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Caractérisation de l’efficacité chimique et particulaire d’un épurateur d’air photocatalytique autonome Volume 10, issue 1, Janvier-Février 2011

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GDF SUEZ Direction de la recherche et de l’innovation 361, avenue Président Wilson 93211 Saint Denis La Plaine cedex France, CSTB Division Santé 24, rue Joseph Fourier 38400 Saint-Martin d’Hères France, LHVP 11, rue George Eastman 75013 ParisFrance, EDF Délégation Groupe Santé Sécurité Service des études médicales 45, rue Kleber 92300 Levallois-PerretFrance, GDF SUEZ Direction Santé, sécurité et systèmes de management 1, place Samuel de Champlain Faubourg de l’Arche 92930 Paris la Défense France

In the current energy context, as home insulation is reinforced and air renewal rates continue to improve, the purification of indoor air may be an effective means of improving its quality. The objective of this study was first to test five commercially available stand-alone air purifiers according to their emission of ozone and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the absence of indoor pollutants requiring treatment, and then to select the purifier emitting the least ozone and NOx for a detailed study of its efficacy in purifying chemicals and particles, both when new and after one month of continuous use. Three of the five machines tested produced ozone and/or NOx. One of the two that emitted neither ozone nor NOx was selected for a detailed study of its capacity to remove chemicals and particles. This photocatalytic purifier was tested to determine its filtration efficacy and to assess the chemical yield of purification after the simultaneous generation in the test room of pollutants representative of indoor air – toluene, limonene, formaldehyde and NOx. This machine's performance in removing particles was very good, especially in view of the high speed of the purification. It reduced limonene concentrations substantially. Tested both new and used, however, it did not appear effective in purifying either toluene or NOx. Moreover, formaldehyde (classified as certainly carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer [IARC]) levels were not reduced; indeed, use of the machine, both new and used, increased the concentrations of this pollutant as soon as the machine began operating. This increase may be associated with the materials it is made of or with the conversion of limonene.