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Influence of relative humidity on VOC concentrations in indoor air

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Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may be emitted from surfaces indoors leading to compromised air quality. This study scrutinized the influence of relative humidity (RH) on VOC concentrations in a building that had been subjected to water damage. While air samplings in a damp room at low RH (21–22 %) only revealed minor amounts of 2-ethylhexanol (3 μg/m3) and 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate (TXIB, 8 μg/m3), measurements performed after a rapid increase of RH (to 58–75 %) revealed an increase in VOC concentrations which was 3-fold for 2-ethylhexanol and 2-fold for TXIB. Similar VOC emission patterns were found in laboratory analyses of moisture-affected and laboratory-contaminated building materials. This study demonstrates the importance of monitoring RH when sampling indoor air for VOCs in order to avoid misleading conclusions from the analytical results.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS project 242-2008-343). We would like to thank Jörgen Grantén for assistance in some air measurements and access to a study building.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Medical Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Sölvegatan 23, 223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Pawel Markowicz & Lennart Larsson

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  1. Pawel Markowicz
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  2. Lennart Larsson
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Correspondence to Lennart Larsson.

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Responsible editor: Constantini Samara

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Markowicz, P., Larsson, L. Influence of relative humidity on VOC concentrations in indoor air. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 5772–5779 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3678-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3678-x

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