This grant supports a joint project by environmental engineer William Nazaroff and atmospheric chemist Allen Goldstein at the University of California, Berkeley to study chemical emissions from human occupancy in indoor spaces. Nazaroff and Goldstein will develop suitable sampling and analysis protocols for simultaneous indoor and outdoor measurements of airborne gaseous and particulate species and measure indoor and outdoor air concentrations in university classrooms, both while vacant and while occupied.  Using these measurements, they will develop models to compute emission rates for a spectrum of organic and inorganic chemicals associated with human occupancy.  The team expects to produce at least two peer-reviewed articles and will present their findings at national and international meetings.  They will also prepare a short report that outlines important research questions and obstacles to be overcome in order to advance our understanding of indoor chemistry.  Grant funds also provide support for the training of one postdoctoral fellow.

Funds from this grant support a project by Jonathan Abbatt, professor of chemistry at the University of Toronto, to conduct preliminary research on the chemistry occurring on indoor surfaces. Indoor surfaces are covered by films of semi-volatile chemical species that arise through the deposition of particulates, oils, and gas-phase oxidation products. This layer is known as the semi-volatile surface layer (SVSL). Abbatt’s research will address three fundamental issues associated with indoor SVSLs. First, what is the chemical composition of indoor SVSL’s, and how is it influenced by deposition time and location? Second, how reactive are indoor SVSL’s as a function of environmental conditions, such as relative humidity? Third, what analytical techniques are well suited for the chemical study of indoor SVSLs?Abbat will conduct studies on both model and genuine surfaces using a variety of analytical techniques including infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and Direct Analysis in Real Time–Mass Spectrometry (DART-MS), a new technology that has not yet been applied to the study of indoor chemistry.

Funds from this grant support the work of chemists Paul Ziemann and Jose-Luis Jimenez of the University of Colorado Boulder to improve our fundamental scientific understanding of the basic chemistry of aerosols in indoor environments. Using state-of-the-art instrumentation and methodology, Ziemann and Jimenez will measure the chemical composition of unperturbed and aged gases, aerosol particles, and surfaces in two to three homes and buildings; conduct laboratory studies of gases, aerosols, and surface films formed from reactions of organic chemicals commonly found in indoor air and on human occupants with O3 and NO3 radicals, water, and acids; and begin to develop theoretical models that explain these chemical reactions.Because environmental chemistry to date has focused virtually exclusively on the reactions taking place outdoors, the supported research fills a lacuna in our scientific understanding of the world.