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Indoor air quality in hairdressing salons in Taipei
Author(s) -
Chang C.J.,
Cheng S.F.,
Chang P.T.,
Tsai S.W.
Publication year - 2018
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.12412
Subject(s) - indoor air quality , tenax , air quality index , environmental science , formaldehyde , indoor air , phthalate , environmental chemistry , waste management , toxicology , environmental engineering , chemistry , gas chromatography , chromatography , geography , engineering , meteorology , organic chemistry , biology
To improve indoor air quality and to protect public health, Taiwan has enacted the “Indoor Air Quality Act ( IAQ Act)” in 2012. For the general public, the indoor air quality in hair salons is important because it is a popular location that people will often visit for hair treatments. However, only a few exposure assessments regarding air pollutants have previously been performed in hair salons. To assess the air quality of hairdressing environments in Taipei, ten hairdressing salons were included for a walk‐through survey in this study. In addition, the airborne concentrations of formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds ( VOC s), CO 2 , and phthalate esters were also determined in 5 salons. Charcoal, XAD ‐2, and OVS ‐Tenax tubes were used for the air sampling, while the samples were analyzed with gas chromatography/mass spectrometer. It was found that the products used in hair salons contained various chemicals. In fact, from the walk‐through survey, a total of 387 different ingredients were found on 129 hair product labels. The hair salons were not well ventilated, with CO 2 levels of 600 to 3576 ppm. The formaldehyde concentrations determined in this study ranged from 12.40 to 1.04 × 10 3 μg m −3 , and the maximum level was above the permissible exposure limit ( PEL ) of US Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( US OSHA ). Additionally, 83% of the samples were with levels higher than the standard regulated by Taiwan's IAQ Act. The concentrations of VOC s and phthalate esters were below the occupational exposure limits ( OEL s), but higher than what was found in general residential environments. The hair products were considered as the major source of air pollutants because significantly higher concentrations were found around the working areas. The number of perming treatments, the number of workers, and the frequency of using formaldehyde releasing products, were found to be associated with the levels of formaldehyde. This study indicates that efforts are needed to improve the indoor air quality in hairdressing salons in Taipei.