Effects of Vehicle Ventilation System, Fuel Type, and In-Cabin Smoking on the Concentration of Toluene and Ethylbenzene in Pride Cars Publisher



Rismanchian M¹ ; Garsivaz M¹ ; Porzamani H^{2, 3} ; Maracy MR⁴ ; Shakerian M¹ ; Heidari M¹ Show Affiliations
Source: International Journal of Environmental Health Engineering Published:2013

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the concentrations of toluene and ethylbenzene inside the Pride cars and to investigate the effects of the vehicle ventilation system, fule type, and interior smoking on their concentration. Materials and Methods: In the present study, 152 different models of Pride cars, stopped in parking [classified into three groups including: Pride KIA (Group I), Saba (Group II) 131, 141, 132, LX111, SX, and Nasim (Group III)] were sampled using activated carbon sorbent tube. The samples were analyzed using gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. The vehicle ventilation, fuel type, and in-cabin smoking were recorded. Results: The average concentrations of toluene and ethylbenzene were 105.4 ± 270.5 and 19.09 ± 33.97 µg/m3, respectively. The average concentration of toluene was higher than that of ethylbenzene. The concentration differences of both toluene and ethylbenzen among the studied groups were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The ventilation condition, fuel type, and in-cabin smoking were not significantly impressive on the toluene and ethylbenzene concentrations inside the cars. However, simultaneous usage of the vehicle ventilation system and natural ventilation (windows) could lead to little decrease in toluene concentration levels inside the car, while smoking consumption by passengers can increase them. Copyright: © 2013 Rismanchian M. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.