ANALYSIS OF VOCs IN THE INDOOR ENVIRONMENT

Volatile organic compounds have been studied over recent years in many countries.
However, construction processes, building materials, building types and the
methods used for the collection and analysis of VOCs vary from one country to
another. At the same time constant technical and scientific progress has brought
new materials that can emit completely different VOCs than older materials.
Building materials represent significant source of organic compounds’ emissions
and we are in direct contact with these compounds at work, school or home every
day. Short-term or long-term exposure to these substances can bring many health
problems. Therefore, this study is focused to determine the current state of occurrence
and concentrations level of VOCs. The studied building is located in eastern
Slovakia. The results were compared with the guide values of other countries, because
there are no guideline values for TVOC concentrations and limits are set
only for a small amount of VOCs in Slovakia. The results from this study demonstrated
that flooring installation together with painting caused the highest contribution
to the TVOC levels in the indoor air of studied apartment. On the other
hand, high levels of TVOC were not found after furnishing.

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