Ottawa School Indoor Air Quality Study: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Dataset

In 2013, Health Canada conducted an indoor air quality study in 4 schools located near major roads in Ottawa, ON. At each school, a range of air pollutants were monitored both indoors and outdoors for 32 consecutive school days (6.5 hour duration) under both baseline conditions and intervention conditions.

The intervention assessed how changing the timing of high ventilation periods impacted indoor air quality in schools. Among the different pollutants measured, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were collected using Summa™ canisters.  The sample canisters were analyzed for 153 polar and non-polar VOCs. 

This dataset presents the descriptive VOC statistics obtained as part of this study, stratified by intervention status, and is intended to provide relevant Canadian data on indoor exposure to VOCs found in schools.