Loss Of Volatile Organic Compounds Research Articles

Selection of drying techniques for Pingyin rose on the basis of physicochemical properties and volatile compounds retention

Awareness of edible rose being beneficial for health has attracted researchers in exploring different rose products. The study aimed to investigate effects of vacuum freeze drying (VFD), hot air drying (HAD), heat pump drying (HPD), relative humidity drying (RHD) and catalytic infrared drying (CID) on the physicochemical properties, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of Pingyin roses. Results showed that the VFD roses had significantly (p < 0.05) bright color, complete tissue cells, low shrinkage, and good plasma membrane permeability. CID roses showed the highest total phenols content (164.09 ± 0.88 mg/g) and the strongest antioxidant activity. Besides, the odor is the most crucial indicator for dried roses. VFD can well prevent the odor from diminishing/destroying and preserve the natural smell of rose. Thermal drying including HAD, HPD, RHD, and CID, could cause significant losses of VOCs. Consequently, the findings can provide the scientific basis for future large-scale production of dried rose products.

The impacts of VOCs on PM2.5 increasing via their chemical losses estimates: A case study in a typical industrial city of China

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been explicitly required to be controlled by national or local governments to tackle heavy PM2.5 pollution in China. However, the role of VOCs chemistry in PM2.5 is still far away from being fully understood. In this study, we selected a typically industrialized city of China, conducted VOCs online measurements in July and December of 2020, estimated VOCs chemical losses, and explored their impacts on PM2.5 in the real atmosphere. Our measurements totally detected the mixing ratios of 53 VOCs species, sum of which reaching 20.8 ± 9.1 ppb and 45.5 ± 19.8 ppb in July and December respectively. Based on the change in the relative abundance of various VOCs species with different reactivity, daily OH exposure and daily O3 exposure (molecules·s·cm−3) were estimated, respectively with the mean value of 11.0 × 1010 and 5.2 × 1015 in July, 5.9 × 1010 and 3.1 × 1015 in December. Thus, there were about 6.7 ± 3.2 ppb and 11.1 ± 5.0 ppb VOCs chemically lost in July and December, with the average loss ratio of 29.7% and 19.3% in respective. In July, PM2.5 in the range of 20–60 μg m−3 positively responded to VOCs loss ratios, and high PM2.5 values were always accompanied by higher VOCs losses instead of high CO levels; but their relationship became negative in December when PM2.5 in the range of 40–150 μg m−3, and extremely high PM2.5 values happened in high CO conditions instead of high VOCs losses conditions. Moreover, PM2.5 measurements in this city also showed an apparent upward trend in OC/EC with PM2.5 in summer, but a slight downward trend in winter. These all indicated that in the conditions of stronger solar radiations (summer) and low-middle aerosol loads, VOCs chemistry played the important role in PM2.5 increasing through contributing SOA; but in the conditions of lower solar radiations (winter) and heavy aerosol loads, VOCs chemistry was greatly weakened and had the minor impact on PM2.5 increasing. The measure involving VOCs reduction to alleviate PM2.5 pollution in winter needs to be cautiously considered and examined.

Real-Time Laboratory Measurements of VOC Emissions, Removal Rates, and Byproduct Formation from Consumer-Grade Oxidation-Based Air Cleaners

Levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the indoor environment can be decreased by the use of “air cleaners”, devices that remove VOCs by sorption and/or oxidative degradation. However, efficacies of these technologies for removing VOCs tend to be poorly constrained, as does the formation of oxidation byproducts. Here, we examine the influence of several oxidation-based air cleaners, specifically ones marketed as consumer-grade products, on the amounts and composition of VOCs. Experiments were conducted in an environmental chamber, with a suite of real-time analytical instruments to measure direct emissions, VOC removal efficacies (by the addition of either limonene and toluene), and byproduct formation. We find that the air cleaners themselves can be a source of organic gases, that removal efficacy can be exceedingly variable, and that VOC loss is primarily driven by physical removal in some cleaners. When oxidative degradation of VOCs was observed, it was accompanied by the formation of a range of oxidation byproducts, including formaldehyde and other oxygenates. These results indicate that some consumer-grade portable air cleaners can be ineffective in removing VOCs and that the air delivered may contain a range of organic compounds, due to direct emission and/or byproduct formation.

Towards a better comparability during GMP assessment – Identifying the main parameters that influence the loss of volatile organic compounds from silicone elastomers

Silicone-based consumer products may contain volatile compounds, predominantly residual siloxane oligomers from production processes. To avoid unwanted release of these volatiles into food, postproduction removal by a tempering process is necessary and might be mandatory for consumer products – especially food contact materials (FCM). According to BfR recommendation XV tempering is assumed to be sufficient if the remaining volatile organic compounds (VOCs) represent less than 0.5 % of the total product weight, a value chosen 60 years ago indicating good manufacturing practice (GMP). However, the reproducibility and comparability of the respective gravimetric method results may be affected by several parameters including sample conditioning, ventilation in the oven and speed of sample handling. Based on the investigations reported in this work, a method evaluation study with an optimized and in-house validated procedure was conducted to assess its inter-laboratory reproducibility. According to the results, the gravimetric determination of the loss of volatile compounds is feasible with an expanded measurement uncertainty of 25 %.

Ozone and SOA formation potential based on photochemical loss of VOCs during the Beijing summer

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are easily degraded by oxidants during atmospheric transport. Therefore, the contribution of VOCs to ozone (O3) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation at a receptor site is different from that in a source area. In this study, hourly concentrations of VOCs and other pollutants, such as O3, NOx, HONO, CO, and PM2.5, were measured in the suburbs (Daxing district) of Beijing in August 2019. The photochemical initial concentrations (PICs), in which the photochemical losses of VOCs were accounted for, were calculated to evaluate the contribution of the VOCs to O3 and SOA formation. The mean (±standard deviation) measured VOC concentrations and the PICs were 11.2 ± 5.7 and 14.6 ± 8.4 ppbv, respectively, which correspond to O3 formation potentials (OFP) of 57.8 ± 26.3 and 103.9 ± 109.4 ppbv and SOA formation potentials (SOAP) of 8.4 ± 4.1 and 10.3 ± 7.4 μg m−3, respectively. Alkenes contributed 80.5% of the consumed VOCs, followed by aromatics (13.3%) and alkanes (6.2%). The contributions of the alkenes and aromatics to the OFPPICs were 56.8% and 30.3%, respectively; while their corresponding contributions to the SOAPPICs were 1.9% and 97.3%, respectively. The OFPPICs was linearly correlated with the observed O3 concentrations (OFPPICs = 41.5 + 1.40 × cO3, R2 = 0.87). The O3 formation was associated with a VOC-limited regime at the receptor site based on the measured VOCs and changed to a transition regime and a NOx sensitive regime based on the PIC. Our results suggest that more attention should be paid to biogenic VOCs when studying O3 formation in summer in Beijing, while the control of anthropogenic aromatic compounds should be given priority in terms of SOA formation.

Reproducibility of the Quantification of Reversible Wall Interactions in VOC Sampling Lines

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are widely measured at ppb and ppt level in many contexts, from therapeutic drug control in respiratory diseases to monitoring of climate change and indoor air quality. The need for accuracy is a common denominator in all these fields. The interactions between gas mixtures and solid surfaces in sampling lines and instruments play an important role in calculating the total uncertainty of the amount of VOC. The amount of substances in the gas mixture is affected by its reversible and irreversible interactions with the sampling line. The main aim of this paper is to propose and discuss a method to quantify the amount of substance segregated by reversible interactions on sampling lines. To validate the proposed method, the areic amount of a VOC (Acetone) is measured for a commercial test pipe (Sulfinert®) as the amount of substance per unit area of the internal surface of the test pipe segregated from the flowing gas mixture. Stainless steel coated by Sulfinert® was chosen as a test material because of its wide use and its limited irreversible and permeation effects. A certified gas mixture of Acetone in air with a nominal mole fraction of 10 µmol mol−1 was used for validation. Broad temperature control was used and the sensibility of the method to the temperature and the pressure has been evaluated to correct the bias due to physical condition. The sensitivity to the residence time and the Reynolds number of the gas flow has been evaluated to verify the reaching of equilibrium and the limits of the applicability of the method. The areic amount of Acetone at equilibrium on Sulfinert® coated pipe was measured as 40 nmol m−2, and an equilibrium constant value of around 0.2 m was calculated as the ratio between the superficial amount segregated on the wall and the amount concentration of Acetone in the mixture, both at the equilibrium. The observed reproducibility was better than 2.5%. This method is aimed to investigate VOC losses due to interactions for many VOC/material systems at a lower amount of substance levels.

Characteristics of Ozone and Source Apportionment of the Precursor VOCs in Tianjin Suburbs in Summer

From June to August 2018, a 1-hr resolution concentration dataset of ozone and its gaseous precursors (volatile organic compounds(VOCs) and NOx), and meteorological parameters were synchronously monitored by online instruments of the Nankai University Air Quality Research Supersite. The relationships and variation characteristics between ozone and its precursors were analyzed. According to the photochemical age, the initial concentrations of VOCs were calculated, and the photochemical loss of the concentration of VOCs during the daytime (06:00-24:00) was corrected. The initial and directly monitored concentrations of VOCs were incorporated into the PMF model for source apportionment. The results indicated that the mean concentration of O3 in Tianjin in summer was (41.3±25.7)×10-9, while that of VOCs was (13.9±12.3)×10-9. The average concentration of alkane (7.0±6.8)×10-9 was clearly higher than that of other VOC species. The species with high concentrations of alkanes were propane and ethane, accounting for 47% of the total alkane concentration. The average ozone formation potential (OFP) in summer was 52.1×10-9, and the OFP value of alkene was the highest and its contribution reached 57%. During the daytime, alkene loss accounted for 75% of the total VOC loss. The major sources of VOCs that were calculated based on the initial concentration data were the chemical industry and solvent usage (25%), automobile exhaust (22%), combustion source (19%), LPG/NG (19%), and gasoline volatilization (15%), respectively. Compared with the apportionment results based on directly monitored concentrations, the contribution of the chemical industry and solvent usage decreased by 4%, while automobile exhaust decreased by 5%. By combining the results of PMF apportionment and the OFP model to analyze the relative contributions of emission sources to ozone formation, and we found that the highest contribution source of ozone was the chemical industry and solvent usage (26%) in summer. Compared with the analysis results based on the directly monitored concentrations, the OFP values of the chemical industry and solvent usage decreased by 7%, while that of NG/LPG apparently decreased by 13%.

Towards a Better Comparability During Gmp Assessment – Identifying the Main Parameters that Influence the Loss of Volatile Organic Compounds from Silicone Elastomers

Towards a Better Comparability During Gmp Assessment – Identifying the Main Parameters that Influence the Loss of Volatile Organic Compounds from Silicone Elastomers

Reactor characterization and primary application of a state of art dual-reactor chamber in the investigation of atmospheric photochemical processes

Increasing attention has been paid to the air pollution more recently. Smog chamber has been proved as a necessary and effective tool to study atmospheric processes, including photochemical smog and haze formation. A novel smog chamber was designed to study the atmospheric photochemical reaction mechanism of typical volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as well as the aging of aerosols. The smog chamber system includes an enclosure equipped with black lights as the light source, two parallel reactors (2 m3 of each) with separate control of light source and temperature, with a series of coupled instruments for online monitoring of gas phase and particle phase reactants and products. Chamber characterization, including air source stability, effective light intensity, temperature stability, as well as gas phase and particle phase wall losses, were carried out before further research. The results showed that our smog chamber systems developed by other domestic and international groups. It was also observed that the wall loss of aromatic VOCs varied with different functional groups as well as the isomerism. The results of preliminary simulation experiment from styrene-NOx demonstrated that the chamber can be well utilized to simulate gas-particle conversion progresses in the atmosphere.

Insights into critical sources of bias in quantitation of volatile organic compounds based on headspace extraction approach

Headspace (HS)-based vaporization of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a glass vial is an effective option for standard preparation or sample quantitation. However, adsorptive losses can occur systematically during the preparation of HS VOC samples between a liquid working standard (L-WS) and the inner surface of the vial. Here, a mixture of 22 VOCs (aldehydes, ketones, esters, alcohols, aromatics, chlorinated aromatics, and fatty acids) was used to assess the adsorptive loss characteristics based on in-vial vaporization of an L-WS. Quantified losses between the L-WS and vapor were between 48.2% (propionaldehyde [PA]) and 99.8% (heptanoic acid [HPA]) as the lowest and highest boiling point of all targets, respectively. The logarithmic partition coefficient values exhibited a quadratic relationship with the VOC boiling points. The detection threshold limit (DTL; the inception of mass quantification) ranged from 369 ng (m-xylene) to 4,107 ng (HPA), which were far higher than their corresponding method detection limits. The relative recovery (RR) of each VOC was also estimated as its mass ratio between HS (after vaporization) and liquid sample injected into the glass vial (before vaporization). Accordingly, the RR results of VOCs varied in the range from 0.14% (HPA) to 44.3% (PA). Further, there were little variations in RR patterns between VOCs, when the effect of temperature on their extraction was examined across 25 to 80 °C. HS-based quantification of VOCs should, therefore, be carried out by considering the DTL and associated VOC losses to reduce substantial biases that can otherwise arise from these complicated variables.

Evaluation of Physical Adsorption Loss of Volatile Organic Compounds of Primary Reference Gas Mixtures at 5 nmol mol-1

Evaluation of Physical Adsorption Loss of Volatile Organic Compounds of Primary Reference Gas Mixtures at 5 nmol mol-1

Exogenous nitric oxide fumigation promoted the emission of volatile organic compounds in peach fruit during shelf life after long-term cold storage

Cold temperature is a common method to store peach after harvest. While long-term cold storage leads to the occurrence of chilling injury and loss of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) after transferring peach to shelf life. Nitric oxide (NO) treatment has been proven to alleviate peach chilling injury. However, the effect of NO treatment on peach VOCs during cold storage plus shelf life is still unknown. In this study, 10 μL L−1 NO was used to fumigate peach before 4 °C cold storage. After cold storage for 21 days, peach were transferred to 20 °C for 3 days to simulate shelf life. Results showed that NO treatment promoted the emission of main VOCs including C6 aldehydes, C6 alcohols, straight-chain esters and lactones after cold storage, supported by the changes of fatty acids and genes expression of PpFADs, PpLOXs, PpHPL, PpADH, PpAATs and PpACXs. Besides, NO also alleviated the occurrence of chilling injury and promoted the recovery of respiration rate and ethylene production during shelf life. In conclusion, treatment with NO effectively prevented the loss of VOCs when transferring peach from cold temperature to shelf life in “Xiahui 6” peach and the possible mechanisms were discussed.

Rationale for Soil‐Gas Sampling to Improve Vapor Intrusion Risk Assessment in China

Rationale for Soil‐Gas Sampling to Improve Vapor Intrusion Risk Assessment in China

Simultaneous determination of aromatic and chlorinated compounds in urine of exposed workers by dynamic headspace and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (dHS-GC–MS)

Mixed exposure to chemical products is a topical issue for occupational health and often includes exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). As very few methods are available for evaluating these mixed exposures, the aim of this work was to develop a simple biomonitoring method to assess simultaneous occupational exposures to chlorinated and aromatic VOCs by analyzing the unmetabolized fraction of the VOCs in the urine of workers.Volatile organic compounds were analyzed using dynamic headspace gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (dHS-GC–MS), and 11 unmetabolized urinary VOCs were measured into headspace phase, without any time-consuming pretreatment. Simultaneously, a standardized collection protocol was designed to avoid VOC losses or the contamination of urinary samples. The calibration samples were real urines, spiked with known amounts of the VOC mixtures studied. Test investigations were performed on potentially exposed workers in three factories in order to assess the effectiveness of both the collection protocol and analytical method.A satisfactory level of sensitivity was achieved, with limits of quantification (LOQ) between 10 and 15 ng/L obtained for all VOCs (except for styrene at 50 ng/L). Calibration curves were linear in the 0–20 μg/L range tested, with R2 correlation coefficients of 0.991 to 0.998. At the lowest concentration tested (0.08 μg/L), within-day precision varied from 2.1 to 5.5% and between-day precision ranged from 2.7 to 8.5%.Sample stability at −20 °C required that urinary samples be analyzed within 3 months. Even though the urinary concentrations of VOCs used in the plants were mostly quite low, significant differences between post-shift and pre-shift were observed.In conclusion, a fast, sensitive, specific and easy-to-use method has been developed for extracting VOCs from human urine using dHS-GC–MS. The method described has proven to be reliable for assessing current occupational exposure to chlorinated and aromatic VOCs in France.

Suitability of Test Chambers for Analyzing Air Pollutant Removal by Plants and Assessing Potential Indoor Air Purification

A unique test chamber system, which enables experiments with plants under highly controlled environmental conditions, was used to examine the pollutant removal efficiency of plants. For this purpose, the removal of two different volatile organic compounds (VOC) (toluene, 2-ethylhexanol) from the air by aerial plant parts of two common indoor plant species (Dieffenbachia maculata and Spathiphyllum wallisii) was monitored. While the control over environmental conditions (temperature, relative humidity, CO2 content, and light condition) worked very well in all experiments, control experiments with the empty chamber revealed high losses of VOC, especially 2-ethylhexanol, over the test duration of 48 h. Nonetheless, compared to the empty chamber, a significantly stronger and more rapid decline in the toluene as well as in the 2-ethylhexanol concentrations was observed when plants were present in the chamber. Interestingly, almost the same VOC removal as by aerial plant parts could be achieved by potting soil without plants. A comparative literature survey revealed substantial heterogeneity in previous results concerning the VOC removal efficiency of plants. This can be mainly attributed to a high diversity in experimental setup. The experimental setup used in the current study offers an excellent opportunity to examine also plant physiological responses to pollutant exposure (or other stressors) under highly controlled conditions. For the analysis of VOC removal under typical indoor conditions, to obtain data for the assessment of realistic VOC removal efficiencies by plants in rooms and offices, a guideline would be helpful to achieve more coherent findings in this field of research.

Comparison of approaches for organic matter determination in relation to expression of bio-methane potentials

Bio-Methane Potential (BMP) tests are used to evaluate the suitability of a biomass for anaerobic digestion. BMP data are usually presented as the amount of methane produced from a kilogram of volatile solids (VS) or chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the substrate. However, the most used methods for determination of VS and COD are not always accurate. Oven drying may underestimate VS content due to loss of volatile organic compounds, and incomplete chemical oxidation may lead to underestimation of COD content. Bomb calorimetry is an attractive alternative to COD measurements, because the physical state of the biomass sample does not influence the measurement, and because sample preparation is limited. In this study, 11 biomass samples, wet and dry, were analyzed with different methods for organic content determination. COD (determined by bomb calorimetry and by wet chemistry) and VS (by Karl Fischer titration and loss on drying; LOD) were compared, and used for determination of BMP. In general, the BMP estimated on a VS basis were higher than those estimated on COD basis. For certain biomass samples the method for VS determination also greatly influenced the results; for fishery waste the BMP was estimated as 928 L kg−1 based on LOD-VS compared to 394 L kg−1 based on KF-LOD. Thus, this study shows that determination of organic content is not trivial and the method of choice strongly influences the estimation of bio-methane potentials. Bomb calorimetry offers a possibility to measure energy content directly, independent of biomass composition and physical state.

1448 Heating of ensiled high-moisture corn and aerobic loss of volatile organic compounds are delayed by inoculation with Lactobacillus buchneri

1448 Heating of ensiled high-moisture corn and aerobic loss of volatile organic compounds are delayed by inoculation with Lactobacillus buchneri

Arctic springtime observations of volatile organic compounds during the OASIS‐2009 campaign

AbstractGas‐phase volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured at three vertical levels between 0.6 m and 5.4 m in the Arctic boundary layer in Barrow, Alaska, for the Ocean‐Atmosphere‐Sea Ice‐Snowpack (OASIS)‐2009 field campaign during March–April 2009. C4‐C8 nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) and oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs), including alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones, were quantified multiple times per hour, day and night, during the campaign using in situ fast gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry. Three canister samples were also collected daily and subsequently analyzed for C2‐C5 NMHCs. The NMHCs and aldehydes demonstrated an overall decrease in mixing ratios during the experiment, whereas acetone and 2‐butanone showed increases. Calculations of time‐integrated concentrations of Br atoms, ∫[Br]dt, yielded values as high as (1.34 ± 0.27) × 1014 cm−3 s during the longest observed ozone depletion event (ODE) of the campaign and were correlated with the steady state Br calculated at the site during this time. Both chlorine and bromine chemistry contributed to the large perturbations on the production and losses of VOCs. Notably, acetaldehyde, propanal, and butanal mixing ratios dropped below the detection limit of the instrument (3 parts per trillion by volume (pptv) for acetaldehyde and propanal, 2 pptv for butanal) during several ODEs due to Br chemistry. Chemical flux calculations of OVOC production and loss are consistent with localized high Cl‐atom concentrations either regionally or within a very shallow surface layer, while the deeper Arctic boundary layer provides a continuous source of precursor alkanes to maintain the OVOC mixing ratios.

Evaporation losses and dispersion of volatile organic compounds from tank farms.

The present study is an application of a Gaussian dispersion model to evaluate volatilization losses from tank farms. It reports methodology to estimate evaporation losses of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from organic liquid in storage tanks. This study used fixed roof and floating roof equations for breathing and working losses. Total loss, the breathing loss, vapor pressure, molecular weight of the product, tank diameter, diurnal temperature, paint factor, tank capacity, and number of turnovers were considered and factored in the calculation. AERMOD and ALOHA softwares were used to simulate the dispersion of VOCs under normal and accidental scenarios. For the modeling purposes, meteorological data such as annual average ambient temperature, annual average atmospheric pressure, daily minimum ambient temperature, daily maximum ambient temperature, solar insulation factor, and average wind speed were included as input in the calculation and modeling activities. The study took place in Sharjah Emirate in United Arab Emirates, which borders Dubai to the south and Ajman to the north, and the three form a conurbation. The reported method was used to estimate evaporation losses for baseline and hypothetical leak scenarios. Results of this research show that liquid storage tanks in the study area emit a low concentration of VOC under the studied and assumed conditions, e.g., new tanks with high performance sealing as well as the noted earlier climatic conditions. The dispersion of those concentrations is controlled by the prevailing wind direction. The predicted VOCs concentrations were within the range of the measured VOCs values in air. The study found that the spatial distributions of the predicted concentration attenuate with time and distance. Under the reported accidental spill scenario, the Gaussian model indicates that the danger area starts within the zone of less than 10m. The danger area is subjected to flame pockets, and the VOC concentrations in this area will exceed 19,800ppm.

Preparation of standard VOC mixtures for climate monitoring

The growing need for global volatile organic compounds (VOC) data at trace level for industrial applications, domestic and working health, air quality and climate change is driving research towards the preparation of traceable and accurate standards for the VOC amount of substance fraction in gas phase.The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has implemented a worldwide VOC monitoring programme, named Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), which data quality objectives refer to an expanded uncertainty lower than 10% for VOC measurement at amount of substance fractions lower than 100 nmol∙mol−1.Currently, gaseous standard atmospheres are prepared in high pressure gas cylinders, but they do not fulfil GAW requirements of accuracy and stability at ppb level, especially for oxygenated VOCs. Dynamic methods are proposed as an alternative to provide a stable amount of substance fraction of the mixture over time. Diffusion rate, dilution and carrier air flow rates, purity of air, VOC losses due to wall-interactions and leakages were considered as influence quantities of the VOC amount of substance fraction dynamically prepared in gas phase by the diffusion method. The contribution of the VOC losses to standard mixtures uncertainty and their sampling procedure are under study and a solution has not yet been proposed.In this paper, a conservative quantification of VOC losses is proposed, discussed and applied to a case study: a single stage dynamic dilutor with an acetone generation. An uncertainty budget was prepared to calculate target uncertainty for VOC losses due to leakages and VOC–wall interactions on Teflon®, Pyrex® and stainless steel tubing. Teflon® showed negligible interaction effects when the pipe was clean and long term effects were not considered. Uncertainty was not negligible for glass and stainless steel for which more accurate analyses are necessary. A leakage test was developed to assure negligible leakage contribution to uncertainty.