Background: There are thousands of students and teachers involving in university oil painting classes in Taiwan, but few studies have been conducted to examine the air quality of oil painting classrooms. Aims: To investigate the air quality and levels of turpentine oil in university oil painting classrooms, and hope the results will help improving their teaching environment. Methods: Three oil painting classrooms in three universities were selected as study subjects. A real- time air monitor was used to record temperature, humility, and conc. of CO2, CO, O3 and TVOC. The solid adsorption tube containing Tenax TA was used to collect air sample and then analyzed by thermodesorption/GC-MS for turpentine conc.measurement. Samples were collected once a week for five consecutive weeks during March and April 2011. The occupants and ventilating condition in each classroom on sampling day was also recorded. Results: The weekly measurements showed that most of air pollutants increased gradually through the class. The average CO2 conc. in three classrooms were 752 ～1130 ppm, and the highest value was 2070 ppm. The average TVOC conc. were 5.6 ～ 6.6 ppm, and the highest measured level was 19.6 ppm. The average O3 conc. were 46.9 ～ 53.4 ppb, and the greatest detected value was 181 ppb. The average turpentine conc. were 2.59 ～6.16 mg/m3, and the highest level determined was 35.86 mg/m3. The multiple regression model showed that the number of occupants and the ventilating condition were correlated with the conc. of turpentine. Conclusions: Poor indoor air condition in university oil painting classrooms was found in this study, the conc. of CO2, O3and TVOC in three subject classrooms usually exceeded the Taiwan EPA's standards of indoor air quality. Although all levels of turpentine were quite low, but the pungent smell spread all over the classroom should be concerned. The authorities should reduce the number of students in each class and increase air change rates to improve the air quality.
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