DETERMINATION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

(VOC) IN SELECTED HOTELS BY MEANS HEAD SPACE

SOLID SPACE MICROEXTRACTION (HS-SPME) COUPLED
WITH GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS SPECTROMETRY
(GC-MS)






HAFIZAH BINTI IBRAHIM






BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (Hons.)
CHEMISTRY
FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA


NOVEMBER 2010

DETERMINATION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
(VOCs) IN SELECTED HOTELS BY MEANS HEAD SPACE SOLID
SPACE MICROEXTRACTION (HS-SPME) COUPLED WITH GAS
CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS SPECTROMETRY (GC-MS)







HAFIZAH BINTI IBRAHIM







Final Year Project Report Submitted in
Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Bachelor of Science (Hons.) Chemistry
In the Faculty of Applied Sciences
Universiti Teknologi Mara



NOVEMBER 2010
COPYRIGHT UiTM
COPYRIGHT UiTM
iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


Alhamdulillah, I am very grateful to Allah because of His blessing I am able to
complete my final year project.

First of all, I would like to thank to my family especially my parents who always stay
by my side and keep motivating and encouraging me doing my best in completing
degree level at UiTM Shah Alam .

I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Miss Noraishah Binti Abdullah
for her support, guidance, encouragement, effort, advice, comment and guidance
during the preparation of this project.

My appreciation goes to En. Rozzan and En. Rosmi Laboratory Assistants of Faculty
Applied Science, for helping me in many ways to obtain, prepared equipments and
also run the experiment.
Lastly, my thanks goes to all who are involved directly or indirectly in doing this
project, thank you very much.

Hafizah Binti Ibrahim






COPYRIGHT UiTM
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS


Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
LIST OF TABLES vi
LIST OF FIGURES vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii
ABSTRACT ix
ABSTRAK x


CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background and problem statement 1
1.2 Significance of study 3
1.3 Objectives of study 4

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Investigation of Indoor Air Quality in School Buildings at Korea 5
2.2 Development of low Volatile Organic Compounds in Emission House 6
2.3 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Indoor Dust Matter 7
2.4 Determination of Benzene in Indoor Air 8
2.5 Atmospheric Particulate Matter 9
2.6 Changes in Indoor Pollutant 9
2.7 Indoor Air Quality in Hotel 10
2.8Comparative Study on Indoor Air Quality in Japan and Korea 11

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Materials / Apparatus 12
3.2 Sampling 12
3.2.1 Instrument of Sampling 12
3.2.2 Conditions of Instrument 13
3.2.3 Duration 13
3.2.4 Process of sampling 13
3.3 Methods / Sample Preparation 15
3.4 Conditions of GC-MS 17
3.5 Flow Chart of SPME Process 18



COPYRIGHT UiTM
v
CHAPTER 4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Result for Total Suspended Particulate Matter 19
4.2 Result Obtained from GC-MS 22

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Conclusion 26
5.2 Recommendations 27

CITED REFERENCES 28

APPENDICES 30

CURICULUM VITAE 62
















COPYRIGHT UiTM
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table Title Page

4.1 Result for Total Suspended Matter 17
4.2 Result Obtained from GC-MS coupled with HS-SPME in 19
Hotel A

4.3 Result Obtained from GC-MS coupled with HS-SPME in 20
Hotel B

















COPYRIGHT UiTM
vii
List of figure
Figure Captions Page

3.1 Apex Personal Air Sampler 12
3.2 Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry 14
3.3 Solid Phase Microextraction 14


















COPYRIGHT UiTM
viii



LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

IAQ : Indoor Air Quality
VOC : Volatile Organic Compound
PM : Particulate Matter
SPME : Solid Phase Microextraction
GCMS : Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry
: micro
g : gram
L : litre
m
3
: meter cubic
SO
2
: sulphur dioxide
NO
2
: nitrate dioxide
o
C : degree Celsius
m : meter
PDMS : polydimethylsiloxane
API : Air Pollution Index




COPYRIGHT UiTM
ix


ABSTRACT
DETERMINATION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (VOCs) IN
SELECTED HOTELS BY HEAD SPACE SOLID PHASE
MICROEXTRACTION (HS-SPME) COUPLED WITH GAS
CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS SPECTROMETRY (GC-MS)


A study was conducted at different hotels located in area of Selangor and Kuala
Lumpur. The purposes of this study were to identify the Volatile Organic Compounds
(VOCs) that presence in Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in Hotel and to compare the major
composition of VOC at five different places in those two hotels for six hours. Sample
sampling was conducted by using personal air sampler. Meanwhile, determination of
VOCs was conducted by using solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas
chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The values for total suspended matter
(TSP) for hotel A was quite high compare to hotel B because hotel A has better
ventilation system than hotel B. The method of SPME coupled with GCMS technique
proved that it is an effective technique in determining the VOCs in the indoor air
environment as the presence of Heptacosane, Eiocosane, 1, 3, 5-trimethyl benzene
and in hotel A.








COPYRIGHT UiTM
x

ABSTRAK

ANALISA KUALITATIF BAHAN ORGANIK DI DALAM PERSEKITARAN
DALAMAN DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN PEPEJAL FASA
MIKROEKSTRAK BERSAMA DENGAN GAS KROMATOGRAFI JISIM
SPEKTRUM

Satu kajian telah dijalankan di dua buah hotel yang terpilih di kawasan Selangor dan
Kuala Lumpur. Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk menentukan dan membandingkan bahan
organik yang terpilih yang mungkin hadir di dalam persekitaran dalaman hotel tersebut.
Process pengambilan sample dijalankan dengan menggunakan Personal Air Sampler
pada kadar 1L per minit bersama sama kertas turas. Perbezaan berat kertas turas
sebelum dan selepas proses penyempelan boleh digunakan untuk menentukan
kepekatan zarah zarah di tempat tersebut. Sementara itu, bahan organic boleh
ditentukan dengan penggunaan teknik SPME yang digabungkan dengan GCMS. Bagi
mengextrak bahan organic daripada kertas turas, vial yang mempunyai sample
dipanaskan dan dikekalkan pada suhu 80C. Kemudian Fiber daripada SPME
didedahkan ke permukaan atas vial tersebut selama 10 minit, selepas itu fiber tesebut
dicucuk ke dalam port GCMS selama 5 minit. Teknik SPME yang digabungkan
dengan GCMS terbukti amat berguna dalam mengesan bahan organic di dalam
persekitaran dalaman sebagaimana teknik ini telah dapat mengesan kehadiran
Heptacosane, Eicosane and1, 3, 5-trimethyl benzene.


COPYRIGHT UiTM
1



CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background and problem statement
Indoor air quality (IAQ) has become an important community concern due
to the increased amount of personal time spent in indoor environment.
Nowadays, people generally spend more than 80% of their time in an
indoor environment such as home, office, car and shopping centre. Some
studies showed that the level of pollutants in indoor environment is
actually higher than that in outdoor environment. Indoor air pollutant
mainly includes volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (Shaobin W., Ang
H.M., Moses O. T., 2006).

Volatile Organic Compounds are well-known indoor pollutants. These
pollutants are emitted from different sources such as combustion by-
products, cooking, construction materials, office equipment, and consumer
products. Many VOCs are known to be toxic and considered to be
carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic (Alberici and Jardim, 1997).


COPYRIGHT UiTM
2


Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) comprise an important group of
pollutants, including organic solvents, commonly present in indoor and
outdoor air (Caro J., Gallego M., 2009). VOCs give rise to concern on both
local and global scales because of their important roles in photochemical
reactions and their toxic or mutagenic impact on human life and organisms.

For a long time there have been reports of adverse health effects due to
VOCs and these have recently been described in many studies. At low or
moderate concentrations in air, organic solvents may cause transient
symptoms such as euphoria, headache and vertigo while higher levels may
lead to anaesthesia, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and even death.
Damage caused by long-term exposure to the central nervous system may
include cognitive and emotional deficits as well as chronic. Toxic effects of
VOCs were reported to harm the liver and skin (Caro J., Gallego M., 2009).












COPYRIGHT UiTM
3



1.1 Significance of Study

The research about the IAQ of hotels is seldom investigated and reported
especially in Malaysia. In addition, the total number of tourists has
increased by more than seven times every years in countries(Wilco et al.,
2008).

Particularly, hotels are public places accommodating a vast variety of
international travellers including dignitaries and officials, therefore the
demand for good IAQ may be higher than for other types of buildings.
Nevertheless, there is a paucity of information about hotel IAQ. This
hinders the improvement of IAQ in the industry. An existing guide book
commissioned by the hotel trade association addresses general IAQ
problems linked more with mold, asbestos, and radon, than with materials
such as VOCs (Riedel, 1995).

Currently, the individual VOC regulations based on the World Health
Organization (WHO) guidelines were set for IAQ in a number of
countries. In addition, another guideline from a viewpoint of summation of
VOCs was established as total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) in a
few countries (International Research, 2005).

COPYRIGHT UiTM
4

Significant of this study is to notify the public on what are the sources of
VOC that may present in indoor air quality of hotel. Moreover, this study
can be reference for the future studies in IAQ.

1.2 Objectives of Study

1. To identify the VOCs that presence in IAQ in hotel.

2. To compare the major composition of VOC at five different places
in the hotel (main entrance, lobby, wet kitchen, dry kitchen,
basement parking).















COPYRIGHT UiTM
5

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW


2.1 Investigation of Indoor Air Quality in School Buildings at Korea.
In this study, indoor and outdoor air samples of VOCs were obtained from
three sites in enclosed buildings; a classroom, a laboratory and a computer
classroom. Volatile organic compounds, respirable dust and personal
factors are related to prevalence and incidence of sick building syndrome
(SBS) in primary schools (Norback et al., 1990).

Students are more susceptible to poor air quality especially in indoor air
quality within school classrooms. Indoor air pollution might increase the
chance of both long and short term health problems for students and staff,
reduce the productivity of teachers and degrade the students learning
environment and comfort (Kim et al., 2006; Shaughnessy et al., 2006).

In conclusion, the result in this researched of indoor air pollution at the
schools was caused by chemicals emitted from building materials or
furnishing, and insufficient ventilation rates.


COPYRIGHT UiTM
6

2.2 The Development of Low Volatile Organic Compound Emission
House
According to Guo et al., (2000), organic chemicals are widely used as
ingredients in household products such as paints, varnishes, glues,
construction materials and furnishings. The previous studies have
demonstrated the presence of VOCs in indoor materials and products.

Emissions of VOCs from household products are common in houses where
the sick building syndrome (SBS) appears. Sick building syndrome refers
to the situation in which building occupants report relatively non-specific
symptoms, such as mucous membrane irritation, headaches, stuffiness,
lethargy, and drowsiness, and which the occupants associate with
occupancy of the building (Hayward S.B., Wesolowoski, J.J 1993).

In conclusion from this research, the compound of VOC was obtained
from sources of domestic housing such as paints, varnishes, glues,
construction materials and furnishings (Guo et al., 2003).






COPYRIGHT UiTM
7

2.3 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Indoor Dust Matter:
Extraction and GCMS analysis
According to Maria et al., (2007), a variety of air pollutants, associated
with volatile semi-volatile and particulate matter, are generated in indoor
environment from human activities such as cooking, cleaning and
smoking. Among the hazardous pollutants polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) are important owing to their carcinogenicity and
mutagenicity.
Important indoor sources of these compounds are cigarette smoke,
emissions from domestic cooking stoves and fireplaces. Significantly, 50
75% of the particulate matters containing the PAHs generated due to
combustion of various cooking fuels are in respirable size range (Raiyani
et al., 1993).
This studied showed that high exposure levels to these PAHs compounds
indoor, particularly in poorly ventilated houses (Gachanja and Worsfold,
1993; Raiyani et al., 1993; Ramdahl et al., 1982; Smith, 1987).




COPYRIGHT UiTM
8

2.4 Determination of Benzene in Indoor Air Using GC-MS in Cooking
Time
According to Lynge et al., (1997), Benzene is a ubiquitous component in
the environment that has been linked to adverse health effects particularly
leukemia, plastic anemia, bone-marrow disorders in human and other
cancers, even at low dose. It is also toxic to the hematopoietic system and
causes acute myelogenous leukemia in population with occupational
exposure.
Combustion of biomass fuels produces a large number of air pollutants
including benzene. Therefore, it is essential to know the concentration of
benzene emitted due to combustion of biomass fuels during cooking time.
(Albalak et al., 2001).
From this result, the benzene concentration for cooks during cooking time
in indoor kitchen was 114.1 g/ m
3
while it was 6.6 g/ m
3
for open type
kitchen. The benzene concentration was significantly higher in indoor
kitchen with respect to open type kitchen.





COPYRIGHT UiTM
9

2.5 Atmospheric Particulates Matter
According to Tasic et al., (2005) atmospheric particles generally occurred
in two distinct modes: the fine (PM
2.5
) mode and the coarse (PM
10
). The
fine particles composed a varying amount of VOCs and this size of
fraction is generally man-made (anthropogenic) processes such as road
transport, combustion sources, cleaning solvents and other.
The result from the investigation was obtained will substantially improved
the knowledge about the parameters in air quality that defined transport,
distribution and interaction of pollutant from the sources of pollution to
human population.
2.6 Changes in Indoor Pollutants
Charles (2008) stated that the concentration of indoor pollutants not only
depends on indoor emission rates but also on the rate of outdoor that was
transported from outside, and the rates at which it is scavenged by indoor
surfaces.
Most of building materials emit chemical into indoor air such as composite
wood, carpeting, flooring, paints for indoor applications, furnishings,
cleaning products because benzene was found many in cleaning products,
air fresheners and electronic equipment(Levin et al., 2008 ).
The result showed that changes in indoor emission of volatile pollutants
have impacted indoor environments faster than changes in emission of less
volatile pollutants.
COPYRIGHT UiTM
10

2.7 Indoor Air Quality in Hotel
According to Riedel (1995), less information about hotel IAQ and existing
guide books commissioned by the hotel trade association addresses general
IAQ problem linked more with VOCs than other material.
Volatile organic compounds were a major group of indoor air pollutants
which have substantial pressures at room temperature. The materials using
for constructing and renovating hotels exposed the greatest source of
indoor air quality (Sundell et al., 2004).
The result of this investigation showed that, comparisons between the
current study and the previous study were benzene, toluene,
ethylbenzene, and the isomeric xylenes (BTEX) concentration for new
hotel more seriously polluted than older hotels and residential buildings.








COPYRIGHT UiTM
11

2.8 Comparative study on Indoor Air Quality in Japan and China
Takeshi et al., (2009) were conducted a comparative study on the indoor
air quality for Japan and China to investigate aromatic VOCs in indoor
microenvironments (living room, bedroom, and kitchen) and outdoors in
summer and winter during 20062007. Throughout the samplings, the
indoor and outdoor concentrations of many of the targeted VOCs
(benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, and trimethylbenzenes) in China
were significantly higher than those in Japan. The indoor concentrations of
VOCs in Japan were somewhat consistent with those outdoors, whereas
those in China tended to be higher than those outdoors.
Aromatic hydrocarbons such as BTEX form an important group of air
pollutants. In particular, the exposure risks of benzene and toluene should
be investigated in depth because of their high toxicity and/or high content
in air (Kume et al., 2008).







COPYRIGHT UiTM
12

CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Materials / Apparatus
Cellulose nitrate filter paper with 47 mm diameter and 0.47 m pore
40 ml vial (Supelco, catalogue no.27213)
Propylene hole cap and PTFE/ silicon septa.
SPME fibre (Supelco, catalogue no.57300-U)
GC-MS method
3.2 Sampling
3.2.1 Instrument of Sampling
Casella Apex Personal Sampling Lite pumps (Non IS models

Figure 3.1 Apex Personal Air Sampler

COPYRIGHT UiTM
13

3.2.2 Conditions of Instrument
Apex Lite entry point sampling pumps
Available as Standards and Pro Versions
Non- IS models only
Flow rates up to 5 l/m
Flow rates down to 800 m 1/m in high flow mode
3.2.3 Duration
Six hours
3.2.4 Process of Sampling
In this study, the samples from several sampling sites in the both hotel was
collected by using personal air sampler equipped with weighted cellulose
nitrate filter paper before and after sampling was done with flow rate 1L/
min After that the filters were transferred into personal air sampler at the
specific location for six hours. The filter papers were removed and placed
in Millipore transfer. The filter papers were weighed after collected and
the GC-MS coupled with HS-SPME were employed.




COPYRIGHT UiTM