Assessment of Air Quality in Ninety-Nine Residences of Kuwait

In the present study, we investigate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in residences of Kuwait. The objectives were to characterize indoor air exposures to VOCs and to identify potential sources of VOCs, wherever possible. A random sample of 99 residences was selected from all the five governorates of Kuwait during the period from December 1994 to June 1996 and concentrations of the compounds from indoors and outdoors were sampled. Using the statistical techniques of factor analysis on indoor and outdoor samples, we reduced the number of pollutants to four new variables (or factors) separately for the indoor data and for the outdoor data. These factors were related to certain source characteristics in an attempt to identify the potential sources of the pollutants.