Assessment of volatile organic compound removal by indoor plants-a novel experimental setup

TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessment of volatile organic compound removal by indoor plants-a novel experimental setup

AU - Dela Cruz, Majbrit

AU - Müller, Renate

AU - Svensmark, Bo

AU - Pedersen, Jakob Skov

AU - Christensen, Jan H.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Indoor plants can remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air. The majority of knowledge comes from laboratory studies where results cannot directly be transferred to real-life settings. The aim of this study was to develop an experimental test system to assess VOC removal by indoor plants which allows for an improved real-life simulation. Parameters such as relative humidity, air exchange rate and VOC concentration are controlled and can be varied to simulate different real-life settings. For example, toluene diffusion through a needle gave concentrations in the range of 0.10-2.35 μg/L with deviations from theoretical values of 3.2-10.5 %. Overall, the system proved to be functional for the assessment of VOC removal by indoor plants with Hedera helix reaching a toluene removal rate of up to 66.5 μg/m2/h. The mode of toluene exposure (semi-dynamic or dynamic) had a significant influence on the removal rate obtained by H. helix.

AB - Indoor plants can remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air. The majority of knowledge comes from laboratory studies where results cannot directly be transferred to real-life settings. The aim of this study was to develop an experimental test system to assess VOC removal by indoor plants which allows for an improved real-life simulation. Parameters such as relative humidity, air exchange rate and VOC concentration are controlled and can be varied to simulate different real-life settings. For example, toluene diffusion through a needle gave concentrations in the range of 0.10-2.35 μg/L with deviations from theoretical values of 3.2-10.5 %. Overall, the system proved to be functional for the assessment of VOC removal by indoor plants with Hedera helix reaching a toluene removal rate of up to 66.5 μg/m2/h. The mode of toluene exposure (semi-dynamic or dynamic) had a significant influence on the removal rate obtained by H. helix.

KW - Dynamic- and semi-dynamic conditions

KW - Hedera helix

KW - Indoor air quality

KW - Removal rate

KW - Toluene

KW - VOC

U2 - 10.1007/s11356-014-2695-0

DO - 10.1007/s11356-014-2695-0

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 24638833

AN - SCOPUS:84902543270

SN - 0944-1344

VL - 21

SP - 7838

EP - 7846

JO - Environmental Science and Pollution Research

JF - Environmental Science and Pollution Research

IS - 13

ER -