title: Nationally representative levels of selected volatile organic compounds in Canadian residential indoor air: population-based survey.
abstract: A comprehensive, population-based national indoor air survey was conducted in 2009-2011 in Canada. A total of 84 volatile organic carbons (VOCs) from 3218 houses, 546 apartments, and 93 other dwelling types were measured using passive sampling followed by thermal desorption GC/MS. A total of 12 VOCs were measured in both this study and the 1992 Canadian national study. Arithmetic means of VOCs in this study were 2-5 times lower than those in the 1992 study with the exception of a higher styrene level (1.13 μg · m(-3)). Comparing the geometric means of the 24 VOCs showed that levels for the VOCs in this study were comparable to those reported in Europe. They were generally within a factor of 2; 1,4-dichlorobenzene (0.21 μg · m(-3)) and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene (0.51 μg · m(-3)) were noticeably lower in this study than in the European studies. There were 47 VOCs detected in more than 50% of Canadian households; 33 of them were higher in houses than in apartments for all nonsmoking homes, while only 4 were lower in houses than in apartments. A total of 11 of 47 VOCs were higher in smoking homes compared to nonsmoking homes, while the rest had similar levels. Principal component analysis identified several groups of VOCs with possible common sources.
authors.affiliation: Exposure and Biomonitoring Division and ‡Air Health Effects Research Section, Health Canada , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0K9.
authors.forename: Jiping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Suzy L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Sabit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cakmak
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D001555:Benzene Derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D002170:Canada; D002722:Chlorobenzenes / Q000032:analysis; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006798:Housing; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D001555:Benzene Derivatives; D002722:Chlorobenzenes; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; C010313:pseudocumene; C018511:4-dichlorobenzene