Characterizing Key Volatile Pollutants Emitted from Adhesives by Chemical Compositions, Odor Contributions and Health Risks.

Zixuan Zhao,Yanjun Zhao,Chuandong Wu,Weifang Li,Yipu Pei,Chen Qu,Peng Zhao,Jiemin Liu

doi:10.3390/molecules27031125

Abstract

As one of the major sources of volatile pollutants in indoor air, gaseous emissions from adhesives during interior decoration have attracted increasing concern. Identifying major volatile pollutants and the risk in adhesive gaseous emissions is of great significance, but remains rarely reported. In the present research, we assessed the major volatile pollutants emitted from white emulsion adhesive and silicone adhesive samples (n = 30) from three aspects: chemical composition, odor and health risk contributions. The results showed that a total of 21 volatile pollutants were detected. Significantly, xylene was the most concentrated compound from white emulsion adhesives, accounting for 45.51% of the total concentrations. Butanone oxime was the most concentrated compound in silicone adhesives, accounting for 69.86% of the total concentrations. The trends in odor concentration (evaluated by the odor activity value method) over time were well correlated with the total chemical concentrations. Xylene (58.00%) and butanone oxime (76.75%) showed the highest odor contribution, respectively. Moreover, from an integrated perspective of chemical emissions, odor and health risk contributions, xylene, ethylbenzene, ethyl acetate and benzene were identified as the key volatile pollutants emitted from the white emulsion adhesives, while butanone oxime, butanone, and ethanol were the key volatile pollutants emitted from the silicone adhesives. This study not only identified the key volatile pollutants but also provided characteristics of odor and health risks of gas emitted from adhesives.

Highlights

In the area of indoor air quality, studies on gaseous emissions from building materials are drawing increasing attention
We present a comprehensive evaluation of the chemical compositions, odor and health risk contributions of volatile compounds emitted from 30 adhesives that are commonly available on the market
The odor contribution of butanone oxime in gaseous emissions from 11 silicone adhesive samples was greater than 90%, while the odor contributions of the remaining substances in these samples were mostly less than 5%. These results indicated that from the point of view of odor nuisance, butanone oxime is the main volatile pollutant in the gas emitted from silicone adhesives

Summary

Introduction

In the area of indoor air quality, studies on gaseous emissions from building materials are drawing increasing attention. During the decoration process, building materials such as adhesives emit large amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) [1,2,3,4,5], which are a major source of indoor air pollution. Since people spend approximately 80% of their lifetime in indoor buildings [6,7], long-term exposure to these VOCs can cause serious odor nuisance effects and negative health effects, leading to sick building syndrome (SBS) [8,9,10,11]. The most studied VOCs emitted from building materials include aromatic compounds, aldehydes, and n-hexane, which are major indoor air pollutants due to their malodorous and hazardous properties [12,13,14,15,16]. Wooden flooring and furniture were identified as the main

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Results

Conclusion