Multiple Regression Analysis as Indicator of Hazardous Organic Pollutants Interdependency in Pad Press Indoor Air

Abstract

© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim The identification and evaluation of occupational organic hazards were performed in four pad press departments in Novi Sad, Serbia. Air samples were collected and analyzed in situ for four times, once per hour, during 4 h working time. The microclimate parameters (temperature, relative humidity, and light intensity (LI)) were monitored at the same time as the concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The concentrations of toluene, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) were correlated to a concentration of total volatile organic pollutants by using multiple linear regression analysis. In addition, microclimate parameters were correlated with the target organic hazards. Primarily, LI showed the highest influence on hazard pollution variation. The multiple correlation coefficients showed high values of total VOCs and acetone concentration (the dependent variable) depending on other organic pollutant concentration of 0.869696 and 0.887849, respectively. The investigation has shown that the interdependence of organic hazard was statistically significant, except in the case of MEK, which has the lowest impact on all other pollutants. Investigated variables are presented with regression models for each pad printing department.