Indoor/outdoor connections exemplified by processes that depend on an organic compound's saturation vapor pressure

被引:59
作者
Weschler, CJ [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Med & Dent New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Med Sch, Environm & Occupat Hlth Sci Inst, Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA
[2] Rutgers State Univ, Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA
[3] Tech Univ Denmark, Int Ctr Indoor Environm & Energy, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark
关键词
sorption; partitioning; particles; NPTs; indoor air; filters;
D O I
10.1016/j.atmosenv.2003.09.022
中图分类号
X [环境科学、安全科学];
学科分类号
08 ; 0830 ;
摘要
Outdoor and indoor environments are profitably viewed as parts of a whole connected through various physical and chemical interactions. This paper examines four phenomena that share a dependence on vapor pressure-the extent to which an organic compound in the gas phase sorbs on airborne particles, sorbs on surfaces, sorbs on particles collected on a filter or activates trigeminal nerve receptors. It also defines a new equilibrium coefficient for the partitioning of organic compounds between an airstream and particles collected by a filter in that airstream. Gas/particle partitioning has been studied extensively outdoors, but sparingly indoors. Gas/surface partitioning occurs primarily indoors while gas/filter partitioning occurs at the interface between outdoors and indoors. Activation of trigeminal nerve receptors occurs at the human interface. The logarithm of an organic compound's saturation vapor pressure correlates in a linear fashion with the logarithms of equilibrium coefficients characteristic of each of these four phenomena. Since, to a rough approximation, the log of an organic compound's vapor pressure scales with its molecular weight, molecular weight can be used to make first estimates of the above processes. For typical indoor conditions, only larger compounds with lower-saturation vapor pressures (e.g., tetracosane, pentacosane, or di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate) have airborne particle concentrations comparable to or larger than gas phase concentrations. Regardless of a compound's vapor pressure, the total mass sorbed on indoor airborne particles is quite small compared to the total sorbed on indoor surfaces, reflecting the large difference in surface areas between particles within a room and surfaces within a room. If the actual surface areas are considered, accounting for roughness and porosity, the surface concentration of organics sorbed on typical airborne particles appears to be comparable to the surface concentration of organics sorbed on indoor carpets, walls and other materials (based on data from several studies in the literature). Mirroring the importance of phase distributions outdoors, an organic compound's indoor lifetime, fate and even health impacts depend on its distribution between phases and among surfaces. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:5455 / 5465
页数:11
相关论文
共 26 条
[1]   An algorithm for nasal pungency thresholds in man [J].
Abraham, MH ;
Kumarsingh, R ;
Cometto-Muniz, JE ;
Cain, WS .
ARCHIVES OF TOXICOLOGY, 1998, 72 (04) :227-232
[2]  
Clausen P., 2002, INDOOR AIR 2002, V2, P932
[3]  
COMETTOMUNIZ JE, 2001, INDOOR AIR QUALITY H
[5]   Octanol-air partition coefficient as a predictor of partitioning of semi-volatile organic chemicals to aerosols [J].
Finizio, A ;
Mackay, D ;
Bidleman, T ;
Harner, T .
ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT, 1997, 31 (15) :2289-2296
[6]  
Finlayson-Pitts B. J., 2000, CHEM UPPER LOWER ATM, P412
[7]   Gas/solid and gas/liquid partitioning of organic compounds: Critical evaluation of the interpretation of equilibrium constants [J].
Goss, KU ;
Schwarzenbach, RP .
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, 1998, 32 (14) :2025-2032
[8]  
HERMANCE HW, 1971, ENVIRON SCI TECHNOL, V5, P781
[9]   Adsorption and desorption of selected VOCs in dust collected on air filters [J].
Hyttinen, M ;
Pasanen, P ;
Kalliokoski, P .
ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT, 2001, 35 (33) :5709-5716
[10]  
Junge C.E., 1977, Fate of pollutants in the air and water environments, Part 1, P7