Abstract
A novel multipollutant diffusive sampler for HONO, HNO3, and NO2 was used and tested at four different libraries/archives in different seasons. Two were located in Switzerland in Bern (Swiss National Library) and Geneve (Bibliotheque de Geneve), both with HVAC system equipped with filters for pollutants removal, and the other two in the Czech Republic in Teplice (Regional Library) and in Prague (National Archives), where in this case the former is naturally ventilated and whereas the latter is equipped with HVAC system with filtration. The ratios between indoor and outdoor concentrations of NO2 showed a greater penetration of pollutants indoors in the naturally ventilated library than in the filtrated archives. The indoor concentrations of HNO3 were very low probably due to the high deposition velocity of nitric acid on available surfaces. HONO concentration values were usually lower outdoors, which indicated that HONO was produced by reactions on indoor surfaces. The results revealed that the reproducibility of the new multipollutant sampler measurements was reasonable (according to EU directives) for NO2 and HNO3 and that the newly developed multipollutant sampler can be used in archives and libraries, allowing to map the pollutants distribution indoors. Due to high efficiency of insulating systems normally employed and of filtration systems, the values recorded for the pollutants indoors are often lower than the detection limits.
Highlights
A novel multipollutant diffusive sampler for HONO, HNO3, and NO2 was used and tested at four different libraries/archives in different seasons
The library in Bern is a modern building composed of a ground floor and four underground levels (1UG-4UG), the building is equipped with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system providing air filtered through a particulate filter and active carbon
One site was placed at the ground floor (A26) and the other four monitoring sites were placed both at the entrance, just outside of the double door insulation (WA2UG and WA3UG), and inside the second and third underground level (2UG and 3UG) in the area insulated by the double door system
Summary
A novel multipollutant diffusive sampler for HONO, HNO3, and NO2 was used and tested at four different libraries/archives in different seasons. HNO3 is a very aggressive acid in contrast with HONO The latter is not active by itself, even if it is an important source of OH radicals, one of the most important air oxidants [2]. This air pollution cause oxidation and hydrolytic degradation of archive materials such as colour changes and reduction of degree of polymerisation of paper [3], decomposition. Several works report measurements of nitrous and nitric acid in various indoor environments [11,12,13] and recent works highlight the importance of the former species as an emerging indoor pollutant [14], but studies in cultural heritage buildings are scarce [15, 16]. Diffusive samplers have been used for air quality monitoring of single gases in cultural
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