Real-Time Laboratory Measurements of VOC Emissions, Removal Rates, and Byproduct Formation from Consumer-Grade Oxidation-Based Air Cleaners

Levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the indoor environment can be decreased by the use of “air cleaners”, devices that remove VOCs by sorption and/or oxidative degradation. However, efficacies of these technologies for removing VOCs tend to be poorly constrained, as does the formation of oxidation byproducts. Here, we examine the influence of several oxidation-based air cleaners, specifically ones marketed as consumer-grade products, on the amounts and composition of VOCs. Experiments were conducted in an environmental chamber, with a suite of real-time analytical instruments to measure direct emissions, VOC removal efficacies (by the addition of either limonene and toluene), and byproduct formation. We find that the air cleaners themselves can be a source of organic gases, that removal efficacy can be exceedingly variable, and that VOC loss is primarily driven by physical removal in some cleaners. When oxidative degradation of VOCs was observed, it was accompanied by the formation of a range of oxidation byproducts, including formaldehyde and other oxygenates. These results indicate that some consumer-grade portable air cleaners can be ineffective in removing VOCs and that the air delivered may contain a range of organic compounds, due to direct emission and/or byproduct formation.