Air quality and particulate matter speciation in a beauty salon and surrounding outdoor environment: Exploratory study

Beauty salons are considered occupational environments where the staff personnel and clients are exposed to high levels of airborne pollutants. In this study, air quality monitoring was carried out in Léon, Spain. Temperature, relative humidity, CO2, CO and particulate matter were continuously monitored inside and outside areas of the salon. PM10 was simultaneously collected onto filters. Volatile organic compounds and carbonyls were sampled inside the salon. Indoor PM10 concentrations exceeded the recommended 24-h guideline of 50 μg m−3. A detailed PM10 chemical characterisation included organic and elemental carbon, trace elements, water-soluble ions and organic speciation. Indoor vs outdoor ratios of PM10, as well as the majority of PM10-bound organic compounds, were >1. During work periods, organic carbon accounted for 29.5 ± 1.8 and 16.2 ± 4.5 %wt. of PM10 indoors and outdoors, respectively. More than 200 individual organic compounds were detected in the PM10, including aliphatic alcohols, fatty acids, phthalates, glycerol derivatives, fatty acid alkyl esters, phenolic compounds, alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, among others. Many of them are part of formulations widely used in hair cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products. Inadequate ventilation, working activities and the use of specific products can greatly contribute to high indoor levels of organic air pollutants. Formaldehyde revealed a cancer risk of 4.6 × 10−6, higher than the guideline level, suggesting a “possible risk” for workers. The total excess lifetime cancer risk from exposure to multiple compounds was 9.3 × 10−6, which is lower than the acceptable risk, but not negligible.