Indoor/Outdoor Carbonyl Compounds in Guangzhou Residences

Main objectives of this study were to measure carbonyl compounds simultaneously in indoor and outdoor atmosphere of Guangzhou city,to assess the pollution situation of carbonyls-and to search for the sources of carbonyls.Carbonyls were collected by drawing air through a cartridge impregnated with acidifed 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine(DNPH).13 kinds of carbonyls(Formaldehyde,Acetaldehyde,Acrolein.Acetone.Propionaldehyde,Crotonaldehyde,Methacrolein,2-Butanone,Butyraldehyde,Benzaldehyde,Valeraldehyde,m-Tolualdehyde and Hexaldehyde) were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC).Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were found to be the most abundant carbonyl species,accounting for 30%~67% of total carbonyls.Average concentrations of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were 53.47 μg/m3 and 17.81 μg/m3 for summer indoor environment,15.00 μg/m3 and 10.97 μg/m3 for summer outdoor environment,37.97 μg/m3 and 11.49 μg/m3 for winter indoor environment,and 10.44 μg/m3 and 8.15 μg/m3 for winter outdoor environment,respectively.Average concentrations of carbonyls showed obvious variation rules that the concentrations in summer were commonly higher than those in winter,and that indoor concentrations of most of the carbonyls were higher than the outdoors.The ratios of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde,and the ratios of acetaldehyde and propionaldehyde were measured,implying urban anthropogenic sources of them.