Environmental Chemistry Lab, Department of Applied Chemistry,
Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University
Led by Tomoaki OKUDA, Ph.D.

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Research Topics

Analysis of VOCs emitted from fragrance products

In recent years, fragrances are increasingly included in various products in people's lives. For this reason, the market for flavoring products for the purpose of scenting is increasing year by year. In addition, people who have experienced acute poisoning due to contact with a large amount of chemical substances have potentially developed multiple chemical sensitivity. In particular, chemical substances volatilized in indoor environments due to the use of scented daily goods may irritate the eyes and throat of MCS patients, causing various symptoms such as headaches and nausea. MCS has a prevalence of about 1% in Japan, and countermeasures and investigation of causative substances are urgent issues. The onset mechanism of MCS is not yet fully understood, and there is no presented countermeasure for MCS patients based on scientific knowledge. The aim of this study is to propose mitigation and avoidance measures for MCS patients by elucidating the mechanisms that adversely affect MCS patients in daily living spaces. In particular, the use of fragrances in living spaces may cause the generation of high concentrations of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), and it is thought that substances contained in these TVOCs may adversely affect MCS patients. Therefore, in this study, we first measured the concentration of TVOC released from household items. After that, qualitative and quantitative analysis was carried out by GC / MS with chemical substances that were considered to have an adverse effect on MCS patients.

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