Volatile Organic Pollutants in New and Established Buildings in Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) within new and established buildings have been determined and factors significant to their presence have been identified. In established dwellings, total volatile organic compound (TVOC) concentrations were low, but were approximately four times higher than in outdoor air, showing a dominant effect of indoor sources. The presence of attached garages, site contamination and 'faulty' wool carpet were associated with higher indoor pollution. In three dwellings, unidentified sources of benzene were indicated. Much higher VOC concentrations were observed in new or renovated buildings, persisting above "baseline" levels for several weeks, concentration decay rate correlating with VOC molecular volume, indicating emissions were limited by material diffusion processes. VOC and formaldehyde emission decays in a new dwelling occurred by a double-exponential source model. This shows that persistent low levels of volatile organic pollutants in established dwellings can occur due to long-term emissions from building materials.