Abstract
In studying indoor atmospheric pollution, the concentration of air pollutants is considered to be the primary factor in judging indoor pollution level, while sensory effects accessed by olfactory analysis has not been paid enough attention. In this paper, twenty living rooms in Beijing including newly decorated, 3 months and 6 months after decoration were sampled once a day for 10 d, and qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis and olfactory analysis of volatile organic compounds were carried out. The results showed the concentrations of the 6 main compounds surpassed the limitation values released by World Health Organization; the pollutants with highest chemical concentrations were not the most odor active odorants. Olfactory analysis which measured the odor characters such as odor detection threshold (ODT), odor active value (OAV) and odor quality was a helpful tool to identify possible chemicals which cause indoor smelling issues, and it was necessary to access indoor air quality in combination with their chemical concentrations to give a comprehensive judgment on indoor air quality.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Höppe P. Different aspects of assessing indoor and outdoor thermal comfort. Energ Build, 2002, 34: 661–665
Jones A P. Indoor air quality and health. Atmos Environ, 1999, 33: 4535–4564
Wolkoff P, Nielsen G D. Organic compounds in indoor air-Their relevance for perceived indoor air quality? Atmos Environ, 2001, 35: 4407–4417
Straalen N M V. Peer Reviewed: Ecotoxicology becomes stress ecology. Environ Sci Technol, 2003, 37: 324–330
Brown S K, Sim M R, Abramson M J, et al. Concentrations of volatile organic compounds in indoor air-A review. Indoor Air, 1994, 4: 123–134
Fanger P. Indoor air quality in the 21st century: Search for excellence. Indoor Air, 2000, 10: 68–73
Olesen B W, Seppanen O, Boerstra A. Criteria for the indoor environment for energy performance of buildings: A new European standard. Facilities, 2006, 24: 445–457
Peng C Y, Lan C H, Wu T J. Investigation of indoor chemical pollutants and perceived odor in an area with complaints of unpleasant odors. Build Environ, 2009, 44: 2106–2113
Nicell J A. Assessment and regulation of odour impacts. Atmos Environ, 2009, 43: 196–206
Filipy J, Rumburg B, Mount G, et al. Identification and quantification of volatile organic compounds from a dairy. Atmos Environ, 2006, 40: 1480–1494
Carrapiso A I, Ventanas J, García C. Characterization of the most odor-active compounds of Iberian Ham Headspace. J Agr Food Chem, 2002, 50: 1996–2000
Wise P M, Olsson M J, Cain W S. Quantification of odor quality. Chem Sens, 2000, 25: 429
Knudsen H N, Clausen P A, Wilkins C K, et al. Sensory and chemical evaluation of odorous emissions from building products with and without linseed oil. Build Environ, 2007, 42: 4059–4067
Wang L, Liu J, Zhao P, et al. Novel adsorbent based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes bonding on the external surface of porous silica gel particulates for trapping volatile organic compounds. J Chromatogr A, 2010, 1217: 5741–5745
Iwasaki Y. The history of odor measurement in Japan and triangle odor bag method. Odor Measurem Rev, 2003, 37–47
Laing D G. Optimum perception of odor intensity by humans. Physiol Behav, 1985, 34: 569–574
Duchamp-Viret P, Duchamp A, Vigouroux M. Amplifying role of convergence in olfactory system a comparative study of receptor cell and second-order neuron sensitivities. J Neurophysiol, 1989, 61: 1085–1094
Landry V, Blanchet P. Vaillancourt reducing VOC emissions in the furniture and cabinets industries: An opportunity for hybrid coating systems. Bioresources, 2010, 5: 770–779
WHO guidelines for indoor air quality: Selected pollutants. WHO, 2010
Laing D G, Jinks A L. Psychophysical analysis of complex odor mixtures. Chimia Intern J Chem, 2001, 55: 413–420
Barkat S, Le Berre E, Coureaud G, et al. Perceptual blending in odor mixtures depends on the nature of odorants and human olfactory expertise. Chem Sens, 2011, 37: 159–166
Lee C W, Dai Y T, Chien C H, et al. Characteristics and health impacts of volatile organic compounds in photocopy centers. Environ Res, 2006, 100: 139–149
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Rights and permissions
This article is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.
About this article
Cite this article
Qin, Y., Liu, J., Wang, G. et al. Evaluation of indoor air quality based on qualitative, quantitative and olfactory analysis. Chin. Sci. Bull. 58, 986–991 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-5671-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-5671-z