Indoor air quality of 5,000 households and its determinants. Part B: Volatile organic compounds and inorganic gaseous pollutants in the Japan Environment and Children's study.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are major indoor air pollutants. Quantification of indoor concentrations of VOCs and identification of factors associated with these concentrations can help manage indoor air quality. This study measured the concentrations of VOCs and inorganic gaseous pollutants in around 5000 households in Japan and utilised a random forest model to estimate these concentrations and identify important determinants. The homes of 5017 randomly selected participants in the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS) were visited twice, when the children were aged 1.5 and 3 years. Twelve VOCs and inorganic gaseous pollutants were measured during 7 days by passive samplers. Various factors in these households, including household appliances, building characteristics, cooking styles, use of consumer products, renovation, pets, personal behaviours and ventilation were recorded. A random forest model with recursive feature elimination was utilised to identify factors predictive of VOCs and inorganic gaseous pollutants. Toluene, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were the dominant indoor VOCs. The 95th percentiles of indoor p-dichlorobenzene concentrations at 1.5 and 3 years were 67 μg/m

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