The impact of plug-in fragrance diffusers on residential indoor VOC concentrations

TY - JOUR

T1 - The impact of plug-in fragrance diffusers on residential indoor VOC concentrations

AU - Warburton, Thomas

AU - Grange, Stuart K.

AU - Hopkins, James R.

AU - Andrews, Stephen J.

AU - Lewis, Alastair C.

AU - Owen, Neil

AU - Jordan, Caroline

AU - Adamson, Greg

AU - Xia, Bin

N1 - Funding Information: Funding for this research was provided by Givaudan UK Ltd and Bath & Body Works Inc. ACL, JRH and SJA receive support from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science National Capability research programme, via funding provided by the Natural Environment Research Council. TW's PhD studentship is part supported by UKRI grant number NE/W002256/1. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

PY - 2023/3/8

Y1 - 2023/3/8

N2 - Plug-in fragrance diffusers are one of myriad volatile organic compound-containing consumer products that are commonly found in homes. The perturbing effects of using a commercial diffuser indoors were evaluated using a study group of 60 homes in Ashford, UK. Air samples were taken over 3 day periods with the diffuser switched on and in a parallel set of control homes where it was off. At least four measurements were taken in each home using vacuum-release into 6 L silica-coated canisters and with >40 VOCs quantified using gas chromatography with FID and MS (GC-FID-QMS). Occupants self-reported their use of other VOC-containing products. The variability between homes was very high with the 72 hour sum of all measured VOCs ranging between 30 and >5000 μg m−3, dominated by n/i-butane, propane, and ethanol. For those homes in the lowest quartile of air exchange rate (identified using CO2 and TVOC sensors as proxies) the use of a diffuser led to a statistically significant increase (p-value < 0.02) in the summed concentration of detectable fragrance VOCs and some individual species, e.g. alpha pinene rising from a median of 9 μg m−3 to 15 μg m−3 (p-value < 0.02). The observed increments were broadly in line with model-calculated estimates based on fragrance weight loss, room sizes and air exchange rates.

AB - Plug-in fragrance diffusers are one of myriad volatile organic compound-containing consumer products that are commonly found in homes. The perturbing effects of using a commercial diffuser indoors were evaluated using a study group of 60 homes in Ashford, UK. Air samples were taken over 3 day periods with the diffuser switched on and in a parallel set of control homes where it was off. At least four measurements were taken in each home using vacuum-release into 6 L silica-coated canisters and with >40 VOCs quantified using gas chromatography with FID and MS (GC-FID-QMS). Occupants self-reported their use of other VOC-containing products. The variability between homes was very high with the 72 hour sum of all measured VOCs ranging between 30 and >5000 μg m−3, dominated by n/i-butane, propane, and ethanol. For those homes in the lowest quartile of air exchange rate (identified using CO2 and TVOC sensors as proxies) the use of a diffuser led to a statistically significant increase (p-value < 0.02) in the summed concentration of detectable fragrance VOCs and some individual species, e.g. alpha pinene rising from a median of 9 μg m−3 to 15 μg m−3 (p-value < 0.02). The observed increments were broadly in line with model-calculated estimates based on fragrance weight loss, room sizes and air exchange rates.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150024521&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1039/d2em00444e

DO - 10.1039/d2em00444e

M3 - Article

C2 - 36883522

AN - SCOPUS:85150024521

SN - 2050-7887

JO - Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts

JF - Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts

ER -