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ABSTRACT
This study investigates the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) constituents and concentration levels on a new university campus, where all of the buildings including classrooms and student dormitories were newly built and decorated within 1 year. Investigated indoor environments include dormitories, classrooms, and the library. About 30 dormitory buildings with different furniture loading ratios were measured. The characteristics of the indoor VOCs species are analyzed and possible sources are identified. The VOCs were analyzed with gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). It was found that the average total VOC (TVOC) concentration can reach 2.44 mg/m3. Alkenes were the most abundant VOCs in dormitory rooms, contributing up to 86.5% of the total VOCs concentration. The concentration of α-pinene is the highest among the alkenes. Unlike the dormitory rooms, there is almost no room with TVOC concentration above 0.6 mg/m3 in classroom and library buildings. Formaldehyde concentration in the dormitory rooms increased about 23.7% after the installation of furniture, and the highest level reached 0.068 mg/m3. Ammonia released from the building antifreeze material results in an average indoor concentration of 0.28 mg/m3, which is 100% over the threshold and should be seriously considered. Further experiments were conducted to analyze the source of the α-pinene and some alkanes in dormitory rooms. The results showed that the α-pinene mainly comes from the bed boards, while the wardrobes are the main sources of alkanes. The contribution of the pinewood bed boards to the α-pinene and TVOC concentration can reach up to above 90%. The same type rooms were sampled 1 year later and the decay rate of α-pinene is quite high, close to 100%, so that it almost cannot be detected in the sampled rooms.
Implications: Analysis of indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in newly built campus buildings in China identified the specific constituents of indoor VOCs contaminants exposed to Chinese college students. The main detected substances α-pinene, β-pinene, and 3-carene originated from solid wood bed boards and should be seriously considered. In addition, the contribution rates of building structure materials and furniture to specific VOCs constituents are quantitative calculated. Also, the decay rates of these specific constituents within 1 year are also quantitative calculated in this paper. This study can help us to better understand the sources and concentration levels of VOC contaminants in campus buildings, and to help select appropriate materials in buildings.
Funding
This research was supported financially by a national key project of the Ministry of Science and Technology, China, on “Green Buildings and Building Industrialization” through grant 2016YFC0700500, and by the National Natural Science Foundation of China project 51278332 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China project 51678397 and 51308372.
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Notes on contributors
Jian Kang
Jian Kang is a graduate student at the Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China.
Junjie Liu
Junjie Liu is a professor at the Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China.
Jingjing Pei
Jingjing Pei is an associate professor at the Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China.