Abstract
Sick house syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome caused by indoor chemical substances have become a problem. In addition, energy-saving measures to control the outside air intake rate according to indoor carbon dioxide concentration and the number of occupants have received attention in recent years. However, attention is rarely paid to the increase in indoor chemical concentration due to the decrease in the outside air intake rate. To measure the concentrations of indoor chemical substances, such as formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOC), gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography and other techniques need to be used and it is not easy to obtain measurements in a short time. Further, there are no systems capable of accurately monitoring the concentration of indoor chemical substances. To solve these problems, a simplified method of measuring the concentration of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) using a semiconductor-based sensor was developed and the development results were presented in the previous report. This paper reports the evaluation results of the characteristics of three types of semiconductor-based sensors installed in two buildings, the results of confirmation that the semiconductor-based sensors could be used for monitoring the concentration of chemical substances in the buildings, and the subjects for future study.
