Fig. 4

Phthalate DEHP measured in air in college dorm rooms before and after occupancy (data not yet published). Levels in our samples (purple dots) were higher post- compared to pre-occupancy, but this plot revealed that levels in field blanks (blue dots) were also higher post- compared to pre-occupancy and within the range of field samples. We also saw a matrix blank (green dot) well within the range of the field samples in the pre-occupancy batch. These data suggest DEHP contamination in both batches; for the post-occupancy batch, we hypothesized this might have come from the plastic bags in which the samplers were shipped. We will not report results for this chemical from this study, given the evidence of contamination. LLOQ = Lower Limit of Quantitation