Material odour emission test methods: review and evaluation.

This materials odour emission project was conducted for the Task Force on Materials Emissions and four industry sponsors. The objectives of the project were to review material odour test methods, conduct comparative tests of various materials by the most applicable methods and to recommend test methods for materials odour emission characterization. The review identified six test methods which were then compared in a program of odour testing of 1 0 materials. Two test methods were quantitative odour intensity methods and four methods used perceived intensity and hedonic scales. The materials tested were those· · considered typical indoor sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and with weak to potentially high odours. These materials included resilient flooring, carpet, counter top, office partition panels, painted trim and plywood. TVOC emissions tests were also performed on the 1 0 materials using a small dynamic chamber. The six odour evaluation methods generally were in agreement in identifying the high, moderate and low odour emitting materials. The odour threshold or butanol reference methods could both be used as quantitative materials odour emission evaluation methods. A simpler method which used multi-point perceived intensity and hedonic scales was the preferred non-quantitative method. There was no relationship between odour strength/intensity and TVOC emissions.