Historically air constituents have been assumed to be well mixed in indoor environments, with single point measurements and box modeling representing a room or a house. Here we demonstrate that this fundamental assumption needs to be revisited through advanced model simulations and extensive measurements of bleach cleaning. We show that inorganic chlorinated products, such as hypochlorous acid and chloramines generated via multiphase reactions, exhibit spatial and vertical concentration gradients in a room, with short-lived ⋅OH radicals confined to sunlit zones, close to windows. Spatial and temporal scales of indoor constituents are modulated by rates of chemical reactions, surface interactions and building ventilation, providing critical insights for better assessments of human exposure to hazardous pollutants, as well as the transport of indoor chemicals outdoors.

从历史上看，空气成分被假设在室内环境中混合良好，单点测量和盒子建模代表房间或房屋。在这里，我们证明需要通过高级模型模拟和广泛的漂白剂清洁测量来重新审视这一基本假设。我们表明，无机氯化产物，例如通过多相反应产生的次氯酸和氯胺，在房间内表现出空间和垂直浓度梯度，具有短暂的寿命⋅OH 自由基局限于阳光照射区域，靠近窗户。室内成分的时空尺度受化学反应速率、表面相互作用和建筑物通风的调节，为更好地评估人类接触有害污染物以及室内化学物质向室外的传输提供了重要的见解。