ECA 13: Determination of VOCs emitted from indoor materials and products. Interlaboratory comparison of small chamber measurements

An interlaboratory comparison using three materials has been organized to assess the agreement among laboratories undertaking tests to characterize the emission of volatile organic compounds from indoor materials and products using small test chambers. The twenty participating laboratories showed the following main results. Chambers of different materials (glass and stainless steel) and of widely different capacity (0.035 to 1475 l) appeared equally suitable. The repeatability of duplicate measurements (including sampling) within each laboratory was good. The test with a known n-dodecane source showed, for most laboratories, an unexpected and yet unexplained discrepancy. The interlaboratory agreement appeared reasonable (coefficient of variation 26-42%) when testing a PVC tile, but for a wax the scatter was very high.