Indoor level of BTEX and health risk assessment at science laboratories in a university

Abstract The levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene isomers (BTEX) are important parameters for an indoor air quality assessment. Exposure to BTEX in science laboratories a university can potentially cause health risks workers. Active sampling was carried out using Tenax® GR sorbent tubes analyzed with thermal desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GCMS) measure the at selected areas. average concentration individual complex were follows: Benzene (1.76 ± 0.44 μg/m 3 ), Toluene (8.15 2.99 Ethylbenzene (3.75 0.69 m, p-Xylene (6.07 1.19 ) o-Xylene (4.84 0.43 ). distribution components varied depending on floor level, laboratory activities, size, interior furniture. Non-cancer risk estimates based hazard quotient value < 1, indicating unlikely non-cancer risk. Lifetime cancer range 1.16 × 10 -6 – 2.54 possible sampled locations. Therefore, pose workers from long-term exposure BTEX.