Research Of Affection Of Cleaning Behavior And Chemical Reaction Induced By Cleaning Behavior On Indoor Air Quality

When cleaning products and air fresheners are used indoors, occupants areexposed to airborne chemicals, potentially leading to health risks. Indoor airpollutant exposures owing to cleaning product and air freshener use depend onemissions from products, dynamic behavior of chemical species, and human factors.Dynamic behavior includes indoor air ventilation, mixing of air and chemicalreaction. A series of experiments was conducted to investigate volatile organiccompound emissions, concentrations, and reactive chemistry associated with thehousehold use of cleaning products and air fresheners. Research focused on twocommon classes of ingredients in cleaning products and air fresheners:ethylene-based glycol ethers, which are classified as toxic air contaminants, andterpenes, which react rapidly with ozone.A shelf survey of retail outlets led to the selection of 21 products whosechemical composition was characterized. Among the criteria used to select theseproducts were ready availability through retail outlets and, for the majority ofproducts, expectation that they contained ethylene-based glycol ethers, terpenes andrelated compounds, or both. of the 17 cleaning products characterized, fourcontained substantial levels of d-limonene (4-25% by mass), three containedterpenoids that are characteristic of pine oil, six contained substantial levels ofethylene-based glycol ethers (0.8-10% by mass), and five contained less than 0.2%of any of the target analytes. Xylene in one product was the only other toxic aircontaminant detected. Among the four air fresheners characterized, three containedsubstantial quantities (9-14% by mass) of terpene hydrocarbon and terpene alcoholconstituents, with linalool being the most abundant.Six of the 21 products were investigated in simulated-use experiments in whichemissions and concentrations of primary constituents were measured. Cleaningproducts that contain 2-butoxyethanol as an active ingredient producedone-hour-average concentrations of 300 to 2300μg/m~3 immediately after simulatedtypical use in a room-sized chamber. For cleaning products that contain d-limoneneas an active ingredient, corresponding levels were 1000 to 6000μg/m~3. Applicationof a pine-oil based cleaner produced one-hour-average concentrations of 10-1300μg/m~3 for terpene hydrocarbons and terpene alcohols.Reactive chemistry was studied by exposing constituents of three products to ozone, both in a bench-scale chamber and during simulated use. Prominent productsof the reaction of terpenes with ozone included formaldehyde, hydroxyl radical, andsecondary organic aerosol.Incorporating the new experimental data, exposures were estimated for severalsimulated use scenarios. Under ordinary circumstances, exposures to2-butoxyethanol, formaldehyde, and secondary organic aerosol are not expected tobe as high as guideline values solely as a result of cleaning product or air fresheneruse. However, ordinary use could lead to exposure levels of similar magnitude asguideline values. Scenario model results suggest that exposure levels could exceedguideline values under exceptional yet plausible conditions, such as cleaning a largesurface area in a small room. The results of this study provide important informationfor understanding the inhalation exposures to certain air pollutants that can resultfrom the use of common household products, and affect indoor air quality.