Publications

@article{Halios2022,

title = {Chemicals in European residences – Part I: A review of emissions, concentrations and health effects of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)},

author = {Christos H. Halios and Charlotte Landeg-Cox and Scott D. Lowther and Alice Middleton and Tim Marczylo and Sani Dimitroulopoulou},

doi = {10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2022.156201},

issn = {0048-9697},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Science of The Total Environment},

volume = {839},

pages = {156201},

publisher = {Elsevier},

abstract = {One of the more important classes of potentially toxic indoor air chemicals are the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). However, due to a limited understanding of the relationships between indoor concentrations of individual VOCs and health outcomes, there are currently no universal health-based guideline values for VOCs within Europe including the UK. In this study, a systematic search was conducted designed to capture evidence on concentrations, emissions from indoor sources, and health effects for VOCs measured in European residences. We identified 65 individual VOCs, and the most commonly measured were aromatic hydrocarbons (14 chemicals), alkane hydrocarbons (9), aldehydes (8), aliphatic hydrocarbons (5), terpenes (6), chlorinated hydrocarbons (4), glycol and glycol ethers (3) and esters (2). The pathway of interest was inhalation and 8 individual aromatic hydrocarbons, 7 alkanes and 6 aldehydes were associated with respiratory health effects. Members of the chlorinated hydrocarbon family were associated with cardiovascular neurological and carcinogenic health effects and some were irritants as were esters and terpenes. Eight individual aromatic hydrocarbons, 7 alkanes and 6 aldehydes identified in European residences were associated with respiratory health effects. Of the 65 individual VOCs, 52 were from sources associated with building and construction materials (e.g. brick, wood products, adhesives and materials for flooring installation etc.), 41 were linked with consumer products (passive, electric and combustible air fresheners, hair sprays, deodorants) and 9 VOCs were associated with space heating, which may reflect the relatively small number of studies discussing emissions from this category of sources. A clear decrease in concentrations of formaldehyde was observed over the last few years, whilst acetone was found to be one of the most abundant but underreported species. A new approach based on the operational indoor air quality surveillance will both reveal trends in known VOCs and identify new compounds.},

keywords = {Emissions, European residences, Health effects, indoor, VOCs},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{ILGEN20011253,

title = {Aromatic hydrocarbons in the atmospheric environment – Part II: univariate and multivariate analysis and case studies of indoor concentrations},

author = {Elke Ilgen and Karsten Levsen and Jürgen Angerer and Peter Schneider and Joachim Heinrich and H.-Erich Wichmann},

url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231000004908},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(00)00490-8},

issn = {1352-2310},

year  = {2001},

date = {2001-01-01},

journal = {Atmospheric Environment},

volume = {35},

number = {7},

pages = {1253 - 1264},

abstract = {The concentrations of the aromatic hydrocarbons benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and the isomeric xylenes (BTEX) have been determined in the indoor air of 115 private non-smoker homes (∼380 individual rooms) situated in areas with an extreme traffic situation, i.e. in city streets (street canyons) with high traffic density and in rural areas with hardly any traffic at all. The influence of the traffic on the indoor concentration was apparent in the high traffic area. In order to identify other factors influencing the BTEX concentrations, the data and additional questionnaires were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis. The analysis was supplemented by some case studies. It is shown that meteorology (the seasons), the type of room (e.g. living room versus bedroom), the ventilation and, in particular, garages in the house strongly influence the indoor concentration of BTEX. Thus, the indoor BTEX level is significantly higher in winter than in summer. Moreover, garages with a connecting door to the living quarters lead to high indoor concentrations of aromatic hydrocarbons in these rooms. In addition, the storage of solvents and hobby materials, and also the presence of smoking guests increase the BTEX level. If rooms are directly heated by coal or wood, the BTEX level is higher compared to the use of gas heating. Surprisingly, no correlation was found between the building materials used and the BTEX level. Case studies were carried out for two homes with an integrated garage (and a connecting door to the living rooms) and for seven homes where redecoration work was carried out during sampling. In both instances, a pronounced increase was observed in the BTEX concentration.},

keywords = {Aromatic hydrocarbons, Benzene, indoor, Multivariate analysis, Sources},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}