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Source apportionment of indoor and outdoor volatile organic compounds at homes in Edmonton, Canada
Citation
Bari, MA and Kindzierski, WB and Wheeler, AJ and Heroux, M-E and Wallace, LA, Source apportionment of indoor and outdoor volatile organic compounds at homes in Edmonton, Canada, Building and Environment, 90 pp. 114-124. ISSN 0360-1323 (2015) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.03.023
Abstract
The objective of this analysis was to get a better understanding of emission sources of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) and their contributions to indoor and outdoor concentrations in residences of
Edmonton, Alberta. Seven consecutive 24-h indoor and outdoor air samples were collected using Summa
canisters in 50 non-smoking homes in both winter and summer of 2010, with 26 homes participating in
both seasons. In addition, data were also collected on housing characteristics and occupants’ daily activities.
A total of 193 polar and non-polar VOC species were analyzed by gas chromatograph e mass
spectrometry (GCeMS). In general, indoor VOC species were found to be substantially higher than
outdoor levels during both seasons. A source receptor model positive matrix factorization (PMF) was
applied to identify VOC emission sources and apportion airborne concentrations into 13 indoor factors
and 10 outdoor factors. More than 70% of total indoor VOCs were attributed to different indoor sources
within the residences, where household products were the major contributor (44%, 648 mg/m3), followed
by combustion processes and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) (10.5%, 153 mg/m3), deodorizers (8.4%,
122 mg/m3) and off-gassing of building materials (5.9%, 86 mg/m3). Major outdoor VOC sources included
oil and gas industry, traffic emissions, background and biogenic emissions. The findings provide key
information about the impact of indoor and outdoor sources on VOC levels in Edmonton homes, which
can be useful for developing appropriate risk management measures to improve indoor air quality.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | VOCs, Positive matrix factorization, Source apportionment, Indoor air quality, Edmonton |
| Research Division: | Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services |
| Research Group: | Human resources and industrial relations |
| Research Field: | Occupational and workplace health and safety |
| Objective Division: | Health |
| Objective Group: | Public health (excl. specific population health) |
| Objective Field: | Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified |
| UTAS Author: | Wheeler, AJ (Dr Amanda Wheeler) |
| ID Code: | 101148 |
| Year Published: | 2015 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 121 |
| Deposited By: | Menzies Institute for Medical Research |
| Deposited On: | 2015-06-10 |
| Last Modified: | 2017-11-04 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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