INDOOR AND OUTDOOR VOC EMISSIONS IN URBAN AREAS OF NORTHERN ALGERIA

VOCs have been monitored in the region of Algiers (Algeria), by using Analyst-I as passive sampler. Both indoor (namely workplaces, laboratories, and coffee shop) and outdoor environments (a wide traffic characterized road and a tunnel) were investigated. After exposition to the air the VOCs collection devices were extracted with carbon disulfide, and chemical characterization was performed by applying gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization or mass spectrometer detection (GC-FID and GC-MSD, respectively). The GC column adopted for the purpose (i.e., a HP-PONA Methyl Siloxane phase type) provided a good separation of the meta and para isomers of xylene. The contents of benzene and toluene in the air ranged from 8 to 54 mu g m super(-3) and from 4 to 323 mu g m super(-3), respectively, in the workplaces (indoors); concurrently, concentrations as high as 40 divided by 89 mu g m super(-3) and 117 divided by 286 ug m super(-3) were detected outdoors (workplace and tunnel) ambient air: The maximum value of benzene was found inside the oil laboratory. The active sampling method, i.e. gas aspiration through a VOC trap, was carried out in parallel to the diffusive devices, to estimate the exposure to VOCs at workplaces.