French permanent survey on indoor air quality - microenvironmental concentrations of volatile organic compounds in 90 French dwellings

Séverine Kirchner (1, 1) , Olivier Ramalho (1, 1) , Stéphanie Gauvin (1, 1) , Franck Golliot (1, 1) , Anne Pennequin (2)

1 CSTB - Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment
2 Mines Douai EMD - École des Mines de Douai

Before starting a French nationwide survey, a pilot study was conducted in 2001 on 90 dwellings in three geographical areas (North, East and South of France). This survey included measurements on 40 priority indoor parameters (VOC, NO2, CO, CO2, bacteria, moulds, allergens, MMMF, temperature, humidity) and questionnaires on building characteristics, occupants' description and time activity diaries. The paper focuses on the chemical levels found in dwellings. Volatile organic compounds (30 compounds including formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, BTEX) were measured by passive samplers, during 7 days, in kitchen, bedroom and outdoor from selected homes. Indoor concentrations were low, with 40% of values under the quantification limit. The range of values was wide. The maximum indoor concentrations measured in the kitchen were 400 μg/m3 (alpha-pinene, o-xylene) and 293 μg/m3 (1,4- dichlorobenzène) in the bedroom. Formaldehyde was frequently found varying form 2 to 75 μg/m3. The outdoor concentrations were lower than indoor concentrations. Measurements in the kitchen and bedroom were significantly correlated.

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Séverine Kirchner, Olivier Ramalho, Stéphanie Gauvin, Franck Golliot, Anne Pennequin. French permanent survey on indoor air quality - microenvironmental concentrations of volatile organic compounds in 90 French dwellings. 7th International Conference, Healthy Buildings 2003, Dec 2003, Singapore, Singapore. pp.349-354. ⟨hal-00688515⟩