Acetaldehyde removal from indoor air through chemical absorption using L-cysteine.
The irreversible removal of acetaldehyde from indoor air via a chemical reaction with amino acids was investigated. To compare effectiveness, five types of amino acid (glycine, l-lysine, l-methionine, l-cysteine, and l-cystine) were used as the reactants. First, acetaldehyde-laden air was introduced into aqueous solutions of each amino acid and the removal abilities were compared. Among the five amino acids, l-cysteine solution showed much higher removal efficiency, while the other amino acids solutions didn't show any significant differences from the removal efficiency of water used as a control. Next, as a test of the removal abilities of acetaldehyde by semi-solid l-cysteine, a gel containing l-cysteine solution was put in a fluororesin bag filled with acetaldehyde gas, and the change of acetaldehyde concentration was measured. The l-cysteine-containing gel removed 80% of the acetaldehyde in the air within 24 hours. The removal ability likely depended on the unique reaction whereby acetaldehyde and l-cysteine rapidly produce 2-methylthiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid. These results suggested that the reaction between acetaldehyde and l-cysteine has possibilities for irreversibly removing toxic acetaldehyde from indoor air.
Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan. yamashita@env.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Kyoko
K
Yamashita
Miyuki
M
Noguchi
Atsushi
A
Mizukoshi
Yukio
Y
Yanagisawa
D000042:Absorption; D000079:Acetaldehyde / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry*
D000079:Acetaldehyde; D003545:Cysteine