Measurements of volatile organic compounds in aircraft cabins. Part I: Methodology and detected VOC species in 107 commercial flights

To better understand the overall VOC species and levels and their key influencing factors in aircraft cabin, we conducted in-flight measurements in 107 commercial flights from August 2010 to August 2012. These flights were randomly selected and a sampling method using syringe was developed to obtain overall information of VOCs in actual cabins. On average 59 VOCs in each flight were detected within a total of 346 VOCs in the 107 flights, with the percentage of 41% for alkanes and alkenes, 15% for esters and alcohols, 11% for ketones and aldehydes, 6% for halides, 20% for aromatics and 6% for other VOCs (e.g. nitrogen-containing compounds). Main VOCs with high detection rate were compared at three different flight phases and at meal services for further analysis, respectively. Influences of several potential factors including air route, aircraft model and seasonal variation on the detection rates of cabin VOC species were preliminarily analyzed by chi-square test and logistic regression methods. The statistical results indicate that certain level of correlation between o-xylene, tetrachloroethene, benzene, 1,4-dichloro-, formamide, N,N-dimethyl-, ethane, 1,2-dichloro- and nonane (p < 0.05) and these factors. Factor analysis by logistic regression method further quantified the detection risk of above 6 selected VOCs with those three factors. This study could serve important first step to better understanding of cabin air quality and its major influencing factors.