Secondary air pollution can be caused by aerosol formation through reactions of ozone and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from household products used in the indoor environment. In this study, we investigated the potential for aerosol production during the reactions of ozone and VOCs emitted from a home insecticide, a popular commercial product extracted from natural ingredients, in a 1-m³ reaction chamber. The major chemical component of the test product was prallethrin, which has very high efficacy of mosquito and housefly elimination. Toluene, α-pinene, cymene, d-limonene, α-terpinene, and α-thujone were also identified as constituents of the insecticide. Injected ozone concentrations of 50, 100, and 200 ppb generated particle mass concentrations, corrected for wall loss and air exchange loss, of 7.3, 33.1, and 40.0 μg/m³, respectively, after a 4-h reaction time. These concentrations are lower than those generated by an air freshener in a previous study under the same experimental conditions. It was concluded that the home insecticide tested had the potential to initiate secondary aerosol formation under ozone exposure due to the biogenic VOCs it contained.

This study was to assess the lifetime cancer and non-cancer risk of exposure of worker and user at public facilities in Korea to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). We measured the concentrations of two aldehydes and five VOCs in indoor air at 424 public buildings that 8 kinds of public facilities (70 movie theaters, 86 offices, 86 restaurants, 70 academies, 22 auditoriums, 30 PC-rooms, 30 singing-rooms and 30 bars) all over the country. There were estimated the human exposure dose and risks with averages of the using-time and frequency for facility users and office workers, respectively. Carcinogens (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and benzene) were estimated the lifetime excess cancer risks (ECRs). non-carcinogens (toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and styrene) were estimated the hazard quotients (HQs). The average ECRs of formaldehyde and benzene for facility worker and user were 1×10-3~1×10-4 and 1×10-4~1×10-5 level, respectively, in all facilities. HQs of four non-carcinogens did not exceed 1.0 for all subjects in all facilities. The estimated ECRs for restaurant and auditorium were the highest, and the PC-room and bar were the next higher facilities. Furthermore, people in a smoking facility had the highest cancer risk. Higher ECRs of formaldehyde and benzene were observed in indoor smoking facilities such as restaurant and auditorium. Higher HQs of toluene and xylene were observed at the restaurant and office building.