Indoor air quality investigation from screen printing industry

Abstract

The paper investigates the quality of air in working premises of screen printing in Novi Sad, Serbia. The concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds, formaldehyde, acetone and ozone were measured in a five screen printing facilities. Measurements were carried out during 4 h, every 40 min, using the air sampler PRO-EKOS AT 401X and mobile gas chromatograph. The sampling position was determined according to the technical characteristics of screen printing desk. Air was sampled from one sampling point as the most suitable in terms of production volume. Determined concentrations of certain gases indicate not only their presence, but also the fact that their level exceeds the prescribed value of the OSHA and NIOSH standards. The concentrations of acetone, isopropanol and methyl ethyl ketone increased from 0.120 to 0.214 ppm within 80 min of printing process in most investigated facilities. The ozone concentrations varied from 0.650 to 3.997 ppm and they differ between facilities almost 1.5 to 6 times depending on intensity of the ventilation, diffusion processes, or interaction with other Volatile Organic Compounds of indoor air. The obtained results confirmed the existence of mutual dependence between pollutants. The regression models determined the quantitative dependence of the studied phenomenon. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.