Characteristics of indoor aerosols in college laboratories

Abstract

This study was conducted in National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST), in Taiwan. The main objective was to provide quantitative information on concentrations of the indoor and outdoor PMs, as well as watersoluble ions, at seven selected locations and the spatial variations in four different types of typical laboratories. They include Type I: General Chemistry Laboratories (GCL); Type II: WCLTP during a semester and a summer vacation in college; Type III: Environmental Research Laboratories; and Type IV: Soil Research Laboratories and Field in NPUST. In addition, this paper also investigates the characteristics of indoor aerosols in college laboratories. Indoor and outdoor particulate matters with aerodynamic diameters of less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and 10 μm (PM10) were sampled from June to September in 2002. The acid and base gases in outdoor samples and the amount of eight particle-bound water-soluble ions (NO3-, SO42-, Cl-, NH4+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+) were also determined. The results for laboratories Types I and II revealed that the mean PM2.5concentrations indoors in GCL (during a semester) and WCLTP (during a summer vacation) exceeded the air quality guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) of 20 μg/m3for PM2.5. The results also showed that the indoor concentrations of PM2.5and PM10in GCL increased by 4.9 and 1.7 times, respectively, during a semester as compared to the indoor measured data during a summer vacation. Students' laboratory activities in colleges thus deserve more attention, because these cause significant increases in the PM emissions. Copyright © Taiwan Association for Aerosol Research.