Abstract
Terpenes are volatile compounds emitted from wood, and they have been suggested to be related to the comfort in a woody environment. Terpenes emission influences the concentration of total volatile organic compounds in the indoor air. Studies on the long-term emission of volatile compounds, including terpenes, from wooden interior finishing installed in buildings are few; therefore, in this study, wooden materials were finished on the floor and wall of a laboratory, and the volatile compounds in the room were analyzed for about two years from the day after finishing. 51 compounds such as hydrocarbons, alcohols and carbonyl compounds were quantified and unidentified compounds between hexane and hexadecane were semiquantitated. In addition, the air change rate in the room, temperature, and relative humidity were measured. Compared with all compounds measured in this study, the volume of emitted terpenes was the largest during almost the complete experimental period. And the concentration of terpenes in the air was higher at immediately after finishing and during summer. After two years, the concentration declined to 0.15 % as compared to the day after finishing. In addition, the eight substances with regard to which the guideline of the indoor air concentration values were defined were below the indoor concentration guideline values. The air change rate per hour in the room was 1.1 times/h. The temperature ranged from 6 ℃ to 32 ℃ , and the relative humidity ranged from 47 % to 63 %.
