Analysis of Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds (SVOCs) in Micro-Chamber Thermal Extracted Emissions from Household Dust

Abstract

Settled house dust acts as a critical sink and surrogate medium for indoor air quality assessment and exposure monitoring. Many hazardous chemical compounds, including biocides and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), exhibit prolonged stability when bound to dust matrices, often accumulating in significantly higher concentrations than in surrounding air. In this study, household dust samples collected from vacuum cleaner bags in Nigerian residences were sieved (<150 µm fractions) and subjected to an innovative thermal extraction technique. Aliquots were heated directly within a micro-chamber thermal extractor (µ-CTE) at temperatures ranging from 40 °C to 120 °C. The emitted chemical vapors were captured using sorbent tubes containing Tenax (Q-Tenax) and subsequently analyzed via thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD/GC/MS). The systematic detection of key target analytes confirmed the viability of µ-CTE heating as a rapid, solventless approach to vaporize and quantify loose SVOC fractions. To validate this method, comparative evaluations were conducted against conventional solvent extraction-GC/MS method. While conventional solvent extraction provided total mass loadings via aggressive matrix dissolution, the µ-CTE method effectively characterized the readily bioaccessible, vaporizable fractions. This method demonstrates strong repeatability with relative standard deviations (RSD) generally between 9% and 27%, presenting a rapid, green analytical tool for indoor environmental health assessments.