Identification of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds correlating with bad indoor air quality

In highly occupied rooms and despite adaption at one point people present start to complain about bad air quality - and not only those entering the room. Finding out what compounds are responsible for that perception was our interest. Air samples were collected in crowded rooms, while air quality was rated, and analyzed in comparison to the empty room by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Indoor air contaminants correlating with human presence were identified. Some compounds occur frequently, they highly correlate with human presence: ethanol, acetone, isoprene, a-pinene, limonene, eucalyptil, nonanal and decanal