Temperature driven variations in VOC emissions from plastic products and their fate indoors: a chamber experiment and modelling study

Beel, Georgia; Langford, Ben ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6968-5197; Carslaw, Nicola; Shaw, David; Cowan, Nicholas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7473-7916. 2023 Temperature driven variations in VOC emissions from plastic products and their fate indoors: a chamber experiment and modelling study. Science of The Total Environment, 881, 163497. 10, pp. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163497

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163497

Abstract/Summary

Plastic products are ubiquitous in our homes, but we know very little about emissions from these products and their subsequent impact on indoor air quality. This is the first study to systematically determine temperature-dependent emissions of volatile organic compounds from commonly used plastic consumer products found in the home. The plastic types included high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS) and polyester rubber. Plastic samples were exposed to increasing temperatures (between 18 and 28 °C) in controlled environmental chambers, connected to a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass-spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS), where real-time emissions were detected. Average emission rates were determined and used to initialise an indoor air chemistry model (INCHEM-Py) at the highest and lowest experimental temperatures, to explore the impact these product emissions have on the indoor air chemistry. The PS tubing plastic proved to be the highest emitting polymer per surface area. Almost all selected VOC emissions were found to have a linear relationship with temperature. Upon observing the impacts of primary VOC emissions from plastics in modelled simulations, the hydroxyl radical concentration decreased by an average of 1.6 and 10 % relative to the baseline (with no plastics included) at 18 °C and 28 °C respectively. On the other hand, formaldehyde concentrations increased by 29 and 31.6 % relative to the baseline conditions at 18 °C and 28 °C respectively. The presence of plastic products indoors, therefore, has the potential to impact the indoor air quality.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163497
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Atmospheric Chemistry and Effects (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0048-9697
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	polymers, indoor air quality, VOCS, thermal, plastic emissions indoors
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	07 Nov 2023 12:52 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/535578

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163497

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Atmospheric Chemistry and Effects (Science Area 2017-)

ISSN:

0048-9697

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

polymers, indoor air quality, VOCS, thermal, plastic emissions indoors