title: A simple method to measure the gas-phase SVOC concentration adjacent to a material surface.
abstract: Assessing human exposure to semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) emitted from materials and products is difficult because methods are not available to easily measure the key emission parameters. A simple method based on a passive sampling technique was thus developed to measure the gas-phase SVOC concentration (y0) immediately adjacent to the material surface in a consumer product. The method employs standard stainless steel thermal desorption tubes, with values of y0and an additional unknown parameter, K, the tube surface/air partition coefficient inside the desorption tube, obtained by fitting a diffusion model to the sampling data. Phthalates in two types of polyvinyl chloride flooring were selected to test the method. The values of y0and K agree well with those measured in independent chamber tests. The y0measurement method is shown to be applicable to chemicals with a wide range of vapor pressures. This novel method should be useful for assessing potential exposure to SVOCs in consumer products as well as for exposure-based prioritization of chemicals and their associated products in indoor environments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: L C
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3628-6891
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Marr
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Little
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005430:Floors and Floorcoverings; D006801:Humans; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: Consumer products; Exposure; Materials; Passive sampling; Phthalates; SVOCs