Fragrances and Aerosol during Office Cleaning

Abstract

Fragrance compounds emitted during and after the use of cleaning products in an office were monitored. Mopping the floor with a general purpose cleaner and a domestic bleach and cleaning the windows with an aerosol glass cleaner, as well as a combination of these cleaning activities, were carried out. The following compounds were found in detectable amounts: d-limonene, α-pinene, α-terpineol, 2-butoxyethanol, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, eucalyptol, tetrahydrolinalool and diphenyl ether. Along with the fragrances, the number concentrations of airborne particles with an aerodynamic diameter range between 0.2 μm and 10 μm were monitored continuously. Cleaning affected the number concentrations of all particle sizes, but particles with an aerodynamic diameter above 0.4 μm were the most affected. The largest increase above background concentrations was observed during mopping the floor with a solution of general purpose cleaner in combination with cleaning the windows with a glass-cleaning spray. In this case, for particles larger than 0.4 μm, indoor number concentrations were 19 times larger than the background concentrations. Conversely, for particles below 0.4 μm, number concentrations increased only 4 times above the background concentrations during the same event. Auxiliary measurements included carbon dioxide (CO_2) concentrations and the indoor micro-climatic conditions (air velocity, light intensity, temperature and relative humidity).