Human emissions and indoor surface chemistry: underlying factors, exposure and control

In the past decades, building materials, interior furnishing, human activities and outdoor air have been considered major sources of indoor air pollutants.

Recently it has become increasingly evident that emissions from human occupants significantly contribute to indoor air contaminants.

Chemical compounds present in skin oils adsorb to indoor surfaces and undergo chemical transformations initiated by oxidants such as ozone.

Reaction products of such indoor surface chemistry are highly oxygenated compounds, some of them being sensory irritants.

A large knowledge gap exists in the nature, effect and control of occupant-related surface chemistry.We will study the soiling processes on indoor surfaces following human emissions and the associated exposure to the oxygenated products of the surface/ozone interactions.

The investigation will focus on indoor surface chemistry during static and dynamic human occupancy in a climate chamber and in a realistic indoor environment.

We will characterize the effects of temperature, relative humidity and ventilation interventions on the extent of surface soiling, oxidizing potential of the indoor air and the concentrations of the reaction products.The results are expected to lead to increased understanding of the role humans play in indoor chemistry.

They will help indoor modeling communities to improve existing models and enable to extend the implications of the results obtained in this project to other indoor environments.