Residential indoor and outdoor air pollution
The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) content of ambient air at several locations in New England is described. The indoor sites examined included those having woodstoves, fireplaces, and kerosene heaters as supplements to oil heat, as well as one test home which employed a woodstove as its sole source of heat. The PAH levels in homes with woodburning devices were consistently higher than those levels found outdoors. Air infiltration measurements using sulfur hexafluoride as a tracer gas were taken in all homes. Other pollutants monitored at the selected sites included total suspended particulates (TSP), respirable particulates (RP, d < 2.5 um), nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide. In the majority of cases, outdoor samples were taken to correspond with the indoor ones, so as to obtain indoor to outdoor ratios (I/O). Evaporative lossers of PAH from filters during both indoor and outdoor air sampling are confirmed. Polyurethane foam was placed in series behind quartz fiber and teflon-coated glass fiber filters. The expected correlations with molecular weight and temperature were found; as the molecular weight increases, less PAH is lost, and, as the temperature increases, more PAH is lost. The analytical method for extracting PAH from filters was modified for polyurethane foam and is described.
- OSTI ID:
- 5949865
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
320101 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Residential Buildings-- (-1987)
500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR FILTERS
AIR INFILTRATION
AIR POLLUTION
APPLIANCES
AROMATICS
BUILDINGS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
EFFICIENCY
EQUIPMENT
FILTERS
FIREPLACES
FUEL OILS
FUELS
HEATING OILS
HYDROCARBONS
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
LIQUID FUELS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN DIOXIDE
NITROGEN OXIDES
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLES
PARTICULATES
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
WOOD BURNING APPLIANCES