Estimation of the contribution of human skin and ozone reaction to volatile organic compounds (VOC) concentration in aircraft cabins

• We estimated the contribution rate of skin ozonization to VOC in aircraft cabin.
• The O3 concentration is the most important factor influencing the VOC contribution.
• Change of parameters has varied effects on VOC contribution for the ozonization.

The products derived from ozonolysis of organic compounds on the human skin may be an important source of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in aircraft cabins. This study aims to estimate the contribution of human skin and ozone reaction to VOC concentrations in aircraft cabins. Based on the measurements of ozone and VOC concentrations in five flights in March 2013, we estimated the contribution of human skin and ozone reaction to VOC concentration using the first-order kinetic formula. The results show that the prominent volatile products derived from ozonolysis contribution differed from each other, largely due to the difference of the O3 concentrations among different flights. The results of sensitivity analysis show that the disturbance from substrate had evident effect on contribution from products of the squalene and ozone reaction, and the disturbance from substrate had little effect on the contribution from products of the linoleic acid and ozone reaction.