ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part describes the advances in these areas of sampling and analysis made by the Research Triangle Institute and other organizations under Environmental Protection Agency sponsorship. It focuses on volatile organics collected on Tenax. The part focuses on the semivolatile and nonvolatile classes of compounds which include pesticides, organics adsorbed to particulates, and Polychlorinated biphenyls. It considers both the particulate and vapor phase components for certain compounds that are on or near the borderline between these two classes. The part presents a rigorous test of the hypothesis that formaldehyde vapor causes asthma, with a clearly negative result, at least for the 13 asthmatic and formaldehyde-exposed patients tested. It also presents an equally rigorous test of the hypothesis those mixtures of organic vapors in the amounts commonly seen in new Danish housing.
