Temporal Characteristics of Selected Volatile Organic Compounds in Urban High-Stories Urban Apartments

Abstract In present study, the temporal characteristics of nine selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including four alcohol, 2 aldehyde, and 3 ketone compounds, in high-stories urban apartments over a 2-y period were investigated. The indoor VOC concentrations had generally a decreasing trend over the 2-y follow-up period. For examples, the 2E1H indoor concentration decreased from 10.8 ㎍/m 3 for the first two months to 5.1 ㎍/m 3 for the last two months. In addition, the DCA and ACT indoor concentrations decreased from 5.0 and 14 ㎍/m 3 for the first two months to 2.2 and 6.4 ㎍/m 3 , respectively, for the last two months. The indoor-to outdoor concentration ratios over the 2-y period were much greater than 1, indicating that indoor VOC concentrations were higher than the outdoor VOC concentrations. Similar to those of the individual VOCs, the indoor- to-outdoor concentration ratios of all three VOC groups were higher than 1 over the 2-y follow-up period, suggesting higher indoor concentrations of the three VOC groups than outdoor concentrations. In consistence with the results of VOC indoor concentrations, the VOC emission rates decreased gradually as time passed, due to the decreased VOC emission strengths of indoor sources. Finally, there was an initial sharp decrease in the indoor VOC concentrations followed by a slower decrease, indicating a multi-exponential decay model for the target VOCs, which was demonstrated by comparison of the residuals and the adjusted coefficient of determination associated with the one and two-exponential fits of each data set.Key words:Temporal characteristics; Decay compartment model; Consumer product; High story; VOC source