Research Progress on Organic Pollution in the Indoor Air of Urban Residences in China

This review summarizes the organic pollution in the indoor air of Chinese urban residences according to the order of time. Generally, Chinese researchers paid more attention to organic pollutants such as formaldehyde, the benzene series and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in dwellings. Their concentrations were analyzed in urban residences, especially in newly decorated residences on the basis of field tests previously reported in the Chinese literature. The results indicate that there are obvious differences in the concentrations of the same kind of components in different urban residences. The concentrations in excess of the concentration limits for formaldehyde, the benzene series exist in the initial stage following completion of interior decoration. The concentrations of the different components for PAHs are obviously different in urban dwellings.