Abstract
Abstract This study investigates PAHs indoor emissions from burning decorative candle in an indoor environment because emissions from burning wax in home have rarely been addressed. A total of 12 air samples were collected during the entire burning period of the decorative candles. Particulate and gaseous PAHs emissions were simultaneously measured by passing effluent through a filter (to collect particulate-phase PAHs), a cold trap and ORBO 43 tubes (to capture gaseous-phase PAHs). Analysis involved ultrasound extraction, followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The measured total PAHs concentration (particulate + aqueous phase + gas phases) for the candles, reported as mass of PAHs emitted/mass of candle burning, was between 2.3 and 49.8 μg kg −1 and mean 15 μg kg −1 . Considering the volume of sampled air, the concentrations of total PAHs ranged from 7 ng m −3 to 267 ng m −3 . Concentrations of B[ a ]P emitted by candles ranged from 0.1 to 7.5 ng m −3 , while total carcinogenic PAHs, expressed as B[a] eq , ranged from 0.2 to 10.7 ng m −3 . The values of all the isomeric indices calculated in this research are in good agreement to literature data for emissions from high temperature processes.
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