Air quality inside new vehicles

Dr. Joanna Faber graduated her PhD degree in Analytical Chemistry at Wroclaw University of Technology in 2014.She works in BOSMAL AR&DI Ltd in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, at Materials Testing Department as Research Technical Specialist.She specialises in analytical chemistry, elemental materials analysis, odours and emissions from materials.

Investigation of air quality in the cabins of new vehicles on the basis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) presence, emitted by interior equipment, is described in present work. Air samples were collected from two car brands, both produced in Poland, which differed in interior equipment. Active method and two solid sorbents, thermal desorption and gas chromatography were applied to analyse VOCs in vehicle interior. The differences in air composition between different examples of the same vehicle model with the same equipment were checked as well as differences between different vehicle models. In each vehicle about 200 different organic compounds were found. They presence was connected with the cabin interior equipment and materials off-gassing. These compounds were present in a form of complex mixture, which made the determination of the exact air composition in the vehicle interior a scientific challenge. Present work is a part of dissertation, which was realised in BOSMAL AR&DI Ltd in Bielsko-Biala and Wroclaw University of Technology.