TY - JOUR A1 - James, G. L. A1 - Latif, M. T. A1 - Isa, M. N. M. A1 - Bakar, M. F. A. A1 - Yusuf, N. Y. M. A1 - Broughton, William A1 - Murad, A. M. A1 - Abu Bakar, F. D. T1 - Metagenomic datasets of air samples collected during episodes of severe smoke-haze in Malaysia N2 - Transboundary emissions of smoke-haze from land and forest fires have recurred annually during the dry period (June to October, over the past few decades) in South East Asia. Hazardous air quality has been recorded in Malaysia during these episodes. Agricultural practices such as slash-and-burn of biomass and peat fires particularly in Sumatera and Kalimantan, Indonesia, have been implicated as the major causes of the haze. Past findings have shown that a diversity of microbes can thrive in air including in smoke-haze polluted air. In this study, metagenomic data were generated to reveal the diversity of microorganisms in air during days with and without haze. Air samples were collected during non-haze (2013A01) and two haze (2013A04 and 2013A05) periods in the month of June 2013. DNA was extracted from the samples, subjected to Multiple Displacement Amplification and whole genome sequencing (Next Generation Sequencing) using the HiSeq 2000 Platform. Extensive bio-informatic analyses of the raw sequence data then followed. Raw reads from these six air samples were deposited in the NCBI SRA databases under Bioproject PRJNA662021 with accession numbers SRX9087478, SRX9087479 and SRX9087480. KW - Forest fires KW - Haze Samples KW - NGS KW - Multiple Displacement Amplification PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-528973 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2021.107124 SN - 2352-3409 VL - 36 SP - 107124 PB - Elsevier Inc. CY - Amsterdam, Netherlands AN - OPUS4-52897 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 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Juritsch, Elevtheria A1 - Klinge, A. A1 - Radeljic, L. A1 - Jann, Oliver T1 - Natural building materials for interior fitting and refurbishment - What about indoor emissions? N2 - Indoor air quality can be adversely affected by emissions from building materials, consequently having a negative impact on human health and well-being. In this study, more than 30 natural building materials (earth dry boards and plasters, bio-based insulation materials, and boards made of wood, flax, reed, straw, etc.) used for interior works were investigated as to their emissions of (semi-) volatile organic compounds ((S)VOC), formaldehyde, and radon. The study focused on the emissions from complete wall build-ups as they can be used for internal Partition walls and the internal insulation of external walls. Test chambers were designed, allowing the compounds to release only from the surface of the material facing indoors under testing Parameters that were chosen to simulate model room conditions. The emission test results were evaluated using the AgBB evaluation scheme, a procedure for the health-related evaluation of construction products and currently applied for the approval of specific groups of building materials in Germany. Seventeen out of 19 sample build-ups tested in this study would have passed this scheme since they generally proved to be low-emitting and although the combined emissions of multiple materials were tested, 50% of the measurements could be terminated before half of the total testing time. KW - Bio-based insulation KW - Earthen building materials KW - Volatile organic compounds KW - Semivolatile organic compounds KW - Radon PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-519634 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14010234 VL - 14 IS - 1 (Special issue: Measurement of the environmental impact of materials) SP - 234-1 EP - 234-14 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-51963 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Even, Morgane A1 - Wilke, Olaf A1 - Kalus, Sabine A1 - Schultes, P. A1 - Hutzler, C. A1 - Luch, A. T1 - Formaldehyde emissions from wooden toys: Comparison of different measurement methods and assessment of exposure N2 - Formaldehyde is considered as carcinogenic and is emitted from particleboards and plywood used in toy manufacturing. Currently, the flask method is frequently used in Europe for market surveillance purposes to assess formaldehyde release from toys, but its concordance to Levels measured in emission test chambers is poor. Surveillance laboratories are unable to afford laborious and expensive emission chamber testing to comply with a new amendment of the European Toy Directive; they need an alternative method that can provide reliable results. Therefore, the application of miniaturised emission test chambers was tested. Comparisons between a 1 m3 emission test chamber and 44 mL microchambers with two particleboards over 28 days and between a 24 L desiccator chamber and the microchambers with three puzzle samples over 10 days resulted in a correlation coefficient r2 of 0.834 for formaldehyde at steady state. The correlation between the results obtained in microchambers vs. flask showed a high variability over 10 samples (r2: 0.145), thereby demonstrating the error-proneness of the flask method in comparison to methods carried out under ambient parameters. An exposure assessment was also performed for three toy puzzles: indoor formaldehyde concentrations caused by puzzles were not negligible (up to 8 µg/m3), especially when more conservative exposure scenarios were considered. KW - EN 717-3 KW - Formaldehyde KW - Wooden toys KW - Emission test chamber KW - Flask method KW - Microchamber PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-520196 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14020262 VL - 14 IS - 2 (Special issue: Measurement of the environmental impact of materials) SP - 262-1 EP - 262-16 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-52019 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wilke, Olaf A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Jann, Oliver T1 - Volatile organic compounds from building products - Results from six round robin tests with emission test chambers conducted between 2008 and 2018 N2 - Emission testing of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from materials and products is commonly based on emission test chamber measurements. To ensure the comparability of results from different testing laboratories, their measurement performance must be verified. For this purpose, Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) organizes an international proficiency test (round robin test, RRT) every two years using well-characterized test materials (one sealant, one furniture board, and four times a lacquer) with defined VOC emissions. The materials fulfilled the requirements of homogeneity, reproducibility, and stability. Altogether, 36 VOCs were included of which 33 gave test chamber air concentrations between 13 and 83 µg/m3. This is the typical concentration range to be expected and to be quantified when performing chamber tests. Three compounds had higher concentrations between 326 and 1105 µg/m3. In this paper, the relative standard deviations (RSD) of BAM round robin tests since 2008 are compared and the improvement of the comparability of the emission chamber testing is shown by the decrease of the mean RSD down to 28 % in 2018. In contrast, the first large European interlaboratory comparison in 1999 showed a mean RSD of 51 %. KW - Construction product KW - Emission test chamber KW - Interlaboratory comparison KW - Proficiency testing KW - Rround robin test KW - VOC emission PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-526139 DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12848 VL - 31 IS - 6 SP - 2049 EP - 2057 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-52613 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brandt, S. A1 - Müller, B. A1 - Brozowski, F. A1 - Plehn, W. A1 - Horn, Wolfgang T1 - Weiterentwicklung des Geruchsmessverfahrens für Bauprodukte T1 - Further development of the odour measurement method for building products N2 - Bauprodukte und Einrichtungsgegenstände für Innenräume, wie Bodenbeläge und Wandpaneele, sollen das Wohlbefinden und die Gesundheit der Raumnutzerinnen und -nutzer nicht durch das Ausdünsten von Geruchsstoffen stören. Mit der Geruchsprüfung nach ISO 16000-28 „Innenraumluft - Bestimmung der Geruchsstoffemissionen aus Bauprodukten mit einer Emissionsprüfkammer“ wird der Produktgeruch zu einer messbaren Größe. So kann z. B. die empfundene Intensität, also die Stärke eines Geruchseindruckes, mit Hilfe eines Vergleichsmaßstabes von Probandinnen und Probanden ermittelt werden. Im hier vorgestellten Projekt werden Vorschläge zur Weiterentwicklung der Methode vorgestellt, um im Ergebnis die Reproduzierbarkeit der Messergebnisse weiter zu verbessern. Dabei werden vor allem das Probenpräsentationssystem und die Bewertungsmethodik für die empfundene Intensität bei der Bewertung von Bauprodukten gemäß AgBB-Schema betrachtet, da diese einen wesentlichen Einfluss haben. N2 - Emissions or odours occurring from building products and furnishings for interiors, like floor coverings or wall panels, should not have a negative impact on well-being or health. Odours can be measured applying the standard ISO 16000-28 „Indoor air - Determination of odour emissions from building products using test chambers” It describes among other procedures the assessment of perceived intensi-ty with comparative scale by a group of panellists. In the study presented here, proposals for further technical development of the methodology are discussed to increase the reproducibility of measurement results. The sampling procedure and evaluation method of perceived intensity are investigated in particular because they have a major influence at the assessment of construction products applying the procedure of the Committee for Health Evaluation of Building Products. KW - Geruchsmessung KW - Emissionen KW - Bauprodukte KW - VOC PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-527458 UR - http://www.gefahrstoffe.de SN - 0949-8036 SN - 1436-4891 VL - 81 IS - 3-4 SP - 151 EP - 155 PB - VDI Fachmedien CY - Düsseldorf AN - OPUS4-52745 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Seeger, Stefan A1 - Osan, J. A1 - Czömpöly, O. A1 - Gross, A. A1 - Stosnach, H. A1 - Stabile, L. A1 - Ochsenkuehn-Petropoulou, M. A1 - Tsakanika, L. A1 - Lymperopoulou, T. A1 - Goddard, S. A1 - Fiebig, M. A1 - Gaie-Levrel, F. A1 - Kayser, Y. A1 - Beckhoff, B. T1 - Quantification of Element Mass Concentrations in Ambient Aerosols by Combination of Cascade Impactor Sampling and Mobile Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy N2 - Quantitative chemical analysis of airborne particulate matter (PM) is vital for the understanding of health effects in indoor and outdoor environments, as well as for enforcing EU air quality regulations. Typically, airborne particles are sampled over long time periods on filters, followed by lab-based analysis, e.g., with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). During the EURAMET EMPIR AEROMET project, cascade impactor aerosol sampling is combined for the first time with on-site total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectroscopy to develop a tool for quantifying particle element compositions within short time intervals and even on-site. This makes variations of aerosol chemistry observable with time resolution only a few hours and with good size resolution in the PM10 range. The study investigates the proof of principles of this methodological approach. Acrylic discs and silicon wafers are shown to be suitable impactor carriers with sufficiently smooth and clean surfaces, and a non-destructive elemental mass concentration measurement with a lower limit of detection around 10 pg/m3 could be achieved. We demonstrate the traceability of field TXRF measurements to a radiometrically calibrated TXRF reference, and the results from both analytical methods correspond satisfactorily. KW - TXRF KW - Reference method KW - Cascade impactor KW - Ambient aerosols KW - Particles KW - Air quality monitoring KW - Element mass concentration KW - Size resolved chemical composition KW - Time resolved chemical composition KW - ICP-MS PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-521860 UR - http://www.aerometproject.com/ DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12030309 SN - 2073-4433 VL - 12 IS - 3 SP - 309 EP - 337 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz AN - OPUS4-52186 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Horender, S. A1 - Auderset, K. A1 - Quincey, P. A1 - Seeger, Stefan A1 - Skov, S. N. A1 - Dierschel, K. A1 - Smith, T. O.M. A1 - Williams, K. A1 - Aegerter, C. C. A1 - Kalbermatter, D. M. A1 - Gaie-Levrel, F. A1 - Vasilatou, K. T1 - Facility for production of ambient-like model aerosols (PALMA) inthe laboratory: application in the intercomparison of automated PMmonitors with the reference gravimetric method N2 - A new facility has been developed which allows for a stable and reproducible production of ambient-like model aerosols (PALMA) in the laboratory. The set-up consists of multiple aerosol generators, a custom-made flow tube homogeniser, isokinetic sampling probes, and a system to control aerosol temperature and humidity. Model aerosols containing elemental carbon, secondary organic matter from the ozonolysis of α-pinene, inorganic salts such as ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate, mineral dust particles,and water were generated under different environmental conditions and at different number and mass concentrations. The aerosol physical and chemical properties were characterised with an array of experimental methods, including scanning mobility particle sizing, ion chromatography, total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and thermo-optical analysis. The facility is very versatile and can find applications in the calibration and performance characterisation of aerosol instruments monitoring ambient air. In this study, we performed, as proof of concept, an intercomparison of three different commercial PM (particulate matter) monitors (TEOM1405, DustTrak DRX 8533 and Fidas Frog) with the gravimetric reference method under three simulated environmental scenarios. The results are presented and compared to previous field studies. We believe that the laboratory-based method for simulating ambient aerosols presented here could provide in the future a useful alternative to time-consuming and expensive field campaigns, which are often required for instrument certification and calibration. KW - Model aerosols KW - Intercomparison KW - PM monitors KW - Aerosol gravimetry PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-521342 DO - https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1225-2021 VL - 14 IS - 2 SP - 1225 EP - 1238 PB - Copernicus Publications AN - OPUS4-52134 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ahlawat, A. A1 - Seeger, Stefan A1 - Gottschalk, Martin A1 - Tuch, T. A1 - Wiedensohler, A. T1 - Observation of systematic deviations between Faraday cup aerosol electrometers for varying particle sizes and flow rates - results of the AEROMET FCAE workshop N2 - Condensation particle counters (CPCs) are widely used for the measurement of aerosol particle number concentrations in the size range from approximately 3 nm to 3 μm. For an SI-traceable calibration of the size-dependent counting efficiency, which is advisable on a regular basis and required in several applications, Faraday cup aerosol electrometers (FCAEs) are considered to be a suitable SI-traceable reference.While the volumetric aerosol inlet flowrate and the electrical current measurement in FCAEs can be related to respective SI references, inter-comparison exercises for FCAEs are still performed on a regular basis to establish reliable uncertainty budgets and to further investigate the influences of designs and operational parameters on comparability. This is strongly demanded in the international community of metrological institutes and aerosol calibration facilities around the world, which provide CPC calibrations. In the present study, the performance of FCAEs was investigated,using Ag test aerosol particles with a 30 nm particle diameter by varying the inlet flowrates from 0.5 l min−1 to 4 l min−1. From our experimental results, significant deviations were observed in FCAE currents at sample flowrates smaller than 1.5 l min−1. It is recommended that these discrepancies should be quantified before an FCAE is used for CPC calibration at low sample flowrates and small particle sizes in the sub-30 nm size range. KW - Faraday cup aerosol electrometer KW - CPC calibration KW - Inter-comparison KW - Aerosol measurement instruments PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-531315 DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/1681-7575/ac0710 SN - 1681-7575 SN - 0026-1394 VL - 58 IS - 5 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Institute of Physics (IOP) CY - Bristol, UK AN - OPUS4-53131 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -