Acetaldehyde Removal from Indoor Air through Chemical Absorption Using L-Cysteine

Kyoko Yamashita, Miyuki Noguchi, Atsushi Mizukoshi and Yukio Yanagisawa
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Kyoko Yamashita: Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
Miyuki Noguchi: Department of Environment Systems, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa-no-ha 5-1-5, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba 277-8563, Japan
Atsushi Mizukoshi: Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute, Nishigaoka 3-13-10, Kita-ku, Tokyo 115-8586, Japan
Yukio Yanagisawa: Department of Environment Systems, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa-no-ha 5-1-5, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba 277-8563, Japan

IJERPH, 2010, vol. 7, issue 9, 1-10

Abstract: The irreversible removal of acetaldehyde from indoor air via a chemical reaction with amino acids was investigated. To compare effectiveness, five types of amino acid (glycine, L-lysine, L-methionine, L-cysteine, and L-cystine) were used as the reactants. First, acetaldehyde-laden air was introduced into aqueous solutions of each amino acid and the removal abilities were compared. Among the five amino acids, L-cysteine solution showed much higher removal efficiency, while the other amino acids solutions didn’t show any significant differences from the removal efficiency of water used as a control. Next, as a test of the removal abilities of acetaldehyde by semi-solid L-cysteine, a gel containing L-cysteine solution was put in a fluororesin bag filled with acetaldehyde gas, and the change of acetaldehyde concentration was measured. The L-cysteine-containing gel removed 80% of the acetaldehyde in the air within 24 hours. The removal ability likely depended on the unique reaction whereby acetaldehyde and L-cysteine rapidly produce 2-methylthiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid. These results suggested that the reaction between acetaldehyde and L-cysteine has possibilities for irreversibly removing toxic acetaldehyde from indoor air.

Keywords: acetaldehyde; irreversibly removal; L-cysteine; bubbling method; L-cysteine-containing gel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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