01/04/2020
Pictures of the 3 emission chambers

Pictures of the 3 emission chambers (203 L, 24 L desiccator and 44 mL microchambers), shot taken at BfR and BAM in 2017

Source: Morgane Even

This study emerged from a cooperation between the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and BAM division Division Materials and Air Pollutants. Emissions of formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from building materials have been studied at BAM for 30 years. The ISO 16000 standard series and the European norm EN 16516 provide guidelines for such measurements by means of emission test chambers. Emission chambers are closed systems made of stainless steel or glass that themselves release or adsorb only negligible amounts of volatile compounds. Temperature, humidity, loading and air change rates can be adjusted to simulate the conditions in a real indoor environment. Polymer‐based consumer products such as toys may also release harmful substances into indoor air. In such cases, the existing standard procedures are, however, unsuitable for official control laboratories due to high costs for large emission testing chambers. Our work aimed at developing and comparing alternative and more competitive methods for the emission testing of consumer products. The influence of the emission chamber size was investigated because smaller chambers are more suited to the common size of consumer products and would help to reduce the costs of testing. Comparison of a 203 L emission test chamber with two smaller chambers with the capacity of 24 L and 44 mL, respectively, was carried out over 28 days by using a polyurethane reference material spiked with 14 chemically different VOCs. The area‐specific emission rates obtained in the small chambers were similar to those of the 203 L reference chamber after a few hours. It was shown that smaller chambers can also be used for the determination of VOC emissions from consumer products (especially from polymer-based toys). This will help to conduct meaningful exposure assessments for such products in the future.

Emissions of volatile organic compounds from polymer-based consumer products: comparison of three emission chamber sizes
M. Even, C. Hutzler, Olaf Wilke, A. Luch
published in Indoor Air, Vol. 30, Issue 1, pages 40-48, 2020
BAM, Division Materials and Air Pollutants