scholarly journals Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) as Environmental Pollutants: Occurrence and Mitigation Using Nanomaterials

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (24) ◽  
pp. 13147
Author(s):  
Elena David ◽  
Violeta-Carolina Niculescu
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Volatile Organic Compounds ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Environmental Pollutants ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
As Adsorption ◽  
Indoor And Outdoor

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) comprise various organic chemicals which are released as gases from different liquids or solids. The nature and impact of the health effects are dependent on the VOCs concentrations and, also, on the exposure time. VOCs are present in different household, industrial or commercial and products, but their accumulation in air and water has primarily gained attention. Among VOCs, trichloroethylene and vinyl chloride are the most toxic and carcinogenic compounds. In order to improve the indoor air and water quality, VOCs can be removed via efficient approaches involving nanomaterials, by using techniques such as adsorption, catalysis or photocatalysis. In the recent years, the development of manufacturing procedures, characterization techniques and testing processes has resulted in the growth of nanomaterials obtaining and applications, creating great possibilities and also a tremendous provocation in applying them for highly efficient VOCs removal. This review is intended to contribute to the improvement of awareness and knowledge on the great potential that nanomaterials have in VOCs removal, in order a to improve indoor and outdoor environment, but also the worldwide water sources.

scholarly journals A Review on Catalytic Nanomaterials for Volatile Organic Compounds VOC Removal and Their Applications for Healthy Buildings

Nanomaterials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwok Wei Shah ◽  
Wenxin Li
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Volatile Organic Compounds ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Voc Removal ◽  
Metallic Oxides ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Indoor And Outdoor

In order to improve the indoor air quality, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be removed via an efficient approach by using catalysts. This review proposed a comprehensive summary of various nanomaterials for thermal/photo-catalytic removal of VOCs. These representative materials are mainly categorized as carbon-based and metallic oxides materials, and their morphologies, synthesis techniques, and performances have been explained in detail. To improve the indoor and outdoor air quality, the catalytic nanomaterials can be utilized for emerging building applications such as VOC-reduction coatings, paints, air filters, and construction materials. Due to the characteristics of low cost, non-toxic and high chemical stability, metallic oxides such as TiO2 and ZnO have been widely investigated for decades and dominate the application market of VOC-removal catalyst in buildings. Since other catalysts also showed brilliant performance and have been theoretically researched, they can be potential candidates for applications in future healthy buildings. This review will contribute to further knowledge and greater potential applications of promising VOC-reducing catalytic nanomaterials on healthier buildings for a better indoor and outdoor environment well-being.

scholarly journals Rats Sniff off Toxic Air

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haoxuan Chen ◽  
Xinyue Li ◽  
Maosheng Yao
Keyword(s):  
Volatile Organic Compounds ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Carbon Disulfide ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Online Monitoring ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Blood Samples ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Human Need

AbstractBreathing air is a fundamental human need, yet its safety, when challenged by various harmful or lethal substances, is often not properly guarded. For example, air toxicity is currently monitored only for single or limited number of known toxicants, thus failing to fully warn against possible hazardous air. Here, we discovered that within minutes living rats emitted distinctive profiles of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) via breath when exposed to various airborne toxicants such as endotoxin, O3, ricin, and CO2. Compared to background indoor air, when exposed to ricin or endotoxin aerosols breath-borne VOC levels, especially that of carbon disulfide, were shown to decrease; while their elevated levels were observed for O3 and CO2 exposures. A clear contrast in breath-borne VOCs profiles of rats between different toxicant exposures was observed with a statistical significance. Differences in MicroRNA regulations such as miR-33, miR-146a and miR-155 from rats’ blood samples revealed different mechanisms used by the rats in combating different air toxicant challenges. Similar to dogs, rats were found here to be able to sniff against toxic air by releasing a specific breath-borne VOC profile. The discovered science opens a new arena for online monitoring air toxicity and health effects of pollutants.TOC

scholarly journals Assessment of residential exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 726-732
Keyword(s):  
Volatile Organic Compounds ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Indoor Air Pollution ◽  
Consumer Products ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Residential Exposure ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Potential Sources

There is increasing concern about indoor air pollution worldwide due to its adverse health effects. One of the predominant indoor air pollutant groups is assumed to be volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including a variety of hydrocarbons with different functional groups. Among VOCs, some species have carcinogenic effects, and some are widely used in many consumer products. CO2 is assumed to be an indicator of ventilation adequacy. Thus, elevated indoor CO2 levels are linked with the discomfort level of occupants. Residential exposure to VOCs and CO2 in 6 different homes located in 3 different towns in Canakkale, Turkey were assessed for about a year. Also, a home inventory was used to identify the potential sources of VOCs and CO2 as well as environmental concerns of the occupants. The highest levels of indoor CO2, total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), benzene, toluene, and xylenes were found at industrial sampling sites. A connection between aspects of the outdoor environment (i.e. availability of potential sources) and residential exposure to air pollutants was found. Also, some activities (e.g. heating fuel type, house cleaning frequency, etc.) and factors (e.g. characteristics of the outdoor environment) influenced residential exposure to VOCs and CO2.

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