Concentrations and Sources of VOCs in Urban Domestic and Public Microenvironments

TLDR

The study measured 15 VOCs, including 1,3‑butadiene, benzene, and styrene, across diverse urban microenvironments such as homes, offices, restaurants, public transport, and roadside sites, and used concentration comparisons, ETS markers, factor analysis, and source‑apportionment ratios to identify indoor emission sources, particularly in smoking homes. Mean concentrations of 1,3‑butadiene and benzene were highest at heavily trafficked roadside locations, exceeded by automobile levels and comparable to pubs and train stations; indoor concentrations in homes were higher than outdoor, uncorrelated, and varied diurnally, indicating that indoor emission sources dominate over outdoor infiltration, especially in poorly ventilated buildings, with environmental tobacco smoke contributing substantially to 1,3‑butadiene in smoking homes.

Abstract

Concentrations of 15 VOCs including 1,3-butadiene, benzene, and styrene were measured in a wide range of urban microenvironments, viz: homes, offices, restaurants, pubs, department stores, coach and train stations, cinemas, libraries, laboratories, perfume shops, heavily trafficked roadside locations, buses, trains, and automobiles. For most target VOCsincluding 1,3-butadiene and benzenemean concentrations at heavily trafficked roadside locations were exceeded by those in automobiles and were comparable to those in pubs and train stations. With regard to indoor−outdoor relationships in homes, this study revealed higher mean indoor concentrations, no correlation between simultaneously measured indoor and outdoor concentrations, and significantly different patterns of diurnal variation. Thusin poorly ventilated buildingsindoor emission source strength is considered a more significant influence on VOC concentrations than infiltration of outdoor air. In the six smoking homes studied, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) was found to make a substantial contribution to concentrations of 1,3-butadiene. This finding was based on the significantly higher concentrations detected in smoking compared to nonsmoking homes, the significant correlation between 1,3-butadiene concentrations and those of 3-ethenylpyridine (an ETS marker), factor analysis, and the results of a source apportionment exercise based on ratios of 1,3-butadiene to 3-ethenylpyridine.