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 - CONF A1 - Brandt, S. T1 - Odour Emissions from Building Products Simplifying the Evaluation of Perceived Intensity N2 - One criterion to evaluate the odour of a sample is perceived intensity П which is evaluated with the aid of a comparative scale. The procedure is well accepted but also time consuming and extensive. The study should help simplify the testing procedure by asking the panel members to only indicate whether a sample is perceived as less to equally intense or of greater intensity in comparison to a given acetone concentration of 7 pi on the comparative scale. In Germany a value of 7 pi is required for products to be suitable for the indoor use. The results show that the simplified test is basically suitable. T2 - Indoor Air Conference 2022 “Healthy people in healthy indoor environment” CY - Kuopio, Finland DA - 12.06.2022 KW - Perceived Intensity KW - Emissions KW - Chamber test KW - Odour KW - VOC KW - Building product PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-55623 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schuehle, Florian T1 - Quality assured uptake rates for passive sampling of indoor air VOCs N2 - Generation of experimental uptake rates (UR) for > 70 VOCs (7d /100 μg m-3) Application in German Environmental Survey – VOC exposure assessment Assurance of transparency concerning UR generation and uncertainty creates basis for decision making and comparability of measurement results. Exemplarily the uncertainty u(UR) of toluene UR was modelled and determined statistically with own laboratory data (relative standard deviation of actively sampled test gas atmosphere – RSDa and n = 5 exposed passive samplers – RSDp) in line with EN 838 as well as from variation of literature UR – RSD UR,lit. T2 - Airmon 2022, 10th International Symposium on modern principles of air monitoring and biomonitoring CY - Bristol, UK DA - 06.11.2022 KW - IAQ KW - VOC KW - Diffusive sampling KW - Uptake rate PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56583 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 - Horn, Wolfgang T1 - VOC-Sampling inside display cases with focus on BEMMA evaluation N2 - Museum display cases aim to protect art and cultural goods not only from theft and vandalism, but also from dirt and dust. An often-heard argument within a call for tender of new display cases is that there should be no emission inside of the display case. This is nearly impossible for new ones especially when they must also fulfill the requirement of an air change rate of less than 0.1 per day. For example, constructions or decorations in exhibition spaces, storage containers in depot rooms, and exhibition display cases release volatile substances that might lead to irreversible changes or, under certain circumstances, damage to the stored or displayed objects. In Germany beneath the well-established Oddy-test also the BEMMA procedure is used to evaluate the construction materials. For larger amounts of display cases control measurements of VOCs at the end of construction or buildup is quite common. However, what is necessary to measure the air inside of display cases. What are the circumstances when the display cases were closed before the test period? Is it possible to organize a clean environment for reliable measurements. How comparable are the resulting VOCs with results from BEMMA test and control measurement at the end. The BEMMA procedure should include a further VOC-test at 60 °C. What are the benefits of this enlargement. Mainly materials that have a high potential to store VOCs inside of the material in combination with a less permeable surface should be evaluated stricter than others. T2 - IAQ 2024 The International Conference on Indoor Air Quality in Heritage and Historic Environments CY - New York, USA DA - 18.11.2024 KW - Emission KW - Air quality KW - Display cases KW - VOC PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61967 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Klein, Luise T1 - Miniaturization Options in VOC Emissions Assessments of Consumer Products: Comparison of Test Chambers and Dynamic Headspace Extraction Systems N2 - Different emission testing devices were compared to measure reliable initial indoor air concen-trations of volatile organic compounds (VOC) emitting from consumer products. Compared to conventional medium- or large-scale test chambers, smaller devices including micro chambers and dynamic headspace extraction systems offer options for increased sample throughput, automation as well as reduced costs, which could facilitate their application in routine analysis of consumer product-related VOC emissions. T2 - Indoor Air 2024 CY - Honolulu, Hawaii, USA DA - 07.07.2024 KW - VOC KW - Emissions KW - Consumer product KW - Indoor air PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-62098 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Grimmer, Christoph T1 - Development, application and measurement uncertainty of emission reference materials N2 - Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by furniture and building materials can cause health issues. For an improvement of indoor air quality low emitting materials should be used. Quality assurance and –control (QA/QC) measures require an emission reference material (ERM) with a predictable emission rate of VOCs. The idea is to use porous materials as ERM, which store the VOCs inside their pores and emit them constantly. T2 - Webinar Metrology for Indoor Air Quality Reference materials for QA/QC of the emission test chamber procedure CY - Online meeting DA - 11.04.2024 KW - Emission reference materials KW - Indoor air quality KW - Materials emissions test KW - VOC PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-59963 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Richter, Matthias T1 - Metrological sound reference products for quality assurance and quality control measures in material emissions testing N2 - In industrialised countries more than 80% of the time is spent indoors. Products, such as building materials and furniture, emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are therefore ubiquitous in indoor air. Different VOC combinations may, under certain environmental and occupational conditions, result in reported sensory irritation and health complaints. A healthy indoor environment can be achieved by controlling the sources and by eliminating or limiting the release of harmful substances into the air. One way is to use materials proven to be low emitting. Meanwhile, a worldwide network of professional commercial and non-commercial laboratories performing emission tests for the evaluation of products for interior use has been established. Therefore, comparability and metrological traceability of test results must be ensured. A laboratory’s proficiency can be proven by internal and external validation measures that both include the application of suitable reference materials. The emission test chamber procedure according to EN 16516 comprises several steps from sample preparation to sampling of test chamber air and chromatographic analysis. Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) must therefore be ensured. Currently, there is a lack of suitable reference products containing components relevant for the health-related evaluation of building products. The EU-funded EMPIR project 20NRM04 MetrIAQ (Metrology for the determination of emissions of dangerous substances from building materials into indoor air) aims to develop 1) gaseous primary reference materials (gPRM), which are used for the certification of gaseous (certified) reference materials (gCRM) and 2) emission reference materials (ERM). Most commercial gas standards of indoor-relevant compounds are not certified due to the lack of primary reference materials to which the project aims to contribute. The gPRM under development is a gas-phase standard containing trace levels of VOCs in nitrogen or air from the check standard according to EN 16516 (n-hexane, methyl isobutyl ketone, toluene, butyl acetate, cyclohexanone, o-xylene, phenol, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene) with a target uncertainty of 5 %. The gPRM can be sampled into sorbent tubes to obtain transfer standards in the form of gCRM. The well characterised ERM represents a sample of a test specimen, e.g. building material, that is loaded into the emission test chamber for a period of several days and is used to evaluate the whole emission test chamber procedure. It shall have a reproducible and temporally constant compound release of less than 10 % variability over 14 days. Different approaches for retarded VOC release, such as the encapsulation of pure compounds and the impregnation of porous materials, are being tested to reach this aim. Furthermore, the design of the ERM is accompanied by the development of a numerical model for the prediction of the emissions for each of the target VOCs. The current progress of the work on both materials will be presented. T2 - CIM 2023 - 21st International Metrology Congress CY - Lyon, France DA - 07.03.2023 KW - Indoor air quality KW - VOC KW - Materials emissions testing KW - Emission reference material KW - Quality assurance/quality control PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-57142 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Grimmer, Christoph T1 - Preparation of novel emission reference materials: μ-capsules & impregnated porous materials N2 - Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by furniture and building materials can cause health issues. For an improvement of indoor air quality low emitting materials should be used. Quality assurance and –control (QA/QC) measures require an emission reference material (ERM) with a predictable emission rate of VOCs. The idea is to use porous materials as ERM, which store the VOCs inside their pores and emit them constantly. T2 - WORKSHOP: METROLOGY FOR INDOOR AIR QUALITY CY - Mol, Belgium DA - 18.10.2023 KW - Emission reference materials KW - Indoor air quality KW - Materials emissions test KW - VOC PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-59961 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Richter, Matthias T1 - Emission reference materials for indoor air measurements N2 - In industrialised countries more than 80% of the time is spent indoors. Products, such as building materials and furniture, emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are therefore ubiquitous in indoor air. VOC in combination may, under certain environmental and occupational conditions, result in reported sensory irritation and health complaints. Emission concentrations can become further elevated in new or refurbished buildings where the rate of air exchange with fresh ambient air may be limited due to improved energy saving aspects. A healthy indoor environment can be achieved by controlling the sources and by eliminating or limiting the release of harmful substances into the air. One way is to use (building) materials proved to be low emitting. Meanwhile, a worldwide network of professional commercial and non-commercial laboratories performing emission tests for the evaluation of products for interior use has been established. Therefore, comparability of test results must be ensured. A laboratory’s proficiency can be proven by internal and external validation measures that both include the application of suitable emission reference materials (ERM). For the emission test chamber procedure according to EN 16516, no artificial ERM is commercially available. The EU-funded EMPIR project MetrIAQ aims to fill this gap by developing new and improved ERMs. The goal is to obtain a material with a reproducible and temporally constant compound release (less than 10 % variability over 14 days). Two approaches were tested: the impregnation of porous materials with VOC, and the encapsulation of VOC in polymer microcapsules. Impregnation is performed with help of an autoclave and supercritical CO2. The encapsulation is done by interfacial polymerisation on VOC droplets. For both approaches, synthesis and/or material parameters were varied to obtain an optimal ERM. Findings about the optimisation of ERM generation, as well as performance of the best emission reference materials, will be presented. T2 - GAS Analysis 2024 CY - Paris, France DA - 30.01.2024 KW - Emission reference materials KW - Materials emissions test KW - VOC KW - Indoor air quality PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-59506 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -