Investigation of indoor total volatile organic compound concentrations in densely occupied university buildings under natural ventilation: Temporal variation,correlation and source contribution
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online July, 2021
Investigation of indoor total volatile organic compound concentrations in densely occupied university buildings under natural ventilation: Temporal variation,correlation and source contribution
Human activities have been proven to be one of the most important sources of indoor volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, especially in densely occupied environments. However, characterization of temporal variation and its impact analysis of indoor total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) have not been presented adequately. In this study, indoor concentrations and temporal variation of TVOC concentrations were investigated using a continuous monitoring instrument in 20 densely occupied education buildings randomly selected at one university in Nanjing, China, including nine lecture halls and 11 classrooms. Indoor and outdoor CO2 concentration, temperature and relative humidity were monitored to analyse the correlation and contribution rates of TVOC from indoor and outdoor sources. Results show that the variation in the indoor TVOC concentration was similar to the indoor CO2 concentration in densely occupied education buildings with the exception of sudden indoor sources, such as food service. Further analysis indicates that a strong positive correlation was observed between the number of occupants and TVOC concentrations. The average contribution rate could reach 69.2% from indoor sources and 30.8% from outdoors. This study provided a better understanding of the status quo and could help in developing control strategies of indoor air quality in densely occupied education buildings.
HaverinenSUMoschandreasDJShaughnessyRJ.Association between substandard classroom ventilation rates and students’ academic achievement. Indoor Air2011;
21: 121–131.
2.
ShendellDGPrillRFiskWJApteMGBlakeDFaulknerD.Associations between classroom CO2 concentrations and student attendance in Washington and Idaho. Indoor Air2004;
14: 333–341.
3.
TuomiTVainiotaloS.The guideline and target values for total volatile organic compound concentrations in industrial indoor environments in Finland. Indoor Built Environ2016;
25: 424–434.
4.
YangTZhangPPXiongJY.Association between the emissions of volatile organic compounds from vehicular cabin materials and temperature: correlation and exposure analysis. Indoor Built Environ2019;
28: 362–371.
5.
LiuSLiRWildRJWildRJWarnekeCde GouwJABrownSSMillerSLLuongoJCJimenezJLZiemannPJ.Contribution of human-related sources to indoor volatile organic compounds in a university classroom. Indoor Air2016;
26: 925–938.
6.
TangXCMisztalPKNazaroffWWGoldsteinAH.Volatile organic compound emissions from humans indoors. Environ Sci Technol2016;
50: 12686–12694.
7.
MochalskiPWiesenhoferHAllersMZimmermannSGuntnerATPineauNJLedererWAgapiouAMayhewCARuzsanyiV.Monitoring of selected skin- and breath-borne volatile organic compounds emitted from the human body using gas chromatography ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS). J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci2018;
1076: 29–34.
8.
MochalskiPKingJUnterkoflerKHinterhuberHAmannA.Emission rates of selected volatile organic compounds from skin of healthy volunteers. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci2014;
959: 62–70.
9.
SunXHeJZYangXD.Human breath as a source of VOCs in the built environment, part I: a method for sampling and detection species. Build Environ2017;
125: 565–573.
10.
SunXHeJZYangXD.Human breath as a source of VOCs in the built environment, part II: concentration levels, emission rates and factor analysis. Build Environ2017;
123: 437–445.
11.
FadeyiMOWeschlerCJThamKWWuWYSultanZM.Impact of human presence on secondary organic aerosols derived from ozone-initiated chemistry in a simulated office environment. Environ Sci Technol2013;
47: 3933−3941.
12.
XiongJYHeZCTangXCMisztalPKGoldsteinAH.Modeling the time-dependent concentrations of primary and secondary reaction products of ozone with squalene in a university classroom. Environ Sci Technol2019;
53: 8262–8270.
13.
SolomonSJSchadeGWKuttippurathJLadstatter-WeissenmayerABurrowsJP.VOC concentrations in an indoor workplace environment of a university building. Indoor Built Environ2008;
17: 260–268.
14.
ChanDWTTamCSYJonesAP.An inter-comparison of VOC types and distribution in different indoor environments in a university campus. Indoor Built Environ2007;
16: 376–382.
15.
PegasPNAlvesCAEvtyuginaMGNunesTCerqueiraMFranchiMPioCAAlmeidaSMVerdeSAFreitasMC.Seasonal evaluation of outdoor/indoor air quality in primary schools in Lisbon. J Environ Monit2011;
13: 657–667.
16.
GengFHCaiCJTieXXYuQAnJLPengLZhouGQXuJM.Analysis of VOC emissions using PCA/APCS receptor model at city of Shanghai, China. J Atmos Chem2009;
62: 229–247.
17.
GB/T 50016-2014. Architectural design code for fire protection.
Beijing:
The Standardization Administration of China (SAC), 2014.
18.
NFPA FPH-2008. Fire protection handbook. 20th ed.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), 2008.
19.
ASTM D6245-18. Guide for using carbon dioxide concentrations to evaluate indoor air quality and ventilation.
West Conshohocken, PA:
American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM), 2018.
20.
QiMWLiXFWeschlerLBSundellJ.CO2 generation rate in Chinese people. Indoor Air2014;
24: 559–566.
21.
HouJZhangYFSunYXWangPZhangQNKongXRSundellJ.Air change rates at night in northeast Chinese homes. Build Environ2018;
132: 273–281.
22.
WangTC.A study of bioeffluents in a college classroom. ASHRAE Trans1975;
81: 32–44.
23.
GB/T 18883-2002.Indoor air quality standard.
Beijing:
The Standardization Administration of China (SAC), 2002.
24.
ASHRAE 62.1-2016.Ventilation for acceptable indoor air quality.
Atlanta, GA:
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), 2016.
25.
BattermanSSuFCWaldAWatkinsFGodwinCThunG.Ventilation rates in recently constructed U.S. school classrooms. Indoor Air2017;
27: 880–890.
26.
SanATHofmanPJJoyceDCMacnishAJMarquesJRWebbRILiGQSmythHE.Diurnal harvest cycle and sap composition affect under-skin browning in ‘honey gold’ mango fruit. Front Plant Sci2019;
10: 1093–1205.
27.
ChamseddineAAlameddineIHatzopoulouMEl-FadelM.Seasonal variation of air quality in hospitals with indoor-outdoor correlations. Build Environ2019;
148: 689–700.
28.
MaWLiuXPawliszynJ.Analysis of human breath with micro extraction techniques and continuous monitoring of carbon dioxide concentration. Anal Bioanal Chem2006;
385: 1398–1408.
29.
CopeKAWatsonMTFosterWMSehnertSSRisbyTH.Effect of ventilation on the collection of exhaled breath in humans. J Appl Physiol2004;
96: 1371–1379.
30.
HeJZZouZWYangXD.Measuring whole-body volatile organic compound emission by humans: a pilot study using an air-tight environmental chamber. Build Environ2019;
153: 101–109.
31.
TsushimaSWargockiPTanabeS.Sensory evaluation and chemical analysis of exhaled and dermally-emitted bioeffluents. Indoor Air2018;
28: 146–163.
32.
YangTXiongJYTangXCMisztalPK.Predicting indoor emissions of cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes (cVMS) from the use of personal care products by university students. Environ Sci Technol2018;
50: 12686–12694.
33.
ZhangXWargockiPLianZThyregodC.Effects of exposure to carbon dioxide and bioeffluents on perceived air quality, self-assessed acute health symptoms, and cognitive performance. Indoor Air2017;
27: 47–64.
34.
WargockiPDa SilvaN.Use of visual CO2 feedback as a retrofit solution for improving classroom air quality. Indoor Air2015;
25: 105–114.
35.
HeebollAWargockiPToftumJ.Window and door opening behavior, carbon dioxide concentration, temperature, and energy use during the heating season in classrooms with different ventilation retrofits-ASHRAE RP1624. Sci Technol Built Environ2018;
24: 626–637.
