Transcript VOC Database - American Industrial Hygiene Association

Proactive Indoor Air Quality
Surveys Conducted in
Metropolitan New York
Commercial Buildings Between
1992-1998
Jack Springston, CIH, CSP
William Esposito, CIH
Keith Cleversey, MS
ambient group, inc.
New York, NY
Proactive IAQ Surveys

757 surveys in 125 commercial office
buildings

Conducted between June 1992 and
December 1998

Sampling strategy based on EPA’s
Protocol for Characterizing Indoor Air
Quality in Large Office Buildings
Proactive IAQ Surveys

Sampling included CO2, CO, and
TVOC’s
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17,500+ samples collected

Sampling for gaseous contaminants
performed using a Brüel & Kjær Multigas Monitor Type 1302
B&K 1302 Monitor

Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (PAS)

Detection limit is gas-dependent but
typically 10-3ppm region

Use different filters to measure up to 5
component gases plus water vapor
B&K 1302 Monitor

For this study, we measured VOC’s,
CO and CO2

Used two different filters for VOC’s
–
–
3.4um for “common” VOC’s
3.6um for formaldehyde
VOC Sampling

Organic compounds detected at
center wavelength 3.4 µm include:
Butane, Ethyl benzene, Ethanol,
Formic acid, Methyl ethyl ketone,
Naphta, Petroleum distillates, Toluene,
Turpentine, and Xylene

Detection limit = 0.036 mg/m3
VOC Sampling

Organic compounds detected at
center wavelength 3.6 µm include:
Acetaldehyde, Acrolein, Formaldehyde,
N-Methyl-Methanamine, Triethylamine

Detection limit = 0.07 mg/m3
Applicable Standards

Carbon Dioxide
–
–

ASHRAE - OA + 700ppm
OSHA and ACGIH - 5000ppm
Carbon Monoxide
–
–
–
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EPA NAAQS (8 hour) - 9ppm
WHO (8 hour) - 10ppm
ACGIH - 25ppm
OSHA - 50ppm
Applicable Standards

TVOC’s
–
No official standards or guidelines exist
–
OSHA and ACGIH - target and action
limits of 1 and 5 mg/m3 discussed
–
European community - target guideline of
0.3 mg/m3 has been discussed
–
Molhave - objective health effects noted
at >3 mg/m3 (Discomfort Range)
1992-1998 FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF PERIODIC
CARBON DIOXIDE RESULTS IN NEW YORK CITY
COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
(17,658 readings)
0.240
FREQUENCY
0.210
0.180
0.150
0.120
-2sd = 329.60ppm
Average = 620.41ppm
+2sd = 911.23ppm
0.090
0.060
0.030
0.000
300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100
CO2 CONCENTRATION (PPM)
Carbon Dioxide Results

CO2 readings ranged from 357 to
1960ppm

Mean value = 620.4ppm (SD =
145.4ppm)

Median value = 586ppm
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97.52% of all readings were <1000ppm
1992-1998 FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF PERIODIC
CARBON MONOXIDE RESULTS IN NEW YORK CITY
COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
FREQUENCY
(17,630 readings)
0.400
0.350
0.300
0.250
0.200
0.150
0.100
0.050
0.000
-2sd = -0.87ppm
Average = 1.61ppm
+2sd = 4.08ppm
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
CO CONCENTRATION (PPM)
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
Carbon Monoxide Results

CO readings ranged from 0.0 to
60.3ppm
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Mean value = 1.61ppm (SD =1.24ppm)
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Median value = 1.43ppm
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99.77% of all readings were <9ppm
1992-1998 FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF PERIODIC
TVOC (GROUP 1) RESULTS IN NEW YORK CITY
COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
(17,595 readings)
FREQUENCY
0.15
-2sd = -1.80mg/m3
Average = 1.23mg/m3
+2sd = 4.26mg/m3
0.13
0.10
0.08
0.05
0.03
0.00
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 13.0 14.0 15.0 16.0
TVOC CONCENTRATION (MG/M3)
TVOC’s 3.4um Results

Group I readings ranged from <0.036
to 41.04 mg/m3
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Mean value = 1.23 mg/m3 (SD = 1.52
mg/m3)

Median value = 0.99 mg/m3
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96.85% of all readings were <3 mg/m3
1992-1998 FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF PERIODIC
TVOC (GROUP 2) RESULTS IN NEW YORK CITY
COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
FREQUENCY
(15,564 readings)
0.10
0.09
0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0.00
0.00
-2sd = -0.95mg/m3
Average = 0.40mg/m3
+2sd = 1.76mg/m3
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
1.25
1.50
1.75
2.00
TVOC CONCENTRATION (MG/M3)
2.25
2.50
2.75
3.00
TVOC’s 3.6um Results

Group II readings ranged from <0.07
to 44.25 mg/m3

Mean value = 0.41 mg/m3 (SD = 0.68
mg/m3)

Median value = 0.23 mg/m3
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99.51% of all readings were <3 mg/m3
Conclusions

Results indicate that a majority of the
CO, CO2 and TVOC readings from
non-complaint buildings were within
their respective guideline values

TVOC results suggest that proposed
European guideline of 0.3mg/m3 may
be too stringent