A Study of Indoor Air Quality in Workplaces: Measurement of Volatile Organic Compounds, Source Apportionment, and Occupational Health Risk Assessment of Office Workers
Keywords:
Volatile Organic Compound, Source Apportionment, Health Risk Assessment, Indoor Environment, Occupational Health and SafetyAbstract
This study aimed to compare indoor air quality, analyze sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and assess occupational health risks in an old building (BD1) and a new building (BD2) in Bangkok, Thailand. Air samples were collected over 5 days using U.S. EPA Method TO-15 and TO-11A, analyzed by GC/MS and HPLC. Source apportionment used PMF model, and health risk assessment followed U.S. EPA guidelines. Results showed BD2 had 2.6 times higher VOC concentrations than BD1 (403.27 vs. 153.87 µg/m³) and detected 48 vs. 36 species. Three major sources were identified: household cleaners, building materials and wood furniture, and paint and adhesives.
Health risk assessment revealed acceptable cancer risks, with formaldehyde showing highest lifetime cancer risk (1.4×10-5 in BD1 and 3.6×10-5 in BD2). However, formaldehyde in BD2 had a hazard quotient of 1.29, exceeding the acceptable threshold, indicating potential health effects on workers and work performance. This study emphasizes the need for systematic indoor air quality management, particularly in new buildings, through source control, ventilation improvements, and low-VOC material selection to protect workers’ health according to occupational health principles sustainably.
References
American Lung Association. Volatile Organic Compounds [Internet]. 2026 [cited 2026 Jan 15]. Available from: https://www.lung.org/clean-air/indoor-air/indoor-air-pollutants/volatile-organic-compounds
United States Environmental Protection Agency. Volatile Organic Compounds' Impact on Indoor Air Quality [Internet]. 2025 [cited 2026 Jan 15]. Available from: https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/volatile-organic-compounds-impact-indoor-air-quality
Park JS, Ikeda K. Variations of formaldehyde and VOC levels during 3 years in new and older homes. Indoor Air. 2006 Apr;16(2):129-35. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0668.2005.00408.x.
Baeza Romero MT, Dudzinska MR, Amouei Torkmahalleh M, Barros N, Coggins AM, Ruzgar DG, et al. A review of critical residential buildings parameters and activities when investigating indoor air quality and pollutants. Indoor Air. 2022 Nov;32(11):e13144. doi: 10.1111/ina.13144.
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Environmental Protection Agency's Reference Concentrations (RfCs) [Internet]. 2003 [cited 2026 Jan 15]. Available from: https://dec.alaska.gov/air/anpms/toxics/non-carcinogens/
Su FC, Jia C, Batterman S. Extreme value analyses of VOC exposures and risks: A comparison of RIOPA and NHANES datasets. Atmos Environ (1994). 2012 Dec 1;62:97-106. doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.06.038.
Mo Z, Lu S, Shao M. Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and health risk assessment in paint and coatings industry in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Environ Pollut. 2021 Jan 15;269:115740. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115740.
Su YC, Chen WH, Fan CL, Tong YH, Weng TH, Chen SP, et al. Source Apportionment of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) by Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) supported by Model Simulation and Source Markers - Using Petrochemical Emissions as a Showcase. Environ Pollut. 2019;254:112848. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.07.016
Healy RM, Sofowote UM, Wang JM, Chen Q, Todd A. Spatially Resolved Source Apportionment of Industrial VOCs Using a Mobile Monitoring Platform. Atmosphere. 2022;13(10):1722. doi: 10.3390/atmos13101722
Frischmon C, Hannigan M. VOC source apportionment: How monitoring characteristics influence positive matrix factorization (PMF) solutions. Atmos Environ X. 2024;21:100230. doi: 10.1016/j.aeaoa.2023.100230
Felgueiras F, Mourão Z, Moreira A, Gabriel MF. Indoor environmental quality in offices and risk of health and productivity complaints at work: A literature review. J Hazard Mater Adv. 2023;10:100314. doi: 10.1016/j.hazadv.2023.100314
United States Environmental Protection Agency. Compendium Method TO-15: Determination of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Air Collected in Specially-Prepared Canisters and Analyzed by GC/MS. Cincinnati (OH): U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 1999.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. Compendium Method TO-11A: Determination of Formaldehyde in Ambient Air Using Adsorbent Cartridge Followed by HPLC. Cincinnati (OH): U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 1999.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) 5.0 Fundamentals and User Guide. Washington (DC): Office of Research and Development; 2014.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund, Volume I: Human Health Evaluation Manual (Part F): Supplemental Guidance for Inhalation Risk Assessment. Washington (DC): U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 2009.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. Exposure Factors Handbook. Washington (DC): Office of Research and Development; 2011.
Singapore Environment Council. Singapore Green Labelling Scheme (SGLS): Indoor Air Quality for Furniture Products [Internet]. Singapore: Singapore Environment Council; 2023 [cited 2026 Jan 18]. Available from: https://sgls.sec.org.sg/
U.S. Green Building Council. LEED v4.1 Building Design and Construction Guide. Washington (DC): U.S. Green Building Council; 2021. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-818130-1.00001-6
ASHRAE. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2019: Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. Atlanta (GA): American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers; 2019.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 REGIONAL HEALTH PROMOTION CENTER 9 JOURNAL

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
บทความหรือข้อคิดเห็นใด ๆ ที่ประกฎในวารสารศูนย์อนามัยที่ 9 เป็นความคิดเห็นของผู้เขียน บรรณาธิการ คณะผู้จัดทำ และศูนย์อนามัยที่ 9 นครราชสีมา (เจ้าของ) ไม่จำเป็นต้องเห็นด้วย ผู้เขียนต้องรับผิดชอบต่อบทความของตนเอง
ผลการพิจารณาของกองบรรณาธิการและผู้ทรงคุณวุฒิถือเป็นที่สิ้นสุด คณะบรรณาธิการวารสารฯ ขอสงวนสิทธิ์ในการตรวจแก้ไขข้อความให้ถูกต้องตามหลักภาษาและมีความเหมาะสม
กองบรรณาธิการวารสารฯ ขอสงวนสิทธิ์มิให้นำเนื้อหาใด ๆ ของบทความ หรือข้อคิดเห็นใด ๆ ของผลการประเมินบทความในวารสารฯ ไปเผยแพร่ก่อนได้รับอนุญาตจากกองบรรณาธิการ อย่างเป็นลายลักษณ์อักษร และผลงานที่ได้รับการตีพิมพ์ถือเป็นลิขสิทธิ์ของวารสารศูนย์อนามัยที่ 9