Aikaterini Maria Zarogianni, Glykeria Loupa , Spyridon Rapsomanikis


Laboratory of Atmospheric Pollution and of Control Engineering of Atmospheric Pollutants, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 67100 Xanthi, Greece



Received: August 13, 2017
Revised: December 13, 2017
Accepted: March 7, 2018
Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2017.08.0270  


Cite this article:
Zarogianni, A.M., Loupa, G. and Rapsomanikis, S. (2018). Fragrances and Aerosol during Office Cleaning. Aerosol Air Qual. Res. 18: 1162-1167. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2017.08.0270


HIGHLIGHTS

  • Common cleaning activities in an office result in an unclean indoor air.
  • Scented products release fragrances that can remain in the air for hours.
  • Mopping the floor and cleaning of the windows increase indoor aerosol levels.

ABSTRACT


Fragrance compounds emitted during and after the use of cleaning products in an office were monitored. Mopping the floor with a general purpose cleaner and a domestic bleach and cleaning the windows with an aerosol glass cleaner, as well as a combination of these cleaning activities, were carried out. The following compounds were found in detectable amounts: d-limonene, α-pinene, α-terpineol, 2-butoxyethanol, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, eucalyptol, tetrahydrolinalool and diphenyl ether.

Along with the fragrances, the number concentrations of airborne particles with an aerodynamic diameter range between 0.2 µm and 10 µm were monitored continuously. Cleaning affected the number concentrations of all particle sizes, but particles with an aerodynamic diameter above 0.4 µm were the most affected. The largest increase above background concentrations was observed during mopping the floor with a solution of general purpose cleaner in combination with cleaning the windows with a glass-cleaning spray. In this case, for particles larger than 0.4 µm, indoor number concentrations were 19 times larger than the background concentrations. Conversely, for particles below 0.4 µm, number concentrations increased only 4 times above the background concentrations during the same event. Auxiliary measurements included carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and the indoor micro-climatic conditions (air velocity, light intensity, temperature and relative humidity).


Keywords: Household cleaning products; Mopping; Window cleaning; Terpenes; Particles.

 



Share this article with your colleagues 

 

Subscribe to our Newsletter 

Aerosol and Air Quality Research has published over 2,000 peer-reviewed articles. Enter your email address to receive latest updates and research articles to your inbox every second week.

7.3
2022CiteScore
 
 
77st percentile
Powered by
Scopus
 
   SCImago Journal & Country Rank

2022 Impact Factor: 4.0
5-Year Impact Factor: 3.4

The Future Environment and Role of Multiple Air Pollutants

Aerosol and Air Quality Research partners with Publons

CLOCKSS system has permission to ingest, preserve, and serve this Archival Unit
CLOCKSS system has permission to ingest, preserve, and serve this Archival Unit

Aerosol and Air Quality Research (AAQR) is an independently-run non-profit journal that promotes submissions of high-quality research and strives to be one of the leading aerosol and air quality open-access journals in the world. We use cookies on this website to personalize content to improve your user experience and analyze our traffic. By using this site you agree to its use of cookies.