Ozone reaction with clothing and its initiated particle generation in an environmental chamber

Aakash C. Rai, Bing Guo, Chao Hsin Lin, Jianshun Zhang, Jingjing Pei, Qingyan Chen

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

44 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Ozone-initiated chemistry in indoor air can produce sub-micron particles, which are potentially harmful for human health. Occupants in indoor spaces constitute potential sites for particle generation through ozone reactions with human skin and clothing. This investigation conducted chamber experiments to examine particle generation from ozone reactions with clothing (a T-shirt) under different indoor conditions. We studied the effect of various factors such as ozone concentration, relative humidity, soiling levels of T-shirt with human skin oils, and air change rate on particle generation. The results showed that ozone reactions with the T-shirt generated sub-micron particles, which were enhanced by the soiling of the T-shirt with human skin oils. In these reactions, a burst of ultrafine particles was observed about one hour after ozone injection, and then the particles grew to larger sizes. The particle generation from the ozone reactions with the soiled T-shirt was significantly affected by the different factors studied and these reactions were identified as another potential source for indoor ultrafine particles.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)885-892
Number of pages8
JournalAtmospheric Environment
Volume77
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2013

Keywords

  • Air quality
  • Buildings
  • Environmental factors
  • Ozone
  • Particles

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Environmental Science
  • Atmospheric Science

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