PHOTOCATALYTIC DESTRUCTION OF VOCS IN SECONDHAND CIGARETTE SMOKE

The EPA has identified indoor air pollution (IAP) as one of the most urgentenvironmental issues in the US. While there are many sources of IAP, the mostprevalent and difficult to address is secondhand cigarette smoke. Existingtechnologies are excellent at removing particulates, but are inadequate forremoval of VOCs. Existing VOC removal technologies suffer from 1) effectivenesson only certain classes of VOCs, 2) limited lifetimes, necessitating frequentmaintenance, 3) high operating costs and/or 4) transfer of VOCs into the solidphase, creating wastes requiring disposal.(EHC) E. Heller & Company is developing photocatalytic systems for thedestruction of indoor air pollutants, including VOCs and gas phase inorganicssuch as NOx, CO and hydrogen cyanide. Photo-catalysis is a promising technologythat uses UV light to drive oxidation and reduction reactions on catalystsurfaces. These reactions convert VOCs to water and carbon dioxide. EHC willapply its novel chemistries and reactor designs to the destruction of secondhandcigarette smoke. In Phase I, EHC will show that formaldehyde, acrolein, hydrogencyanide, benzene and the PAH model phenanthrene are destroyed at sufficientlyrapid rates and with no toxic byproducts. Effectiveness is reducing totalhydrocarbons in actual sidestream cigarette smoke will be demonstrated.