A weighted sum parameter to simplify discussion on aldehyde exposure

Roman Meininghaus (1) , Emmanuelle Bastin (2) , Norbert Gonzalez-Flesca (1) , André Cicolella (1)

1 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
2 AIRLOR

In the present work, the personal exposure of a French urban population to several aldehydes is assessed. For this purpose, a weighted sum parameter is used which takes into account the differences in sensory irritation of aldehydes. The personal exposure of 17 volunteers was assessed with personal passive samplers during one week. Simultaneously, aldehyde concentrations were determined in different microenvironments. The results show that formaldehyde is the most important sensory irritant of the aldehydes included in this study, due to a particularly high sensory irritation and because it is a ubiquitous compound found at high concentrations. Personal exposure is strongly linked to indoor exposure (homes and offices). By using a weighted sum parameter, the discussion of large data sets is considerably simplified. This sum parameter could be easily extended to other strong sensory irritants, leading to a weighted TVOC value for sensory irritation.

Keywords: MICROENVIRONMENT; ALDEHYDE; PERSONAL EXPOSURE; MICROENVIRONMENT.

Domains: Environmental Sciences

Roman Meininghaus, Emmanuelle Bastin, Norbert Gonzalez-Flesca, André Cicolella. A weighted sum parameter to simplify discussion on aldehyde exposure. 9. International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Jun 2002, Monterey, United States. ⟨ineris-00972368⟩