Indoor Air Quality and Volatile Organic Compounds Experts in Environmental Sensing

Summary People spend 90% of their time indoors where concentrations of gaseous pollutants are significantly higher than outdoors. The widespread use of new products and building materials, as well as improved insulation for energy efficiency, has resulted in increased concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These VOCs originate mainly from paints and solvents, carpets and furniture, and cleaning agents, and are also emitted by humans. Elevated VOC levels can have a negative impact on well being, comfort, and cognitive abilities. Exposure to high levels of VOCs can be avoided or significantly...

Potential Health Effects of High VOC Concentrations SENSORY IRRITATION COGNITIVE ABILITIES SICK BUILDING SYNDROME A number of systematic human exposure studies have shown various adverse health effects caused by exposure to elevated VOC levels3. Among the effects reported by participants are dryness and irritation of the eye, the nose and the throat, headaches, and dizziness. Poor indoor air quality can lead to decreased cognitive function resulting in significant impacts on productivity, learning, and safety. Recent studies have demonstrated clear negative effects of elevated VOC levels on cognitive...

An effective reduction of VOC exposure requires the monitoring of VOC levels using suitable sensors. A large number of applications ternet-of-Things devices benefit from the MAKE DEVICES SMARTER Enable the operation of autonomous devices; for example, automatic operation of an air purifier. such as ventilation controls, air purifiers, or CREATE AWARENESS Indication of the total VOC levels helps people to better understand their living environment and to identify possible sources of indoor air pollutants; for example, monitoring of air quality with a baby cam. integration of VOC sensors. MAKE...

Sensirion’s Environmental Sensor Solutions With the SGP, Sensirion provides a metal-oxide-based VOC sensor for indoor air quality applications. The sensing element features an unmatched robustness against contaminating gases present in real-world applications. This enables a unique long-term stability and low drift. The SGP features a TVOC and CO2 equivalent signal via an I2C interface, a small DFN package (2.45 x 2.45 x 0.9 mm3), and a dust and water protection membrane. These characteristics make the SGP easy to integrate into a large variety of applications such as air purifiers or smart home...