VOLATILIZATION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS FROM SHOWERS .1. ANALYTICAL METHOD AND QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT

To provide data to test mathematical models developed to predict human exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) volatilizing from showers, an analytical method was developed to analyze the simultaneous volatilization of VOCs in the water and humid air of showers. Five VOCs with a wide range of Henry's law constants were used. Experiments, conducted in a full-scale shower, were performed at initial water concentrations nearing tap water VOC concentrations (a few mu-g l-1). VOCs in water and humid air samples were concentrated by purge-and-trap, thermally desorbed from a Tenax trap and analyzed with a gas chromatograph-electron capture detector. The fraction of the VOCs volatilized from showers at various water temperatures and flow rates were calculated. Mass-balance equations indicated the presence of sinks of VOCs in the experimental shower other than those due to the airflow. An experimental method to measure the residence time of the water in the shower is presented.