Indoor air quality in new hotels' guest rooms of the major world factory region

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of Guangdong province has been developed rapidly in recent years, and many new hotels have been built. Nevertheless, the indoor air quality (IAQ) of hotels is seldom investigated and reported. Therefore this study aimed at examining the air quality in newly opened hotels in the region. A 2-day field test was carried out in each of the eight sampled hotels, investigating both indoor and outdoor air qualities. Major air pollutants including individual volatile organic compounds (VOC) and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), as well as physical background parameters such as air temperature (T-a), relative humidity (RH), and ventilation rate were investigated. The results showed that most of the sampled hotels were unable to provide a completely healthy indoor environment. Compare with findings of similar studies, this study found that in terms of air quality, new hotels were more polluted than older hotels and residential buildings. The dominant pollution sources came from indoor, rather than ambient environment. At the end of this paper, some recommendations for improving hotel IAQ are presented. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.