Study on SVOC emissions from vehicle cabin materials: Parameter determination, impact factors and preliminary exposure analysis

Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) widely exist in parts and decorations in vehicle cabins, causing poor in-cabin air quality. The emissions of SVOCs from in-cabin materials can be characterized by two key parameters, e.g. the gas phase SVOC concentration adjacent to material surface (y₀) and the convective mass transfer coefficient across material surface (h_m). This paper develops a variable ventilation rate (VVR) method to rapidly and accurately determine y₀ and hm. Experiments were conducted to measure y₀ and h_m of target SVOC from two typical in-cabin materials. Results indicate that VVR method owns a high accuracy. Moreover, the influence of temperature on the key parameters is investigated. When the temperature increases, y0 increases significantly. Preliminary exposure analysis is also performed to evaluate the health risk of SVOC in vehicle cabins.