Examining the concentrations of volatile organic compounds and pollutant gases in printing and copying centers in Khorramabad, Iran in 2015

Given the large amount of gaseous and aerosol pollutants produced by the printing press industry, the indoor and outdoor air quality of such centers in Khorramabad, Iran was assessed.
Methods and Materials: In a descriptive study, five gaseous pollutants from among criteria air pollutants (CO, NO, NO2, SO2, O3) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured. Overall, 360 samples were taken from the indoor and outdoor air of printing press centers during the two seasons of summer and winter. In addition to the direct reading sampling method, environmental sampling was also conducted. In the direct reading method, the environmental analyzer device was used to measure criteria gaseous pollutants and the phocheck5000 device was used to measure the VOCs. In the sampling by environmental pumps, SKC activated carbon absorbent tubes were used randomly/continuously during the work hours and periodically for all centers. The samples were prepared using a carbon disulfide solution and were analyzed using a gas chromatograph device. Statistical t-tests were used to analyze the results.
The results of the study demonstrated that, the concentrations of the all of the criteria pollutants except for the CO gas and, among the VOCs, the concentrations of benzene and toluene in the air of the printing press centers was higher than the standards set by the EPA for indoor areas. Further, there was a significant difference between the concentrations of benzene and toluene during the summer and winder seasons (p Although printing press centers cannot be considered as serious hotspots for the emission of pollutants into public places in urban areas, the pollutants produced in these centers, especially O3 can jeopardize the health of the employees of these centers.