Indoor Levels of Volatile Organic Compounds at Households in Ulaanbaatar City

Authors

  • Jargalsaikhan Galsuren Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  • Davaalkham Dambadarjaa 2 School of Public Health, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar; Mongolia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6999-9367
  • Buyantushig Boldbaatar 3 Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  • Zoljargal Erdenechimeg Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  • Enkhjargal Gombojav Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24079/cajms.2023.06.003

Keywords:

Air pollution, Indoor air quality, Volatile organic compounds, Benzene

Abstract

Objectives: VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, are a group of organic chemicals that can easily evaporate into the air at room temperature. They are called “volatile” because they have high vapor pressure and can readily form vapors or gases at normal atmospheric conditions. To address this knowledge gap, we aimed to assess VOC exposure and its associated health risks.
Method: Samples were collected through the adsorbent tube, followed by detachment from the solvent by organic solvents solvent or methanol, and analyzed by gas chromatographic equipment attached with a flame ionization detector (FID). We selected 150 households from the Chingeltei and Bayangol districts in Ulaanbaatar city, specifically sections 4, 5, 6, and 12, to examine the levels of indoor VOCs in this study. We used the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test to compare medians of VOC levels for two independent groups. Kruskal-Wallis test was carried out to determine if there was any significant difference between medians of VOC levels for more than two independent groups, including the type of paint used, wooden furniture used, and construction year.
Results: We found no significant difference in benzene concentration among different types of households (p<0.8112). The highest benzene concentration (0.181 µg/m3) was measured in apartments and houses. Although there was no statistically significant difference between household room types, the kitchen had a higher benzene concentration than other rooms (p<0.8156). Factors such as household total volume, building construction year, and materials used for floors and walls did not significantly affect indoor benzene concentration. Most of the day, the benzene levels exceeded the standards set by the Indoor Air Quality Act of South Korea and the recommended levels by the Health Minister and Construction and Urban Development Minister of Mongolia. In 133 households in Ulaanbaatar city, indoor VOCs, specifically benzene concentration, exceeded the recommended level stated in Order No. A105/08 by the Health Minister and Construction and Urban Development Minister in 2017.
Conclusion: Indoor benzene concentration did not vary significantly based on household type, room type, household volume, building construction year, construction wall material, construction floor material, whether new furniture was purchased or the dwelling was repaired and painted within the last two months, proximity to major roads, or indoor smoking status.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract
101
PDF
115

References

Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. Review of the national ambient air quality standards for particulate matter: Policy assessment of scientific and technical information. Accessed 1 July,1996. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/418932

Dasgupta S, Hug M, Khaliquzzaman M, Pandey K, Wheeler D. Who suffers from indoor air pollution? Evidence from Bangladesh. Health Policy Plan. 2006;21(6):444-458. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czl027 PMid:17030552

Huang YC. Outdoor air pollution: a global perspective. J Occup Environ Med. 2014 Oct;56(10):S3-7. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000000240 PMid:25285972

Newby DE, Mannucci PM, Tell GS, Baccarelli AA, et al. Expert position paper on air pollution and cardiovascular disease. Eur heart j. 2015;36(2):83-93. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehu458 PMid:25492627 PMCid:PMC6279152

Smith KR, Smet MJ, Romieu I, Bruce N. Indoor air pollution in developing countries and acute lower respiratory infections in children. Thorax. 2000;55(6):518-532. https://doi.org/10.1136/thorax.55.6.518 PMid:10817802 PMCid:PMC1745777

Krzyzanowski M. Cohen A. Update of who air quality guidelines. Air Qual Atmos Health. 2008;1:7-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-008-0008-9

Bruce N, Perez-padilla R, Albalak R. Indoor air pollution in developing countries: a major environmental and public health challenge. Bulletin of the world health organization. 2000;78(9):1078-1092.

Lee K, Choi J, Lee S,et al. Indoor levels of volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde from emission sources at elderly care centers in korea. Plos one. 2018;13(6):0197495. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197495 PMid:29879122 PMCid:PMC5991643

Mcclenny WA, Oliver DK, Jacumin HH, Daughtrey EH. Ambient level volatile organic compound (voc) monitoring using solid adsorbents-recent us epa studies. J Environ Monit. 2002;4(5):695-705. https://doi.org/10.1039/B203291K PMid:12400917

Cogliano VJ, Grosse Y, Baan AB, Straf K, Secretan BM, Ghissasssi FE. Meeting report: summary of iarc monographs on formaldehyde, 2-butoxyethanol, and 1-tert-butoxy-2-propanol. Environ Health Perspect. 2005;113(9):1205-1208. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7542 PMid:16140628 PMCid:PMC1280402

Spengler JD, Sexton K. Indoor air pollution: a public health perspective. Science. 1983;221(4605):9-17. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.6857273 PMid:6857273

Lee SC, Chang M. Indoor and outdoor air quality investigation at schools in Hong Kong. Chemosphere. 2000;41(1-2):109-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0045-6535(99)00396-3 PMid:10819186

Katsoyiannis A, Leva P, Kotzias D. Voc and carbonyl emissions from carpets: a comparative study using four types of environmental chambers. J Hazard Mater. 2008; 152(2):669-676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2007.07.058 PMid:17854990

Sim S, Moon J, Kim Y, Tae J. Emission rates of selected volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde in newly constructed apartment. Toxicol Environ Health Sci. 2010;2(4):263-267. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03217492

Kim YM, Harrad S, Harrison RM. Concentrations and sources of vocs in urban domestic and public microenvironments. Environ Sci Technol. 2001;35(6):997-1004. https://doi.org/10.1021/es000192y PMid:11347947

Brown SK. Volatile organic pollutants in new and established buildings in melbourne, australia. Indoor air. 2002;12(1):55-63. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0668.2002.120107.x PMid:11951711

Wallace L, Pellizzari E, Leaderer B, Zelon H, Sheldon L. Emissions of volatile organic compounds from building materials and consumer products. Atmos Environ. 1987;21(2):385-393. https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(87)90017-5

Singer B, Hodgson A, Nazaroff W. Gas-phase organics in environmental tobacco smoke:2. exposure-relevant emission factors and indirect exposures from habitual smoking. Atmos Environ. 2003;37(39-40):5551-5561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2003.07.015

Dodson RE, Levy JI, Spengler JD, Shine JP, Bennet DH. Influence of basements, garages, and common hallways on indoor residential volatile organic compound concentrations. Atmos Environ. 2008;42(7):1569-1581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.10.088

Pandit GG, Srivastava PK, Rao AM. Monitoring of indoor volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons arising from kerosene cooking fuel. Sci Total Environ. 2001;279(1-3):159-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-9697(01)00763-X PMid:11712593

Tang N, Hattori T, Taga R, et al. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban air particulates and their relationship to emission sources in the pan-japan sea countries. Atmos. Environ. 2005;39(32):5817-5826. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.06.018

Son B, Breysse P, Yang W. Volatile organic compounds concentrations in residential indoor and outdoor and its personal exposure in korea. Environ Int. 2003;29(1):79-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-4120(02)00148-4 PMid:12605940

Jia C, Batterman S, Godwin C. Vocs in industrial, urban and suburban neighborhoods-part 2: factors affecting indoor and outdoor concentrations. Atmos Environ. 2008;42(9):2101-2116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.11.047

Praamsma M. Air pollution versus humans: are we losing. Cent Asian J Med Sci. 2016;2(1):1-3. https://doi.org/10.24079/cajms.2016.01.001

Downloads

Published

2023-06-30

How to Cite

Galsuren, J., Dambadarjaa, D., Boldbaatar, B., Erdenechimeg, Z., & Gombojav, E. (2023). Indoor Levels of Volatile Organic Compounds at Households in Ulaanbaatar City. Central Asian Journal of Medical Sciences, 9(2), 12–21. https://doi.org/10.24079/cajms.2023.06.003

Issue

Section

Articles