A Material Prediction Approach for Improving Indoor Air Quality

Abstract

RATIONALE: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are known to increase acute asthmatic events. The prediction of their source will provide a process for improving home air quality.METHODS: Diagnostic tests to determine home VOCs levels have been nonexistent or expensive and difficult to deploy. Technological advances now allow for low cost VOC monitoring, VOC source prediction and hidden mold detection (MVOCs) in a home with a single test. This thermal desorption tube gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technology followed by a multivariate prediction has the ability to determine VOC levels and then provide the information necessary to reduce these levels and potentially reduce chemically induced asthmatic episodes.RESULTS: The median Total VOC (TVOC) level in homes tested with this new air testing technology is 1,200 ng/L. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recommends that homes are below 500 ng/L. Only 17.5% of homes tested with this technology have been below this level, with some well above 10,000 ng/L. While at home, one asthmatic client was having daily asthma exacerbations. His home TVOC level was determined to be 1,800 ng/L, not an extreme level. The report predicted the VOC source correctly (kerosene), the source was removed and the TVOC level on subsequent testing was reduced to 800 ng/L. His acute asthma episodes decreased from daily to weekly.CONCLUSION: Low cost home air testing technologies that can predict chemical sources could assist physicians and patients in developing a simple plan to improve their air quality and potentially improve their quality of life. RATIONALE: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are known to increase acute asthmatic events. The prediction of their source will provide a process for improving home air quality. METHODS: Diagnostic tests to determine home VOCs levels have been nonexistent or expensive and difficult to deploy. Technological advances now allow for low cost VOC monitoring, VOC source prediction and hidden mold detection (MVOCs) in a home with a single test. This thermal desorption tube gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technology followed by a multivariate prediction has the ability to determine VOC levels and then provide the information necessary to reduce these levels and potentially reduce chemically induced asthmatic episodes. RESULTS: The median Total VOC (TVOC) level in homes tested with this new air testing technology is 1,200 ng/L. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recommends that homes are below 500 ng/L. Only 17.5% of homes tested with this technology have been below this level, with some well above 10,000 ng/L. While at home, one asthmatic client was having daily asthma exacerbations. His home TVOC level was determined to be 1,800 ng/L, not an extreme level. The report predicted the VOC source correctly (kerosene), the source was removed and the TVOC level on subsequent testing was reduced to 800 ng/L. His acute asthma episodes decreased from daily to weekly. CONCLUSION: Low cost home air testing technologies that can predict chemical sources could assist physicians and patients in developing a simple plan to improve their air quality and potentially improve their quality of life.