Sensory and chemical characterisation of VOC emissions from building products: impact of concentration and air velocity.

Describes a study of the emissions from five commonly used building products: three floor coverings - PVC, floor varnish on beechwood parquet and nylon carpet on a latex foam backing; an acrylic sealant and a waterborne wall paint on gypsum board. Small scale test chambers were used over 50 days. A sensory panel was used to assess odour intensity and VOCs were measured. Emissions were studied under two or three different area-specific ventilation rates. Suggests that the results show that it is possible after an initial period of around 14 days to consider the emission rate of VOCs of primary origin as being independent of the concentration and of the air velocity. Odour emissions decayed only modestly over time. Recommends use of building products with an initial low impact on perceived air quality.