Aerosol Formation and Control in UV Air Treatment

紫外线（UV）光越来越多地被用于处理住宅、商业和医疗设施中的空气，以进行消毒、去除挥发性有机化合物（VOC）和控制气味。虽然这些都是有益的目的，但紫外线处理也可能产生称为二次有机气溶胶的细颗粒。这些颗粒对室内和室外空气质量的影响日益引起关注，因为有证据表明它们与呼吸和心脏健康的负面影响有关。因此，我们需要研究在紫外线处理过程中它们是如何形成的，这是一个以前没有解决的话题。

Ultraviolet (UV) light is increasingly being used to treat the air in residential, commercial, and medical facilities for disinfection, volatile organic compound (VOC) removal, and odour control purposes. While these are beneficial purposes, the possibility exists that UV treatment also creates fine particles called secondary organic aerosols. The impact of these particles on indoor and outdoor air quality is of increasing concern because of evidence linking them with negative respiratory and cardiac health effects. Therefore we need to study how they may be formed during UV treatment, and this is a topic that has not been previously addressed. With an improved understanding of particle concentrations and formation mechanisms, we can then investigate techniques for minimizing the formation, or removing the aerosols during treatment. The results of this work will lead toward improved indoor air quality in buildings where UV air treatment is used, as well as improved UV device design for Canadian manufacturers to implement.