| Title: | Human respiratory system as sink for volatile organic compounds: Evidence from field measurements |
| Address: | "Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1600-0668 (Electronic) 0905-6947 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Human exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) via inhalation might increase the risk of specific diseases. Human breath has been widely investigated as a source of VOCs. However, the role of the human respiratory system as a sink for VOCs is much less studied. In this observational study, the VOC concentrations in inhaled and exhaled air in different environmental conditions were investigated. A total of 98 healthy non-smoking subjects who were exposed to a wide variation in levels of VOCs participated in this study. Individual and statistical results show that human breath could serve as a source for some VOCs and a sink for others, and even when human breath serves as a sink, not all VOCs were 100% absorbed. Interestingly, an increase in inhaled concentrations of toluene was observed to convert human breath from being a source to being a sink. Attention could be given to those VOCs for which humans act as a strong sink" |
| Keywords: | Adolescent Adult Aged Air Pollutants/*analysis Breath Tests Exhalation Female Healthy Volunteers Humans Inhalation Inhalation Exposure/*analysis Male Middle Aged Respiratory Physiological Phenomena Respiratory System/*chemistry Toluene/analysis Volatile O; |
| Notes: | "MedlineHe, Junzhou Sun, Xiao Yang, Xudong eng Observational Study Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2019/08/30 Indoor Air. 2019 Nov; 29(6):968-978. doi: 10.1111/ina.12602. Epub 2019 Sep 20" |
