Organic compounds in office environments - sensory irritation, odor, measurements and the role of reactive chemistry
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Abstract Sensory irritation and odor effects of organic compounds in indoor environments are reviewed. It is proposed to subdivide volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into four categories: (i) chemically non-reactive, (ii) chemically 'reactive', (iii) biologically reactive (i.e. form chemical bonds to receptor sites in mucous membranes) and (iv) toxic compounds. Chemically non-reactive VOCs are considered non-irritants at typical indoor air levels. However, compounds with low odor thresholds contribute to the overall perception of the indoor air quality. Reported sensory irritation may be the result of odor annoyance. It appears that odor thresholds for many VOCs probably are considerably lower than previously reported. This explains why many building materials persistently are perceived as odorous, although the concentrations of the detected organic compounds are close to or below their reported odor thresholds. Ozone reacts with certain alkenes to form a gas and aerosol phase of oxidation products, some of which are sensory irritants. However, all of the sensory irritating species have not yet been identified and whether the secondary aerosols (ultrafine and fine particles) contribute to sensory irritation requires investigation. Low relative humidity may exacerbate the sensory irritation impact. Practical Implications Certain odors, in addition to odor annoyance, may result in psychological effects and distraction from work. Some building materials continually cause perceivable odors, because the odor thresholds of the emitted compounds are low. Some oxidation products of alkenes (e.g. terpenes) may contribute to eye and airway symptoms under certain conditions and low relative humidity.
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Some VOCs in cleaning products are known or suspected to cause health effects such as eye, skin, and respiratory irritation; liver and kidney damage; reproductive effects; and cancer.
“Several of these compounds have known or suspected adverse health effects, e.g., irritation to eyes, skin and the respiratory system; damage to the liver and kidney; reproductive effects; and carcinogenicity [11, 12].”
From Occupational exposure and health risks of volatile organic compounds of hotel housekeepers: Field measurements of exposure and health risks (2021) · cites this paper as [12]
The ‘Sensory irritants formed during terpene oxidation reactions’ section links cleaning products with irritation symptoms and says reactions involving certain VOCs produce sensory irritants. The ‘Measurements of organic compounds in the indoor environment’ section also recognizes organic compounds with toxic properties, but our copy does not substantiate the attributed skin irritation, liver or kidney damage, reproductive effects, or carcinogenicity for VOCs in cleaning products. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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- Authors
- Wolkoff, P., Wilkins, C. K., Clausen, P. A., & Nielsen, G. D.
- Corresponding author
- Wolkoff, P.
- Venue
- Indoor Air
- Publisher
- Hindawi Limited
- Published
- 2006-02
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 7-19
- ISSN
- 0905-6947 (ISSN-L)
- 1600-0668
- OpenAlex
- W2103545035
- Semantic Scholar
- b21c35694df257dec2c09e5e234295a1ea0525c7
- Cited by
- 348
- References
- 138
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 2.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Indoor Air (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- World Health Organization
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure
- Physical Sciences › Chemical Engineering › Process Chemistry and Technology › Odor and Emission Control Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Keywords
- volatile organic compounds, sensory irritation, odor threshold, odor annoyance, office environment, indoor air quality, secondary aerosol, ultrafine particles, relative humidity, terpenes, indoor air chemistry
- MeSH terms
- Air Pollutants, Environmental Exposure, Humans, Irritants, Odorants, Organic Chemicals, Air Pollution, Indoor, Sick Building Syndrome
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
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