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| Sources and health risk assessment of aromatic hydrocarbons in the indoor of Guangzhou hotels |
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Abstract With stainless-steel canisters, indoor air samples were taken from guestrooms of 20 different hotels in Guangzhou. The aromatic hydrocarbons (AHs) levels of these samples were later analyzed by a gas chromatography-mass selective detector (GC-MSD) coupled with a pre-concentrator. Total concentrations of eight AHs, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, m/p-xylene, styrene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, averaged 273.1 μg/m3 and ranged 2.3~1058μg/m3. Average levels of Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes in rooms of the 20 hotels were 22.9, 151.6, 46.4 and 60.5μg/m3, respectively. Average benzene levels ranged 0.7~72.2μg/m3, all below the guideline level set in China’s Indoor Air Quality Standard (GB/T 18883-2002). However, its cancer risks for hotel room-keeping workers and frequent dwellers were higher than 1′10-6. Average toluene levels ranged 1.4~841μg/m3, with 24% exceeding the GB/T 18883-2002 guideline level. No significant relationships were found between indoor AHs levels and hotels’ star ranks or time intervals after its latest decorations. Some most recently renovated hotels had relatively lower AHs levels probably due to the usage of environment friendly materials and products. As for the hotels the highest indoor AHs levels, focused on those had the last decoration occurred 2~5 years ago, and in the meantime reflected a rather low benzene to toluene ratios (B/T), suggesting that indoor emission as the major AHs source. Though outdoor air quality can impact indoor AHs levels in hotels via ventilation, our results indicated that the most important factor to lower indoor AHs levels of the hotel guestrooms was to use environment friendly materials and products for the decoration or renovation.
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Received: 29 August 2011
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