Real-time laboratory measurements of VOC emissions, removal rates, and byproduct formation from consumer-grade oxidation-based air purifiers.

Environ. science. technology. Lett. 2021, XXXX , XXXX , XXX-XXX

Publication date: October 27, 2021

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00773

Commentary

Although levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the indoor environment can reportedly be reduced by the use of "air purifiers," their effectiveness in removing VOCs tends to be less constrained, as is the formation of oxidation byproducts.

This study examines the effects of several oxidation-based air cleaners, some marketed as consumer products, on the amount and composition of VOCs.

The experiment was conducted in an environmental chamber equipped with a series of real-time analytical instruments to measure direct emissions, VOC removal efficiency (by adding either limonene or toluene), and by-product formation.

The results of this experiment showed that air cleaners themselves can be a source of organic gases, and that their removal effectiveness can be highly variable; VOC losses are primarily caused by physical removal in some cleaners, and where oxidative degradation of VOCs is observed, formaldehyde and other It was observed to be accompanied by the formation of a series of oxidation by-products, including oxygenates.

These results indicate that some consumer air cleaners may be ineffective in removing VOCs and that the air supplied may contain a variety of organic compounds due to the formation of these by-products.