These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Comparison of outdoor and indoor mobile source-related volatile organic compounds between low- and high-floor apartments.
    Author: Jo WK, Kim KY, Park KH, Kim YK, Lee HW, Park JK.
    Journal: Environ Res; 2003 Jun; 92(2):166-71. PubMed ID: 12854697.
    Abstract:
    The current study examined the hypothesis that there may be vertical variation in mobile source-related volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations in high-rise apartment buildings. One hundred twelve homes in 56 high-rise apartment buildings with 10 or more stories participated in the study. Both the outdoor and the indoor air concentrations of three VOCs [methyl-tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), benzene, and toluene] were significantly higher for the low-floor apartments than for the high-floor apartments (P < 0.05). The median outdoor concentrations were 5.4, 6.8, and 29.1 microgram/m3, respectively, for the low-floor apartments, yet 4.4, 4.3, and 21.9 microgram/m3, respectively, for the high-floor apartments. Meanwhile, the median indoor concentrations were 6.3, 9.4, and 44.8 microgram/m3, respectively, for the low-floor apartments, yet 5.1, 7.6, and 38.8 microgram/m3, respectively, for the high-floor apartments. These findings indicate that residents of low-floor apartments are exposed to elevated residential levels of mobile source-related VOCs compared to high-floor apartment residents. The indoor concentrations of the target VOCs, except for MTBE, were significantly higher than the outdoor air concentrations for both the low and high floors (P < 0.05). Plus, the outdoor and indoor VOC concentrations were significantly different between the daytime and nighttime data sets for both low- and high-floor apartments, with a P value of less than or close to 0.05.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]