Volatile Organic Compounds in Finnish Office Environments in 2010–2019 and Their Relevance to Adverse Health Effects

Kaisa Wallenius, Hanna Hovi, Jouko Remes, Selma Mahiout and Tuula Liukkonen
Additional contact information
Kaisa Wallenius: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, P.O. Box 40, FI-00032 Työterveyslaitos, Finland
Hanna Hovi: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, P.O. Box 40, FI-00032 Työterveyslaitos, Finland
Jouko Remes: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, P.O. Box 40, FI-00032 Työterveyslaitos, Finland
Selma Mahiout: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, P.O. Box 40, FI-00032 Työterveyslaitos, Finland
Tuula Liukkonen: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, P.O. Box 40, FI-00032 Työterveyslaitos, Finland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-26

Abstract: We gathered recent (2010–2019) data on the VOC and formaldehyde levels in Finnish non-industrial indoor work environments. The data comprised 9789 VOC and 1711 formaldehyde samples collected from the indoor air of offices, schools, kindergartens, and healthcare offices. We assessed the health risks by comparing the measured concentrations to the health-based RW I/II and EU-LCI reference values. The concentrations of individual VOCs and formaldehyde in these work environments were generally very low and posed no health risks. Total VOC concentration (TVOC) as well as concentrations of several individual compounds, including aromatic compounds, alkanes, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, and formaldehyde, showed clearly decreasing trends. In contrast, several aldehydes, acids, and a few other compounds showed increasing trends. However, the increasing trends did not seem to affect the higher ends of the distributions, as the 95th percentile values remained fairly stable or decreased over the years. The VOC patterns in the environments of the offices, schools, kindergartens, and healthcare offices varied, probably reflecting the differences in typical activities and the use of materials. However, we do not expect these differences to be relevant to health outcomes.

Keywords: indoor air quality; VOC; formaldehyde; office; health risk; trend (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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