TVOCs emissions from disinfectants, bonding agents and acrylic substances in a controlled dental office

The aim of this study, which took place in a dental environment located at the centre of Athens, Greece, is to quantify the amount of Total Volatile Compounds (TVOCs), which were emitted from commonly used dental substances in a controlled dental micro-environment (8 surface disinfectants including both sprays and tissues, 8 bonding agents and 4 acrylic substances). TVOCs concentrations were monitored at three distances from the source (right above the source, 50cm and 100 cm distance from the source) for a period of minutes using a ppbRAE monitor. The environmental factors were complementary assessed using a prototype experimental setup consisted of a sonic anemometer and a hygrometer right above the source. Ventilation rates were estimated via CO2 concentrations.

High TVOCs concentrations were found to be emitted from three out of the four acrylic substances, with average values as high as 42.000 ppb. Concentrations were substantially reduced away from the source (average values below 500 ppb for all substances). For disinfectants, above the source the concentrations ranged between 30.430 ppb and 10 ppb with an average value of 5.393 ppb. Significant differences were observed between TVOCs emitted from sprays which in general, were substantially higher than TVOCs emitted from wipes (average TVOCs conc. from sprays 8.327 ppb, while the respective value for tissues is 496 ppb).
An effort was made to assess the dependence of the measured TVOCs concentrations on environmental factors such as wind speed and ventilation rates. It was found that the influence of environmental factors is not traceable, indicating the importance of emission patterns.