Abstract
The present study discusses the steps towards the development of an integrated IT system to perform risk assessment for the factor affecting human health in indoor environments. The system, termed as BEMES (BUMA Exposure Modelling Expert System) combines three different models to model circulation flow in closed spaces, model the behavior and fate of volatile pollutants and estimate population exposure. It is constructed within the frame of BUMA project to estimate to the impact of building materials as indoor pollutants. More specifically, the study is focused around VOCs (BTEX, terpenes, aldehydes and ketones) measurements at three high priority locations (schools) in the city of Kozani, Greece. Weekly indoor and outdoor VOC measurements were conducted using Radiello® passive samplers in each tested room and outdoors. Additionally data from the Field and Laboratory Emission Cell (FLEC) instrument were used to evaluate the contribution of building materials in the indoor concentration levels. The VOC concentration data show a considerable diversity due to the different indoor emission sources, ventilation rates and outdoor concentrations. Formaldehyde indoor levels range from 8.2 to 56.9 μg/m3 while benzene levels are high reaching: 18 μg/m3. Building material emissions seem to contribute mainly in the levels of formaldehyde indoors and clearly other sources exist.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bartzis JG, Michaelidou S, Kotzias D, Missia D, Michael C, Barrero- Moreno JM, Tolis E, Demetriou- Georgiou E, Dimitroulopoulou C, McLaughlin J, Carrer P, Ketrup A, Wolkoff P, Sfetsos A, Petaloti C, Andronopoulos S, Ganatsiou K. (2008) The BUMA (Prioritization of Building Materials as Indoor Pollution Sources) project: An Overview. 2008. The BUMA field campaigns. In: Proceedings of 11th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Indoor Air 2008, Copenhagen.
Baya MP, Bakeas EB, Siskos PA (2004) Volatile Organic Compounds in the Air of 25 Greek Homes. Indoor Built Environment 13: 53-61
Carrer P, Bruinen de Bruin Y, Franchi M, Valovitra E (2002) The EFA Project: indoor air quality in European schools. In: 8th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality,
Destaillats H, Maddalena RL, Singer BC, Hodson AT, McKone TE (2008) Indoor pollutants emitted by office equipment: A review of reported data and information needs. Atmospheric Environment 42: 1371-1388
European Commission (EC) (2000) Key data on education in Europe 1999/2000. Office For Official Publications of the European Communities, ISBN 92-828-8537-2
European Commission(EC) (2000) European Commission, DIRECTIVE 2000/69/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2000 relating to limit values for benzene and carbon monoxide in ambient air. Official Journal of the European Communities 13.12.2000.
Horn W, Jann O, Kasche J, Bitter F, Muller D, Muller B (2007) Environmental and Health Provisions for Building Products- Identification and evaluation of VOC emissions and odour exposure. Environmental Research of the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Dessau
IARC (2004) Overall evaluation of Carcinogenicity to Humans Formaldehyde [50-00-0]. Monographs Series 88, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
Kotzias D, Koistinen K, Kephalopoulos S, Schlitt C, Carrer C, Maroni M, Jantunen M, Cochet C, Kirchner S, Lindvall T, McLaughlin J, Mølhave L, de Oliveira Fernandes E, Seifert B (2005) The INDEX project: Critical appraisal of the setting and implementation of indoor exposure limits in the EU. (Final Report by Joint Research Centre, Italy)
Missia D, S. Michaelidou, E. Tolis, E. Demetriou-Georgiou, N. Michael, D. Saraga, C. Michael, J.M. Barrero- Moreno, D. Kotzias, J.G. Bartzis (2008) The BUMA Field campaigns: VOCs measurements. 11th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality, Copenhagen, Denmark
Gaca P, Dziewanowska- Pudliszak, Wroblewska H, Czajka M, Jozwiak M, Ciesiolka M (2008) Indoor air quality in Polish kindergardens. In: 11th International Conference in Indoor Air Quality, Copenhagen, Denmark
WHO (2001) World Health Organization, Air quality guidelines for Europe. WHO Regional Office for Europe
Wolkoff P, Wilkins CK, Clausen PA, Nielsen GD (2006) Organic Compounds in office environments – sensory irritation, odor, measurements and the role of reactive chemistry. Indoor Air 17(1): 7-19
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Missia, D.A. et al. (2009). Volatile Organic Compounds measurements at schools in Kozani, Greece. In: Athanasiadis, I.N., Rizzoli, A.E., Mitkas, P.A., Gómez, J.M. (eds) Information Technologies in Environmental Engineering. Environmental Science and Engineering(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-88351-7_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-88351-7_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-88350-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-88351-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)