The Pollutant Removal Rate of Floor Surface through Various Cleaning Methods

Hyun-tae Kim1, Shin-ichi Tanabe2, and Makoto Koganei1

1. Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, Japan

2. Department of Architecture, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract: It has been known that the contamination of indoor hazardous chemicals affects the health of residents. According to the previous studies, the concentration of SVOC (Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds) in house-dust and on the PVC floor is by and large higher than that of SVOC in the air. In particular, in the case of a floor surface of a house using PVC building materials, it has been reported that the risk to children is higher. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the most effective cleaning method after cleaning pollutants deposited on the floor with various cleaning methods. As a result, 2E1H, D6, DEP, DBP, TPP and DEHP were

detected on the floor surface before cleaning. However, TBP, TCEP and DOA were not detected. The concentration of 2E1H on the surface of the specimen before cleaning was 45 ug/m2, those of DEP, DBP and TPP were 6.7, 4.0, and 8.9 ug/m2, respectively. Also, DEHP was 11000 ug/m2, showing the highest value among the chemical substances detected. The study found that using a vacuum cleaner with a wet rag was more effective method than using a vacuum cleaner only. In particular, the effect of steam cleaner on SVOC substances was high. In order to reduce the SVOC concentration on the floor surface, it is recommended to use building materials not containing plasticizer.

Key words: SVOC, polyvinyl chloride, DEHP, vacuum cleaner