Characterizing volatile organic compounds from personal protective equipment users: Implications to cleanroom air quality and occupational health.

Human-related contaminants are the primary pollution source in cleanrooms. This study employed time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS) to characterize volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from breath and skin under different activity levels and personal protective equipment (PPE) conditions in a climatic chamber. The results show that, without PPE, breath and skin emission rates were 968.2 ± 350.8 μg hp and 2115.8 ± 1813.7 μg hp, respectively. With PPE, breath emissions slightly increased to 1068.6 ± 472.7 μg hp, while skin emissions stabilized at 2181.1 ± 1302.5 μg hp. Key VOCs included acetone, isoprene, and ethanol from breath, and propanamide, acetone, and isoprene from skin. Activity levels increased skin emissions, but prolonged PPE use reduced them. Females showed higher sensitivity to PPE in breath emissions, while males were more sensitive in skin emissions. PPE had minimal efficacy in mitigating the outward emission of skin VOCs into the ambient environment. The hydroxyl radical reactivity and secondary organic aerosol formation potential from human-related VOCs were 0.27 ± 0.08 s and 2.13 ± 0.51 μg m, respectively. Breath VOCs, especially acrolein and acetaldehyde, pose significant health risks to users and may affect industrial processes. These findings highlight the importance of human activities in VOC emissions, crucial for contaminant control, health assessments, and industrial processes like semiconductor cleanrooms.