The Relative Importance of Indoor and Outdoor Sources for Determining Indoor Pollution Concentrations in Homes in Seoul, South Korea

Abstract

This study measured indoor and outdoor levels of hydrocarbon volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene isomers (collectively referred to as BTEX), as well as 13 carbonyl compounds, at 20 homes in Seoul, South Korea. Along with the sampling of BTEX and carbonyls, indoor concentrations of the air pollutants nitrogen oxide (NO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) were also measured at each home. These measurements were used to understand the characteristics of BTEX and carbonyls by calculating the various ratios and correlation coefficients between measured contaminant levels. We found that carbonyls were mostly originated from indoor sources, while BTEX were originated from both indoor and outdoor sources. A high correlation between indoor levels of NO and BTEX indicated that traffic emissions were also an important sources of BTEX.

Keywords

• volatile organic compound
• aromatic hydrocarbon
• carbonyl compound
• indoor air pollutant
• btex
• indoor-to-outdoor ratio
• positive matrix factorization