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The effect of ventilation on indoor exposure to semivolatile organic compounds
Author(s) -
Liu C.,
Zhang Y.,
Benning J. L.,
Little J. C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
indoor air
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.387
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 1600-0668
pISSN - 0905-6947
DOI - 10.1111/ina.12139
Subject(s) - ventilation (architecture) , environmental chemistry , sink (geography) , chemistry , sorption , environmental science , mass transfer , particle (ecology) , natural ventilation , chromatography , adsorption , meteorology , ecology , organic chemistry , physics , cartography , biology , geography
A mechanistic model was developed to examine how natural ventilation influences residential indoor exposure to semivolatile organic compounds ( SVOC s) via inhalation, dermal sorption, and dust ingestion. The effect of ventilation on indoor particle mass concentration and mass transfer at source/sink surfaces, and the enhancing effect of particles on mass transfer at source/sink surfaces are included. When air exchange rate increases from 0.6/h to 1.8/h , the steady‐state SVOC (gas‐phase plus particle phase with log K OA varying from 9 to 13) concentration in the idealized model decreases by about 60%. In contrast, for the same change in ventilation, the simulated indoor formaldehyde (representing volatile organic compounds) gas‐phase concentration decreases by about 70%. The effect of ventilation on exposure via each pathway has a relatively insignificant association with the K OA of the SVOC s: a change of K OA from 10 9 to 10 13 results in a change of only 2–30%. Sensitivity analysis identifies the deposition rate of PM 2.5 as a primary factor influencing the relationship between ventilation and exposure for SVOC s with log K OA = 13. The relationship between ventilation rate and air speed near surfaces needs to be further substantiated.