title: Influence of relative humidity on VOC concentrations in indoor air.
abstract: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may be emitted from surfaces indoors leading to compromised air quality. This study scrutinized the influence of relative humidity (RH) on VOC concentrations in a building that had been subjected to water damage. While air samplings in a damp room at low RH (21-22%) only revealed minor amounts of 2-ethylhexanol (3 μg/m(3)) and 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate (TXIB, 8 μg/m(3)), measurements performed after a rapid increase of RH (to 58-75%) revealed an increase in VOC concentrations which was 3-fold for 2-ethylhexanol and 2-fold for TXIB. Similar VOC emission patterns were found in laboratory analyses of moisture-affected and laboratory-contaminated building materials. This study demonstrates the importance of monitoring RH when sampling indoor air for VOCs in order to avoid misleading conclusions from the analytical results.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, Sölvegatan 23, 223 62, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Pawel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Markowicz
authors.forename: Lennart
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Larsson
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006018:Glycols / Q000032:analysis*; D000441:Hexanols / Q000032:analysis*; D006813:Humidity; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D006018:Glycols; D000441:Hexanols; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; C001508:2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol diisobutyrate; C034017:2-ethylhexanol