Building Assessment Survey and Evaluation (BASE) Study
Volatile Organic Compounds Master List
Box and Whisker Plot
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- 100% Building Frequency of Detection Indoors
- 75% - 99% Building Frequency of Detection Indoors
- 1% - 74% Building Frequency of Detection Indoors
- Not Detected in BASE Study Buildings Indoors
Click on the Analyte, or Chemical Name, in the charts below to display the concentration distribution of the chemical across all sampling sites both indoors and outdoors. Also provided as background, is a Box-and-Whisker Plot chart that describes the typical spread of data. A more detailed discussion of changes in methodology and target Analyte can be found in the 2003 Standardized BASE Protocol (PDF) (311 pp., 1.5 M, about PDF).
100% Building Frequency of Detection Indoors
| Analyte (Indoors) | Number of Buildings |
Building Frequency Detected Indoors (%) |
Analyte Concentration Indoors Percentile (ug/m3) |
Analyte Concentration Indoors Arithmetic Mean (ug/m3) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5th | 50th | 95th | ||||
| Acetaldehyde | 86 | 100 | 2.6 | 7.2 | 15 | 7.8 |
| Acetone | 70 | 100 | 9.9 | 30 | 110 | 42 |
| Benzene | 70 | 100 | 1.1 | 3.6 | 9.1 | 4.2 |
| Nonanal | 41 | 100 | 1.5 | 3.6 | 7.9 | 4.3 |
| Toluene | 70 | 100 | 2.7 | 8.7 | 39 | 16 |
| 1,1,1-Trichloroethane | 70 | 100 | 0.97 | 3.1 | 21 | 11 |
| Chloromethane | 87 | 100 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 4.3 | 2.9 |
| Ethylbenzene | 70 | 100 | 0.43 | 1.5 | 6.2 | 2.4 |
| Formaldehyde | 100 | 100 | 4.4 | 15 | 32 | 16 |
| m- & p-Xylenes | 70 | 100 | 1.3 | 5.1 | 24 | 8.4 |
| n-Decane | 70 | 100 | 0.79 | 2.9 | 24 | 6.3 |
| n-Dodecane | 70 | 100 | 0.99 | 3.5 | 14 | 5.4 |
| n-Undecane | 70 | 100 | 0.96 | 4.0 | 19 | 6.3 |
| o-Xylene | 70 | 100 | 0.59 | 2.1 | 8.2 | 3.1 |
| 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene | 70 | 100 | 0.61 | 1.9 | 12 | 3.3 |
| d-Limonene | 70 | 100 | 1.1 | 7.1 | 44 | 12 |
| Hexanal | 41 | 100 | 1.5 | 4.1 | 12 | 5.4 |
| Phenol | 41 | 100 | 0.38 | 1.8 | 7.3 | 2.5 |
| Ethyl Acetate | 70 | 100 | 0.34 | 2.0 | 7.5 | 3.7 |
| Tetrachloroethene | 70 | 100 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 18 | 3.8 |
|
2,2,4-Trimethyl-1,
3-Pentanediol Diisobutyrate |
41 | 100 | 0.26 | 0.74 | 2.4 | 1.1 |
| 2-Ethyl-1-Hexanol | 41 | 100 | 0.26 | 1.2 | 5.1 | 1.8 |
| Nonane | 70 | 100 | ≤ LOQ | 0.94 | 10 | 2.8 |
| Ethanol | 13 | 100 | ≤ LOQ | 79 | 260 | 89 |
| 2-Propanol | 13 | 100 | ≤ LOQ | 30 | 320 | 73 |
| Note: Time-integrated air sampling for VOCs was collected in all 100 study buildings. The SUMMA canister method (method CAN) and aldehyde sample method (method ALD) were used in all 100 buildings, while the multisorbent method (method TNX) was used for the last 70 buildings studied. In addition, because the target VOC analyte list underwent some revision over the course of the BASE study, some analytes were sampled at fewer than the full 100 buildings. | ||||||
75% - 99% Building Frequency of Detection Indoors
| Analyte (Indoors) | Number of Buildings |
Building Frequency Detected Indoors (%) |
Analyte Concentration Indoors Percentile (ug/m3) |
Analyte Concentration Indoors Arithmetic Mean (ug/m3) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5th | 50th | 95th | ||||
| 2-Butanone | 70 | 99 | 0.81 | 2.6 | 7.8 | 3.3 |
| Styrene | 70 | 99 | 0.091 | 0.91 | 3.0 | 1.3 |
| Octane | 70 | 99 | ≤ LOQ | 0.85 | 6.4 | 3.3 |
| 2-Butoxyethanol | 41 | 98 | 0.036 | 5.5 | 68 | 12 |
| n-Hexane | 41 | 98 | ≤ LOQ | 2.5 | 12 | 3.9 |
| Valeraldehyde (Pentanal) | 41 | 98 | ≤ LOQ | 1.2 | 4.0 | 1.6 |
| Dichlorodifluoromethane | 87 | 97 | ≤ LOQ | 6.8 | 36 | 33 |
| 4-Ethyltoluene | 70 | 96 | ≤ LOQ | 0.77 | 4.1 | 1.3 |
| Butyl Acetate | 70 | 94 | ≤ LOQ | 1.5 | 10 | 3.1 |
| a-Pinene | 70 | 94 | ≤ LOQ | 0.57 | 3.1 | 0.94 |
| 2,2,4-Trimethyl-1, 3-Pentanediol monoisobutyratel | 41 | 93 | ≤ LOQ | 2.5 | 19 | 5.4 |
| 1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene | 70 | 93 | ≤ LOQ | 0.54 | 3.9 | 1.0 |
| 4-Methyl-2-Pentanone | 70 | 93 | ≤ LOQ | 1.0 | 7.2 | 2.2 |
| 1-Butanol | 41 | 90 | ≤ LOQ | 2.1 | 10 | 3.3 |
| Naphthalene | 70 | 90 | ≤ LOQ | 0.73 | 2.6 | 0.95 |
| Methylene Chloride | 100 | 81 | ≤ LOQ | 2.9 | 16 | 21 |
| 1,4-Dichlorobenzene | 70 | 77 | ≤ LOQ | 0.54 | 13 | 2.8 |
| Trichlorofluoromethane | 100 | 73 | ≤ LOQ | 3.9 | 51 | 19 |
| Note: Time-integrated air sampling for VOCs was collected in all 100 study buildings. The SUMMA canister method (method CAN) and aldehyde sample method (method ALD) were used in all 100 buildings, while the multisorbent method (method TNX) was used for the last 70 buildings studied. In addition, because the target VOC analyte list underwent some revision over the course of the BASE study, some analytes were sampled at fewer than the full 100 buildings. | ||||||
1% - 74% Building Frequency of Detection Indoors
| Analyte (Indoors) | Number of Buildings |
Building Frequency Detected Indoors (%) |
Analyte Concentration Indoors Percentile (ug/m3) |
Analyte Concentration Indoors Arithmetic Mean (ug/m3) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5th | 50th | 95th | ||||
| Carbon Disulfide | 87 | 67 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 6.4 | 2.0 |
| Trichloroethene | 70 | 66 | ≤ LOQ | 0.29 | 2.6 | 0.76 |
| 3-Methyl Pentane | 70 | 64 | ≤ LOQ | 1.4 | 6.6 | 2.3 |
| 2-Methyl-1-Propanol | 13 | 31 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 5.3 | 1.4 |
| Chloroform | 87 | 29 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 1.3 | 0.59 |
| t-Butyl Methyl Ether | 70 | 24 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 14 | 2.8 |
| n-Heptanal | 13 | 23 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 2.0 | 2.1 |
| Trichlorotrifluoroethane | 87 | 21 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 8.1 | 2.3 |
| Dimethyl Disulfide | 87 | 14 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 3.6 | 2.6 |
| Chlorobenzene | 70 | 13 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 0.26 | 0.18 |
| Carbon Tetrachloride | 70 | 8.6 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 0.74 | 0.93 |
| 4-Phenylcyclohexene | 41 | 7.3 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 0.17 |
| Bromomethane | 87 | 6.9 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 0.12 | 0.85 |
| 1,2-Dichloroethane | 87 | 4.6 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 1.1 |
| 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene | 29 | 3.5 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 0.38 |
| Chloroethane | 87 | 3.5 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 1.4 |
| 1,2-Dichlorobenzene | 70 | 2.9 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 0.27 |
| Vinyl Chloride | 87 | 1.2 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 0.78 |
| 1,2-Dibromoethane | 87 | 1.2 | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | 1.1 |
| Note: Time-integrated air sampling for VOCs was collected in all 100 study buildings. The SUMMA canister method (method CAN) and aldehyde sample method (method ALD) were used in all 100 buildings, while the multisorbent method (method TNX) was used for the last 70 buildings studied. In addition, because the target VOC analyte list underwent some revision over the course of the BASE study, some analytes were sampled at fewer than the full 100 buildings. | ||||||
Not Detected in BASE Study Buildings Indoors
| Analyte (Indoors) | Number of Buildings |
Building Frequency Detected Indoors (%) |
Analyte Concentration Indoors Percentile (ug/m3) |
Analyte Concentration Indoors Arithmetic Mean (ug/m3) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5th | 50th | 95th | ||||
| 1,1-Dichloroethane | 46 | - | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | - |
| 1,1-Dichloroethene | 46 | - | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | - |
| 1,3-Butadiene | 13 | - | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | - |
| Butylated Hydroxytoluene | 41 | - | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | - |
| cis-1,3-Dicholorpropene | 46 | - | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | - |
| Dichlorotetrafluoroethane | 46 | - | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | - |
| trans-1,3-Dichloropropene | 46 | - | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | ≤ LOQ | - |
| Note: Time-integrated air sampling for VOCs was collected in all 100 study buildings. The SUMMA canister method (method CAN) and aldehyde sample method (method ALD) were used in all 100 buildings, while the multisorbent method (method TNX) was used for the last 70 buildings studied. In addition, because the target VOC analyte list underwent some revision over the course of the BASE study, some analytes were sampled at fewer than the full 100 buildings. | ||||||
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