Measurement of Organic Acids, Aldehydes, and Ketones in Residential Environments and Their Relation to Ozone

Abstract

Ozone and several polar volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including organic acids and carbonyls (aldehydes and ketones) were measured over an approximately 24 hour period in four residences during the winter of 1993 and in nine residences during the summer of 1993. All residences were in the greater Boston, Massachusetts area. The relation of the polar VOCs to the ozone concentration was examined. Indoor carbonyl concentrations were similar between the summer and winter, with the total mean winter concentration being 31.7 ppb and the total mean summer concentration being 36.6 ppb. However, the average air exchange rate was 0.9 hr 1 during the winter and 2.6 hr 1 during the summer. Therefore, the estimated carbonyl emission rates were significantly higher during the summer. Indoor organic acid concentrations were about twice as high during the summer as during the winter. For formic acid, the indoor winter mean was 9.8 ppb, and the summer indoor mean was 17.8 ppb. For acetic acid, the indoor winter mean was 15.5 ppb, and the summer indoor mean was 28.7 ppb. The concentrations of the polar VOCs were found to be significantly correlated with one another. Also, the emission rates of the polar VOCs were found to be correlated with both the environmental variables such as temperature and relative humidity and the ozone removal rate; however, it was difficult to apportion the relative effects of the environmental variables and the ozone removal.

Ambient, indoor and personal exposure relationships of volatile organic compounds in Mexico City Metropolitan Area

“…Hodgson et al (2000) found that in new homes, formaldehyde and odorous aldehydes, especially hexanaldehyde, were among the most prevalent and predominant VOCs. The same tendency was seen in measurements done in Boston (Reiss et al, 1995a).…”

“…Similarly, Weschler et al (1992) found that in a laboratory study ozone reacted with carpet to form aldehydes. Aldehydes emission rates in indoor environments measured in Boston (MA, USA), where ambient ozone concentrations are lower than in Mexico City, were found to be correlated with temperature, relative humidity and ozone removal rate (Reiss et al, 1995a). During an indoor-outdoor aldehyde study, Zhang et al (1994) also found that acetaldehyde and isovaleraldehyde were significantly correlated with ozone.…”

“…When compounds with less than 90% detects were included in the factor analysis, valeraldehyde also loaded on this factor. While these compounds have also been associated with ozone loss in indoor settings (Reiss et al, 1995a), they are also emitted from consumer products and building materials such as fingernail hardener, nail polish, floor finish, permanent press fabrics, broadloom carpet/ adhesive assemblies, plywood, particleboard and wood products (Brown, 1992;Kelly et al, 1999;Hodgson et al, 2000Hodgson et al, , 2001Hodgson et al, , 2002. Direct emissions within the indoor environment were also the dominant source for formaldehyde in another indoor-outdoor study (Zhang et al, 1994).…”

Passive sampling methods to determine household and personal care product use

“…Some of the compounds of concern are ethanolamine, laural dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, benzalkonium chloride, formaldehyde and other carbonyls, toluene, 4-nonylphenol, and glycol ethers such as 2-butoxy ethanol, 2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethanol, and 2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethanol (reviewed in Nazaroff and Weschler, 2004). In addition, ambient ozone enters homes from the outdoors (Weschler et al, 1992;Reiss et al, 1995;Weschler, 2000) and reacts with unsaturated compounds in cleaning products forming secondary pollutants of concern (Weschler, 2006). There are a number of unsaturated terpenes found in cleaning products, such as a-pinine, used for its pine scent, and d-limonene, used for its lemon scent, as well as other terpene-related compounds, such as a-terpineol, linalool, and linalyl acetate.…”

Indoor Air Pollutants and the Impact on Human Health

“…On the other hand, the emissions of formic and acetic acids from latex paints have been reported to increase dramatically with relative humidity; for example, for one paint sample the emission rate for acetic acid almost tripled when the relative humidity was changed from 4-5% to 5-23% (Reiss et al, 1995b). A number of different aldehydes have been measured indoors (Crump & Gardiner, 1989;Lewis & Zweidinger, 1992;Zhang et al, 1994;Daisey et al, 1994;and Reiss et al, 1995a), some of which are directly emitted and some of which are formed by chemical reactions indoors of VOCs such as styrene. Of these, there is an enormous amount of evidence for direct emissions of HCHO from building materials.…”