Infant Exposure to Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from Crib Mattresses

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• 作者：Brandon E. Boor ; Helena J盲rnstr枚m ; Atila Novoselac ; Ying Xu
• 刊名：Environmental Science & Technology
• 出版年：2014
• 出版时间：March 18, 2014
• 年：2014
• 卷：48
• 期：6
• 页码：3541-3549
• 全文大小：355K
• 年卷期：v.48,no.6(March 18, 2014)
• ISSN：1520-5851

文摘

Infants spend most of their time sleeping and are likely to be exposed to elevated concentrations of chemicals released from their crib mattresses. Small-scale chamber experiments were conducted to determine the area-specific emission rates (SERs) of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a collection of twenty new and used crib mattresses. All mattress samples were found to emit VOCs and the mean values of total VOC (TVOC) SERs were 56 渭g/m²h at 23 掳C and 139 渭g/m²h at 36 掳C. TVOC SERs were greater for new mattresses compared to used ones and were influenced by the type of foam material and the presence of mattress cover layer. A variety of VOCs were identified, with polyurethane foam releasing a greater diversity of VOCs compared to polyester foam. Large-scale chamber experiments were conducted with an infant thermal manikin. TVOC concentrations sampled in the breathing zone and interior pore air of the crib mattress foam were found to be greater than the bulk room air by factors in the range of 1.8 to 2.4 and 7.5 to 21, respectively. The results suggest that crib mattresses are an important source of VOCs and infant exposure to VOCs are possibly elevated in their sleep microenvironments.