Indoor Chemistry Projects

Since the average person spends most of their life in enclosed spaces (>90% for the average American), the composition of indoor air is an important factor for exposure, and thereby for human health and well-being. We are interested in the emissions of people indoors and how they vary in response to ozone, temperature, clothing, humidity, age and even emotional state. People are the single common source in any living space and we are focused on characterizing the volatile organic compounds emitted from skin and breath. To this end have taken measurements in chambers, in cinemas and at football games.

 

 

Publications

C. Arata, N. Heine, N. Wang, P. K. Misztal, P. Wargocki, G. Bekö, J. Williams, W.W. Nazaroff, K. R. Wilson. A. H. Goldstein. Heterogeneous Ozonolysis of Squalene: Gas-Phase Products Depend on Water Vapor Concentration. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2019, 53, 24, 14441-14448.

C. Stönner, A. Edtbauer, B. Derstroff, E. Bourtsoukidis, T. Klüpfel, J. Wicker, J. Williams. Can the age classification of films be made based on audience breath-chemical emissions? PLOS, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203044.

 C. Stönner, A. Edtbauer, J. Williams. Real world volatile organic compound emission rates from seated adults and children for use in indoor air studies. Indoor Air, DOI: 10.1111/ina.12405, 2017.

 J. Williams, C. Stönner, J. Wicker, N. Krauter, B. Derstroff, E. Bourtsoukidis, T. Klüpfel, S. Kramer. Cinema audiences reproducibly vary the chemical composition of air during films, by broadcasting scene specific emissions on breath. Nature Scientific Reports 6:25464,DOI: 10.1038/srep25464