Ivan Notardonatoa, Pasquale Avinoa,b, Mario Lovricc

aDepartment of Agriculture, Environment and Food, University of Molise, via F. De Sanctis, 86100 Campobasso
bInstitute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, Division of Rome, c/o Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, 00147 Rome, Italy
cThe Lisbon Council, Rue de la Loi 155, 1040 Brussels , Belgium

Indoor air quality has received increasing attention from the scientific world in recent years. The common goal is to improve the well-being and comfort of the individual [1]. The presence of airborne particles and/or molecules capable of influencing or altering the perception of the quality of the air we breathe has become the object of study by international bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) [2] and national bodies such as the Istituto Superiore di Sanità [3]. The Horizon EDIAQI project was created to collect, analyse and compare air samples from different European cities. The main gaseous pollutants reported by the WHO guidelines are determined: benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, naphthalene, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds (VOC), as well as chemical-physical parameters relating to air quality. 

The authors have identified different life scenarios: residential and recreational sites, workplaces and schools. Sampling is carried out in different meteorological conditions. The first analysis concerned the characterization of 17 VOCs, which were divided into aliphatic, benzene, and chlorinated. The compounds are separated by GC-MS using a 60m DB-VRX packed column, i.d. 0.25µm, film 1.4µm. Among the air quality markers reported by the WHO, Trichloroethylene, Tetrachloroethylene, Benzene and Toluene are experimentally separated. The o-xylene was separated from the m- and p-xylene, but for the latter tests are still underway to optimize the chromatographic separation. This work considers the results obtained in the Ferrara pilot.

Acknowledgements: The EDIAQI project is funded by the European Union under G.A. No. 101057497. The views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

References

1. Avino P., Manigrasso M., Environmental Science and Pollution Research , 24 (2017) pp. 13908–13920. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-016-6752-8 

2. Word Health Organization - Guidelines for indoor air quality: selected pollutants. (2010) 

3. Settimo G., Yu, Y., et al. Atmosphere , 14 (2023) pp. 633. DOI: 10.3390/atmos14040633