Source apportionment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in aircraft cabins

The presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air of aircraft cabins was studied to identify possible emission sources and their contributions to aircraft cabin VOC concentrations. A total of 84 sampling events were included during 14 different flights. Based on the measured VOC concentrations, a receptor model using positive matrix factorization (PMF) coupled with information related to VOC sources was applied to identify the major VOC sources in aircraft cabins. Eight possible VOC sources were identified by the PMF method including service and humans, chemical reactions, fuels, materials, combustion, non-fuel oil, cosmetics and perfumes, and cleaning agents. Results of the source apportionment showed that 29% of the total VOC emissions in aircraft cabins can be attributed to service and humans, followed by chemical reactions (15%), fuels (13%), materials (12%), combustion (12%), non-fuel oil (9%), cosmetics and perfumes (6%) and cleaning agents (4%). The results of this study could be helpful in controlling the possible VOC sources for better cabin air quality.