title: Assessment of volatile organic compound removal by indoor plants--a novel experimental setup.
abstract: Indoor plants can remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air. The majority of knowledge comes from laboratory studies where results cannot directly be transferred to real-life settings. The aim of this study was to develop an experimental test system to assess VOC removal by indoor plants which allows for an improved real-life simulation. Parameters such as relative humidity, air exchange rate and VOC concentration are controlled and can be varied to simulate different real-life settings. For example, toluene diffusion through a needle gave concentrations in the range of 0.10-2.35 μg/L with deviations from theoretical values of 3.2-10.5%. Overall, the system proved to be functional for the assessment of VOC removal by indoor plants with Hedera helix reaching a toluene removal rate of up to 66.5 μg/m(2)/h. The mode of toluene exposure (semi-dynamic or dynamic) had a significant influence on the removal rate obtained by H. helix.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Højbakkegaard Allé 30, 2630, Taastrup, Denmark, mjha@plen.ku.dk.
authors.forename: Majbrit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dela Cruz
authors.forename: Renate
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Svensmark
authors.forename: Jakob Skov
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Jan H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Christensen
mesh_terms: D000392:Air Movements; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D035981:Hedera / Q000378:metabolism*; D006813:Humidity; D014050:Toluene / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; D014050:Toluene