TY - JOUR A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Pyza, Lars A1 - Wilke, Olaf T1 - System to generate stable long-term VOC gas mixtures of concentrations in the ppb range for test and calibration purposes N2 - The development of a gas mixing system (GMS) that enables dynamic and retraceable production of stable long-term VOC gas mixtures within the ppb range is discussed. In this system pure liquid substances are kept separately at a constant temperature, evaporated according to their vapour pressure and removed by a small inert gas flow. A modular set-up allows flexible handling. All vapours generated are finally united in a mixing chamber. Any concentration level of the gas mixture can be produced by a suitable combination of evaporation temperature, carrier and dilution gas flows. Test results from continuous operation over six weeks are presented. The equipment was tested on seven volatile organic compounds (VOC) of different vapour pressure ranges. It was possible to establish stable operation for the equipment during the entire period and reproducible gas concentrations which were traceable to the mass as an SI unit, thus the system is suitable for long-term tests.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Im Beitrag wird die Entwicklung eines Gasmischsystems (GMS) beschrieben, das die dynamische und rückführbare Generierung von langzeitstabilen VOC-Gasgemischen im ppb-Bereich erlaubt. Dabei werden Reinsubstanzen separat temperiert, ihrem Dampfdruck entsprechend verdampft und durch einen kleinen Inertgasstrom abgeführt. In einer Mischkammer werden sie schließlich zusammengeführt. Durch die Kombination von Verdampfungstemperatur, Träger- und Verdünnungsgasflüssen ist die Einstellung eines beliebigen Konzentrationsniveaus des Gasgemischs möglich. Aus einem Dauerbetrieb von sechs Wochen werden Untersuchungsergebnisse gezeigt. Dabei wurde die Apparatur mit insgesamt sieben flüchtigen organischen Verbindungen (VOC) unterschiedlicher Dampfdruckbereiche betrieben. Die Anlage lief über den gesamten Zeitraum stabil und lieferte reproduzierbare und auf die Masse als SI-Einheit rückführbare Gaskonzentrationen. Somit ist das Verfahren für Langzeitanwendungen geeignet. KW - Gas mixing system KW - VOC gas mixtures KW - Low gas concentrations KW - Evaporation KW - Dynamic gas generation PY - 2013 SN - 0949-8036 SN - 0039-0771 SN - 1436-4891 VL - 73 IS - 3 SP - 103 EP - 106 PB - Springer-VDI-Verl. CY - Düsseldorf AN - OPUS4-27903 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wilke, Olaf A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Brödner, Doris T1 - Emission study of furniture boards for the next version of the German eco label 'Blue Angel' for wood and wooden products (RAL-UZ 38) T2 - Healthy Buildings 2012 - 10th International conference CY - Brisbane, Australia DA - 2012-07-08 KW - Certification/labelling KW - Sources/emissions KW - VOC KW - Emission studies KW - Healthy homes and buildings PY - 2012 SN - 978-1-921897-40-5 SP - 1 EP - 2 (1D.8) AN - OPUS4-27559 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Nohr, Michael A1 - Wiegner, Katharina A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Horn, Wolfgang T1 - Development of a reference material for the measurement of (S)VOC in emission test chambers T2 - Healthy Buildings 2012 - 10th International conference CY - Brisbane, Australia DA - 2012-07-08 KW - VOC KW - Sources/emissions KW - Measurements KW - Laboratory studies PY - 2012 SN - 978-1-921897-40-5 SP - 1 EP - 2 (5B.10) AN - OPUS4-27568 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver T1 - Determination of radon exhalation rates from construction materials using VOC emission test chambers T2 - IAQ 2013 - Environmental health in low energy buildings CY - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada DA - 2013-10-15 KW - Radon exhalation KW - Radon measurement KW - Construction material KW - Emission test chamber KW - Indoor air quality PY - 2013 SN - 2166-4870 SP - 508 EP - 512 AN - OPUS4-29407 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver A1 - Kemski, J. A1 - Schneider, Uwe A1 - Krocker, Christian A1 - Hoffmann, B. T1 - Determination of radon exhalation from construction materials using VOC emission test chambers N2 - The inhalation of 222Rn (radon) decay products is one of the most important reasons for lung cancer after smoking. Stony building materials are an important source of indoor radon. This article describes the determination of the exhalation rate of stony construction materials by the use of commercially available measuring devices in combination with VOC emission test chambers. Five materials – two types of clay brick, clinker brick, light-weight concrete brick, and honeycomb brick – generally used for wall constructions were used for the experiments. Their contribution to real room concentrations was estimated by applying room model parameters given in ISO 16000-9, RP 112, and AgBB. This knowledge can be relevant, if for instance indoor radon concentration is limited by law. The test set-up used here is well suited for application in test laboratories dealing with VOC emission testing. KW - Radon exhalation KW - Radon measurement KW - Building material KW - Emission test chamber KW - Indoor air quality KW - Real room radon concentrations PY - 2013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12031 SN - 0905-6947 SN - 1600-0668 VL - 23 IS - 5 SP - 397 EP - 405 PB - Danish Techn. Pr. CY - Copenhagen AN - OPUS4-29408 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Wilke, Olaf A1 - Jann, Oliver T1 - Use of emission test chambers for the determination of chemical emissions from construction materials T2 - 1st International conference on the chemistry of construction materials CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 2013-10-07 KW - VOC KW - Emission from materials KW - Construction materials KW - Emission test chamber PY - 2013 SN - 978-3-936028-75-1 N1 - Serientitel: GDCh-Monographien – Series title: GDCh-Monographien VL - 46 SP - 259 EP - 262 AN - OPUS4-29480 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Even, Morgane A1 - Juritsch, Elevtheria A1 - Richter, Matthias T1 - Selection of gas standards, gas chromatography column and adsorbents for the measurement of very volatile organic compounds (C1–C6) in indoor air N2 - The ISO 16000-6 standard gives directions to adapt the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor and test chamber air to very volatile organic compounds (VVOCs). The same techniques with sorbent-based active sampling, thermal desorption and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (TD-GC/MS) should be used. However, VVOCs require gaseous standards, an adapted GC column and a reliable sampling adsorbent. This work presents experimental results to tackle those three experimental gaps. A stable standard gas mixture containing 47 VVOCs, 13 VOCs and an internal standard was successfully generated. It was employed to study the suitability of seven types of chromatography columns. The use of PLOT (Porous Layer Open Tubular) columns such as PoraBOND Q is well suitable for VVOC analysis. The recoveries of the 60 analytes on a total of 16 adsorbents and their combinations were determined: A combination of the graphitized carbon black Carbograph 5TD 40/60 and the carbon molecular sieve CarbosieveTM SII showed great recoveries for all analytes. Carbon molecular sieves adsorb water which can impair the analysis. A dry purge of the multi-sorbent in the sampling direction led to a complete water removal and promising recoveries of the analytes. KW - VVOC KW - VOC KW - ISO 16000-6 KW - Gas chromatography KW - Thermal desorption KW - Air sampling PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2022.340561 SN - 0003-2670 VL - 1238 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-56366 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Klinge, A. A1 - Roswag-Klinge, E. A1 - Ziegert, C. A1 - Fontana, Patrick A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Hoppe, Johannes ED - Habert, G. ED - Schlueter, A. T1 - Naturally ventilated earth timber constructions N2 - Earth, timber, fibre boards and insulation materials based on wooden and other natural fibres offer a variety of properties beneficial for eco innovative constructions that are able to improve the energy and resource efficiency of buildings. Due to their porosity, natural building materials are vapour active and are able to buffer moisture. In combination with highly insulated and airtight but vapour permeable building envelopes, modern earth-timber constructions provide stable indoor humidity levels and can therefore be naturally ventilated while achieving highest energy efficiency standards. Experimental evidence suggests that monitored pilot buildings in Berlin do show healthy indoor air humidity levels (around 50%) in wintertime, while mechanically ventilated buildings demonstrate significantly lower values (around 25%), which have to be considered as uncomfortable and unhealthy. The application of building materials being poor in chemical emissions, particularly volatile organic compounds (VOC) and radon, improves the indoor air quality further, so that intermittent ventilation twice a day will be sufficient to provide healthy indoor air quality. The air quality in critical rooms (e.g. small bedrooms), demonstrating a smaller air volume, should be monitored if appropriate ratios of room size to occupancy level cannot be realised. Through night time ventilation in summer, vapour active earth-timber constructions provide evaporative cooling (humidity adsorption at night time and desorption during the day). As a result, indoor temperatures of earth-timber buildings range around 8 °C below the outside temperature peak, when an appropriate glazing ratio is reflected. The EU funded research project H-house is investigating various construction materials regarding water vapour adsorption as well as emission and absorption of harmful substances. Based on this investigation new wall constructions are designed to provide a healthier indoor environment. T2 - Sustainable Built Environment (SBE) Regional Conference - Expanding Boundaries: Systems Thinking for the Built Environment CY - Zurich, Switzerland DA - 15.06.2016 KW - Building materials KW - Climate control through building elements KW - Hygroscopic earthen and wooden materials KW - Natural ventilation KW - Airtight building KW - Low emissions PY - 2016 SN - 978-3-7281-3774-6 DO - https://doi.org/10.3218/3774-6 SP - 674 EP - 681 PB - vdf Hochschulverlag und der ETH Zürich CY - Zürich AN - OPUS4-37201 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nohr, Michael A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Wiegner, Katharina A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Lorenz, W. T1 - Development of a material with reproducible emission of selected volatile organic compounds - mu-chamber study N2 - Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found indoors have the potential to affect human health. Typical sources include building materials, furnishings, cleaning agents, etc. To address this risk, chemical emission testing is used to assess the potential of different materials to pollute indoor air. One objective of the European Joint Research Project 'MACPoll' (Metrology for Chemical Pollutants in Air) aims at developing and testing a reference material for the quality control of the emission testing procedure. Furthermore, it would enable comparison of measurement results between test laboratories. The heterogeneity of the majority of materials makes it difficult to find a suitable reference sample. In the present study, styrene, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, N-methyl-α-pyrrolidone, lindane, n-hexadecane, 1,2-dimethyl- and 1,2-di-n-butyl-phthalate were added to 12 commercially available lacquers (6 alkyd and 6 acrylic polymer based lacquers) serving as carrier substrate. After homogenization, the mixtures were loaded into a Markes Micro-Chamber/Thermal Extractor (µ-CTE™) for curing and investigation of the emission behavior for each compound. For almost all of the investigated chemicals, the preferred glossy acrylic lacquer showed emissions that were reproducible with a variation of less than 20% RSD. Such lacquer systems have therefore been shown to be good candidates for use as reference materials in inter-laboratory studies. KW - VOC KW - Reference material KW - Emission testing KW - Indoor air KW - Inter-laboratory study PY - 2014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.12.047 SN - 0045-6535 SN - 0366-7111 VL - 107 SP - 224 EP - 229 PB - Elsevier Science CY - Kidlington, Oxford AN - OPUS4-30816 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Jann, Oliver A1 - Brödner, Doris A1 - Till, Carola T1 - Application of a new gas mixing device to test adsorptive wall materials N2 - With a gas mixing system (GMS) developed in our laboratory we created a gas mixture of four substances. Adsorptive wall materials of four different compositions were exposed to this gas mixture, consisting of 1-pentanol, hexanal, butyl acetate and n-decane. Aim of this study was to scrutinize the ability of these samples to reduce the concentration of the supplied gas. This capacity is expressed in the sorption flux F or area specific adsorption rate respectively. The test was performed referring to a draft of ISO 16000-24. T2 - Healthy buildings 2009 - 9th International conference & exhibition CY - Syracuse, NY, USA DA - 2009-09-13 KW - Gas mixing device KW - Adsorptive wall material KW - Sorption flux PY - 2009 IS - Paper 259 SP - 1 EP - 2 CY - Syracuse, NY, USA AN - OPUS4-20126 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Pyza, Lars T1 - Development and validation of a new gas mixing device for low concentrations N2 - In our laboratory we developed a gas mixing system (GMS) that is capable of producing stable VOC gas mixtures with concentrations of 1-1000 µg m-3. The single gases are produced by evaporating the pure and liquid substances. T2 - Healthy buildings 2009 - 9th International conference & exhibition CY - Syracuse, NY, USA DA - 2009-09-13 KW - Gas mixing device KW - Low VOC concentrations KW - Gas atmosphere PY - 2009 IS - Paper 263 SP - 1 EP - 2 CY - Syracuse, NY, USA AN - OPUS4-20124 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver A1 - Kemski, J. A1 - Klingel, R. A1 - Schneider, Uwe A1 - Krocker, Christian T1 - Investigations on radon exhalation of different building materials N2 - The inhalation of 222Rn (radon) is one of the most important reasons for lung cancer, after smoking. Usually, the geological subsoil and the building ground are the dominant sources for enhanced indoor radon levels. Additionally, building materials can increase indoor radon concentrations when these materials contain higher contents of 226Ra (radium), especially in combination with low air exchange rates. For a realistic estimation of indoor radon concentrations, it is helpful to carry out measurements of radon exhalation rates from relevant materials using emission test chambers. In Germany, it is aspired to limit the total indoor radon concentration to 100 Bq/m3, whereby building materials should contribute at most 20 Bq/m3. Within a project financed by the German Institute for Construction Technology (DIBt), a practical oriented measurement procedure of the radon exhalation of building materials in accordance to ISO 16000-9 was developed to have a means for the assessment of these materials with respect to their indoor use. Test chambers with different volumes were used. The tested materials were mainly used for wall constructions (e.g., bricks, light-weight concrete) and have known specific radium activities and radon exhalation rates. T2 - Indoor Air 2011, 12th International conference on indoor air quality and climate CY - Austin, TX, USA DA - 05.06.2011 KW - Radon exhalation KW - Building material KW - Emission test chamber KW - Indoor air PY - 2011 IS - Paper 768 SP - 1 EP - 2 AN - OPUS4-24155 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bastuck, M. A1 - Baur, T. A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Mull, B. A1 - Schütze, A. A1 - Sauerwald, T. T1 - Comparison of ppb-level gas measurements with a metal-oxide semiconductor gas sensor in two independent laboratories N2 - In this work, we use a gas sensor system consisting of a commercially available gas sensor in temperature cycled operation. It is trained with an extensive gas profile for detection and quantification of hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the ppb range independent of a varying background of other, less harmful VOCs and inorganic interfering gases like humidity or hydrogen. This training was then validated using a different gas mixture generation apparatus at an independent lab providing analytical methods as reference. While the varying background impedes selective detection of benzene and naphthalene at the low concentrations supplied, both formaldehyde and total VOC can well be quantified, after calibration transfer, by models trained with data from one system and evaluated with data from the other system. The lowest achievable root mean squared errors of prediction were 49 ppb for formaldehyde (in a concentration range of 20–200 ppb) and 150 μg/m³ (in a concentration range of 25–450 μg/m³) for total VOC. The latter uncertainty improves to 13 μg/m³ with a more confined model range of 220–320 μg/m³. The data from the second lab indicate an interfering gas which cannot be detected analytically but strongly influences the sensor signal. This demonstrates the need to take into account all sensor relevant gases, like, e.g., hydrogen and carbon monoxide, in analytical reference measurements. KW - Indoor air quality KW - Volatile organic compounds KW - Calibration transfer KW - Selective quantification KW - Inter-lab comparison PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2018.06.097 SN - 0925-4005 VL - 273 SP - 1037 EP - 1046 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-45609 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Mölders, N. A1 - Sauerwald, T. A1 - Schultealbert, C. A1 - Mull, B. T1 - Two new promising approaches for quality assurance measures for materials emissions testing N2 - Two new approaches towards an emission reference material for use in quality assurance measures for materials emissions testing were developed and intensively tested. The overall goal was to obtain solid materials with homogenous and reproducible (S)VOC release. Since the application in inter-laboratory comparisons is aimed at, it should furthermore be long-term stable to ensure safe shipment to the customer without sustaining compound losses. In the first approach, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) was impregnated with the VOC texanol under high-pressure with liquid CO2 as solvent. In the second, styrene (VOC) and the SVOC 2,6-diisopropylnaphthalene (DIPN) were spiked into vacuum grease (VG) and a mixture of paraf-fin/squalane (P/S). For the prediction of the emission rates a finite element model (FEM) was developed for the VG and P/S type materials. All requirements for reference materials were fulfilled, whereas the TPU samples need to be aged for about 10 days until repeatable and reproducible emission rates were obtained. T2 - Indoor Air 2018 CY - Philadelphia, PA, USA DA - 22.07.2018 KW - Emission reference material KW - Volatile organic compounds KW - CO2 assisted impregnation KW - FEM model PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-45611 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Klinge, A. A1 - Roswag, E. A1 - Fontana, Patrick A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Hoppe, Johannes A1 - Sjöström, C. T1 - Hygroscopic natural materials versus mechanical ventilation N2 - Multi residential buildings, developed as highly energy-efficient and airtight are nowadays often fitted with mechanical Ventilation Systems as a way to overcome shortcomings and even defects tinked to indoor climate. The presented study investigates the potential of low-emitting. natural building materials with hygroscopic properties to contribute to a healthy and comfortable indoor environment, while reducing the need for mechanical Ventilation. A selection of natural building materials suitable for application as internal partition walls has been investigated with regards to their water vapour adsorption capacity. Special emphasis was placed on the investigation of modified earth plasters as well as wood-based materials, used as wall lining to provide increased adsorption capacities. In addition, tests on materials emissions (formaldehyde, VOCs, SVOCs and radon) as well as adsorption tests of airborne pollutants have been conducted in specially-designed fest chambers. All tests were performed at either the material or the component tevel. Overall results to date suggest that natural materials contribute to an improved indoor environment quality through an increased moisture-buffering capacity, low emissions and the potential to adsorb airborne pollutants, therefore reducing the need for mechanical Ventilation. T2 - Terra Lyon 2016 - XIIth World Congress on Earthen Architecture CY - Lyon, France DA - 11.07.2016 KW - Hygroscopic earth and wooden materials KW - Low emissions PY - 2016 SN - 979-10-96446-11-7 SP - 218 EP - 221 PB - Editions CRAterre CY - Villefontaine AN - OPUS4-44856 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hofmann, Michael A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver T1 - Robustness validation of a test procedure for the determination of the radon-222 exhalation rate from construction products in VOC emission test chambers N2 - This study investigated the adaptation of the state-of-the-art test procedure for the determination of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from materials into indoor air to test for the radon exhalation from stony construction products. A complete robustness validation including all relevant parameters showed that the procedure can be well applied by testing institutes already holding available the required VOC testing infrastructure that solely needs to be complemented by calibrated commercial radon measurement instrumentation. When measurements of the radon exhalation from construction materials become mandatory by law, test capacity can easily be applied. This work can serve as a recommendation for the European standardisation that still is on hold in this point. KW - Radon exhalation KW - Construction products KW - Emission test chamber KW - Robustness validation KW - Standardisation PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2020.109372 SN - 0969-8043 VL - 166 IS - 109372 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-51145 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Juritsch, Elevtheria A1 - Jann, Oliver T1 - Determination of recovery rates of adsorbents for sampling very volatile organic compounds (C1-C6) in dry and humid air in the sub-ppb range by use of thermal desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry N2 - The reliable measurement of very volatile organic compounds (VVOC) in indoor air by use of thermal desorption gas chromatography (TD-GC) in order to include them into evaluation schemes for building products even nowadays is a great challenge. For capturing these small molecules with carbon numbers ranging from C 1 –C 6 , strong adsorbents are needed. In the present study, recovery rates of nine suitable adsorbents of the groups of porous polymers, graphitised carbon blacks (GCB) and carbon molecular sieves (CMS) are tested against a complex test gas standard containing 29 VVOC. By consideration of the recovery and the relative humidity (50% RH), combinations of the GCB Carbograph 5TD, the two CMS Carboxen 1003 and Carbosieve SII as well as the porous polymer Tenax® GR were identified to be potentially suitable for sampling the majority of the VVOC out of the gas mix. The results reveal a better performance of the adsorbents in combination than being used alone, particularly under humid sampling conditions. The recovery rates of the chosen compounds on each adsorbent should be in the range of 80–120%. KW - VVOC KW - Indoor Air: Adsorbent performance KW - Recovery rate KW - Thermal desorption KW - Gas chromatography PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2020.461389 VL - 1626 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Elsevier AN - OPUS4-51106 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hofmann, Michael A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver T1 - Determination of radon exhalation from building materials in dynamically operated test chambers by use of commercially available measuring devices N2 - The inhalation of radon (222Rn) decay products is the leading cause of lung cancer apart from tobacco smoking. Besides the permeation of radon from the subsoil through the basement as main source of radon in indoor air, also building materials have to be taken into consideration, especially at low air change rates in buildings. The Construction Products Regulation (EC, 2010) gives essential requirements for construction works regarding the release of dangerous substances such as toxic gases and radiation to which radon can be assigned. The recently adopted Basic Safety Standards Directive (EC, 2013), which has to be ratified by each European member state in between the next three years sets reference levels for indoor radon concentrations for the first time. In research project financed by the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety a practical, reliable and easily applicable test procedure for the determination of radon exhalation from building materials – based on ISO 16000-9 (ISO, 2006) and CEN/TS 16516 (CEN, 2013) – should be developed. In contrast to the static test procedure published by Richter et al. (2013), dynamically operated test chambers shall be foregrounded. First results of this study are presented, focused on the reliable measurement of radon background concentration and the selection of suitable radon test devices, representing the basic elements of the subsequent work. T2 - Healthy Buildings Europe 2015 CY - Eindhoven, The Netherlands DA - 18.05.2015 KW - Radon exhalation KW - Building material KW - VOC emission test chamber KW - Radon measurement PY - 2015 SN - 978-90-386-3889-8 SP - Paper 552, 1 EP - 3 AN - OPUS4-35011 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Even, Morgane A1 - Juritsch, Elevtheria A1 - Richter, Matthias T1 - Measurement of very volatile organic compounds (VVOCs) in indoor air by sorbent-based active sampling: Identifying the gaps towards standardisation N2 - The ISO 16000-6 standard describes a method for the determination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor and test chamber air by sorbent-based active sampling, thermal desorption and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). It also gives directions to adapt this methodology to very volatile organic compounds (VVOCs). Indeed, toxicologically based guideline values are being implemented for these compounds and it becomes necessary to measure them. But a comprehensive and robust measurement method is lacking. This work highlights the points that still need to be explored towards the standardisation of a suitable procedure: investigations on sorbent combinations, the suitability of chromatography columns and the use of gaseous standards are required. The biggest challenge remains in the fact that strong sorbents adsorb water together with VVOCs. Water may impair the analysis and the optimal approach to eliminate it is still to be found and integrated into the sampling strategy. KW - Solvents KW - Air analysis KW - VOC KW - Thermal desorption KW - Gas chromatography KW - ISO 16000-6 PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-523919 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2021.116265 VL - 140 SP - 116265 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-52391 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hofmann, Michael A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver T1 - Use of commercial radon monitors for low level radon measurements in dynamically operated VOC emission test chambers N2 - Compared to the intended EU reference level of 300 Bq m−3 for indoor radon concentrations, the contribution of building materials appears to be low. Considering the recommended limit of 100 Bq m−3 by WHO, their contribution is supposed to be relevant, especially at low air exchange rates. This study as part of a two-part research project investigated the suitability of direct low level 222Rn measurement under simulated indoor conditions with commercial radon monitors and dynamically operated emission test chambers. Active measuring devices based on ionisation or scintillation chambers with 1-σ uncertainties below 8.6% at 20 Bq m−3 were found to be best suitable for a practical test procedure for the determination of radon exhalation rates of building materials. For the measurement of such low concentrations, the knowledge of the accurate device background level is essential. KW - Radon monitors KW - Radon exhalation KW - Building materials KW - Measurement method PY - 2017 DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncx137 SN - 1742-3406 SN - 0144-8420 VL - 177 IS - 1-2 SP - 16 EP - 20 PB - Oxford Academic AN - OPUS4-41952 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -