  Aromatic hydrocarbons in the atmospheric environment – Part II: univariate and multivariate analysis and case studies of indoor concentrations , 2001 .

[47]  William J. Fisk,et al.  Effect of outside air ventilation rate on volatile organic compound concentrations in a call center , 2003 .