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Indoor Air Background Levels of Volatile Organic Compounds and Air‐Phase Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Office Buildings and Schools
Author(s) -
Rago BS Richard,
Rezendes BS Andy,
Peters MS Jay,
Chatterton BS Kelly,
Kammari MS Arun
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
groundwater monitoring and remediation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-6592
pISSN - 1069-3629
DOI - 10.1111/gwmr.12433
Subject(s) - environmental science , air monitoring , indoor air , indoor air quality , air quality index , air pollution , environmental health , environmental engineering , geography , meteorology , medicine , chemistry , organic chemistry
A background indoor air study has been completed which includes the collection of indoor air samples from office buildings and schools. The anonymous study was designed with input from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The sampling was implemented in 2013, 2014, and 2015 and included the collection of 25 school building samples and 61 office building samples. The study generated 14,668 new indoor air background data points, with samples collected from buildings located in 26 cities in 18 states, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Indoor air background concentrations of target compound volatile organic compounds (VOCs) ranged from less than the laboratory method reporting limit of 0.044 μg/m 3 to concentrations up to 1190 μg/m 3 , with hydrocarbon ranges from less than the reporting method limit of 10 μg/m 3 to concentrations up to 3000 μg/m 3 . Some VOCs were identified ubiquitously in indoor air background, and some were identified at concentrations which exceeded risk‐based regulatory screening levels. These study results provide useful and updated information on indoor air background and air quality in offices and schools and can be used in future regulatory guidance update considerations, for further examination of relationships between these data and residential study data, in human health risk assessments and risk communication, and in planning future studies.