Under the aspect of consumer protection different kinds of labelling systems for materialemissions have been developed in many European countries and by industrial organizations.Despite a common market there is no harmonized system for material emission available inEurope. In the second half of 2001, the European Collaborative Action on Urban Air, IndoorEnvironment & Human Exposure established a working group to bring forward theharmonization of the indoor material labelling schemes at European level.
The Healthy Building Technology Programme was established in Finland to abolish thefactors causing building related problems as it was clearly seen that deficiencies in indoor airhad an economical importance even at the national level (Rantama, 2003).
Evaluation of emissions from building products is mainly focused on comparison betweenexposition concentrations of identified individual organic compounds and health criteria. Noadequate integrated criterion is available for interaction and mixture effects. Besides,everyone performs daily evaluation of perceived air quality. Human beings through theirsenses, for example, olfaction and chemesthesis, are able to achieve a synthetic response to aglobal mixture of compounds.
Especially in new buildings we could find striking concentrations of MVOCs and we couldnot localize mould damage. We first supposed that some MVOC components are not specificfor microorganisms but normal VOC from new materials. But very often the mould dogmarked walls and floors spacious in new buildings where we detected MVOC in the indoorair.To obtain information if new materials contain microorganisms, we analysed gypsumboard, Styrofoam and mineralic insulation material for fungi and bacteria that we purchasedin three different hardware stores.
Information is needed about the overall nature of the reasonably foreseeable exposures fromconsumer products, including intended exposures of chemicals released into the air by design(e.g. fragrance materials), and other inhalation, dermal, and oral exposures arising from theuse of consumer products (CPs) in the indoor environment.
Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), emitted from building materials and othersources in the indoor environments, are likely to be bound to particulates due to theirrelatively low vapour pressure. While toxic metals and biological pollutants in house dusthave been investigated in several studies, little work has been done to detect SVOCs. In thispaper, the preliminary results on the screening of SVOCs in house dust in selected sixresidential homes are presented. The dust particles (
This study highlights the presence of dominant source/s of several VOCs and theirgeographical similarities and differences within European Union (EU) and Singaporebuildings. Concentrations and emission rates of 2-methylpentane and heptane are higher inEU buildings as compared to the ones in Singapore. Also, lower alkanes are observed to behigher in levels in EU buildings as opposed to the higher alkanes, which are more dominant inSingapore buildings with statistical differences approaching significance.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) in a house using building materials with low chemical emission wasinvestigated for 8 months. Indoor air concentration, emission rate of aldehydes and VOCsfrom floor and wall, air change rate, temperature and relative humidity were measured toevaluate the IAQ of the house. Air change rate was measured by two methods. Indoor airconcentration and emission rate from building materials were measured at differentconstruction phases (before and after completion) and after being occupied. A questionnairewas used to examine the influence of lifestyle on IAQ.
A 3-year research project was established in 1999 to create numerical reference data forindoor air quality follow-up in new buildings. A total of 12 measurement sites, representingthe present construction practice in Finland, were chosen for investigation. Low-emittingsurface materials according to the Finnish Classification of Building Materials were used atall sites. The indoor air VOCs, formaldehyde and ammonia concentration as well as thetemperature, relative humidity and the air exchange rate were defined for the newly finishedbuilding.
A material emission database was developed for 48 building materials based on ASTM testmethods. The database consists of model coefficients for the five to six most abundant volatileorganic compounds (VOCs) emitted from each building material. A power-law model wasused to describe the emissions from dry materials including particleboard, plywood, orientedstrand board (OSB), solid wood, gypsum wallboard, acoustic ceiling tile, vinyl flooring,underpad and carpet.
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