WIT Press


Comparative Study Of Indoor-outdoor Exposure Against Volatile Organic Compounds In South And Middle America

Price

Free (open access)

Volume

116

Pages

8

Page Range

467 - 474

Published

2008

Size

538 kb

Paper DOI

10.2495/AIR080471

Copyright

WIT Press

Author(s)

O. Herbarth, A. Müller, L. Massolo & H. Tovalin

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play an important role in indoor and outdoor air pollutants. In the present study, samples were analyzed from indoor (schools and houses) and outdoor air in urban, industrial, semi-rural and residential areas from Argentina (La Plata region) and Mexico (Mexico City region) to consider VOC exposure in different types of environments. VOCs were sampled using a passive sampling method with passive 3M monitors. Samples were extracted with CS2 and analyzed by GC/MS detectors. The results show significant differences in concentration and distribution between indoor and outdoor samples, depending on the study area. Most VOCs predominantly originated indoors influenced by local outdoor emissions (traffic and industry). Keywords: VOCs, indoor-outdoor ratio, urban and industrial burdens, indoor sources.

Keywords

VOCs, indoor-outdoor ratio, urban and industrial burdens, indoor sources.