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Li J, Link MF, Pandit S, Webb MH, Mayer KJ, Garofalo LA, Rediger KL, Poppendieck DG, Zimmerman SM, Vance ME, Grassian VH, Morrison GC, Turpin BJ, Farmer DK. The persistence of smoke VOCs indoors: Partitioning, surface cleaning, and air cleaning in a smoke-contaminated house. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadh8263. [PMID: 37831770 PMCID: PMC10575580 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh8263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023]
Abstract
Wildfires are increasing in frequency, raising concerns that smoke can permeate indoor environments and expose people to chemical air contaminants. To study smoke transformations in indoor environments and evaluate mitigation strategies, we added smoke to a test house. Many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) persisted days following the smoke injection, providing a longer-term exposure pathway for humans. Two time scales control smoke VOC partitioning: a faster one (1.0 to 5.2 hours) that describes the time to reach equilibrium between adsorption and desorption processes and a slower one (4.8 to 21.2 hours) that describes the time for indoor ventilation to overtake adsorption-desorption equilibria in controlling the air concentration. These rates imply that vapor pressure controls partitioning behavior and that house ventilation plays a minor role in removing smoke VOCs. However, surface cleaning activities (vacuuming, mopping, and dusting) physically removed surface reservoirs and thus reduced indoor smoke VOC concentrations more effectively than portable air cleaners and more persistently than window opening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jienan Li
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Michael F. Link
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
| | - Shubhrangshu Pandit
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Marc H. Webb
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Kathryn J. Mayer
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Lauren A. Garofalo
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Katelyn L. Rediger
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | | | | | - Marina E. Vance
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Vicki H. Grassian
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Glenn C. Morrison
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Barbara J. Turpin
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Delphine K. Farmer
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
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