Maximizing Information from Residential Measurements of Volatile Organic Compounds

Maddalena, Randy¹  Li, Na²  Hodgson, Alfred²  Offermann, Fran 

[1] Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States);Berkeley Analytical Associates, Richmond, CA (United States)

关键词: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory;    LBNL;    VOC measurements;    Sources/emissions;    Residential;    Emerging contaminants;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1221051
RP-ID  :  LBNL--6120E
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1221051
Others  :  Other: 6857

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

Continually changing materials used in home construction and finishing can introduce new chemicals or changes in the VOC profile in residential air and the trend towards tighter homes can lead to higher exposure concentrations for many indoor sources. However, the complex mixture of VOCs in residential air makes it difficult to discover emerging contaminants and/or trends in pollutant profiles. The purpose of this study is to prepare a comprehensive library of chemicals found in homes, along with a semi-quantitative approach to maximize the information gained from VOC measurements. We carefully reviewed data from 108 new California homes and identified 238 individual compounds. The majority of the identified VOCs originated indoors. Only 31% were found to have relevant health based exposure guidelines and less than 10% had a chronic reference exposure level (CREL). The finding highlights the importance of extending IAQ studies to include a wider range of VOCs