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 - Musyanovych, A. A1 - Grimmer, Christoph A1 - Sadak, A. E. A1 - Heßling, L. A1 - Bilsel, M. A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Richter, Matthias T1 - Polymeric Capsules with VOCs for Controlled Emission N2 - Micro-(nano-)encapsulation technology involves building of a barrier between the core and the environment and offers a number of benefits to preserve the functional and physicochemical properties of core material. Tremendous progress has been made in synthesizing well-defined capsules to achieve desired properties such as particle size, chemical composition, and controlled release of the payload. Encapsulation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that could evaporate with a defined rate is of immense interest for application in emission reference materials (ERM). These are urgently needed for quality assurance and quality control purposes (QA/QC) required by test standards for the determination of chemical emissions of construction and other materials for interior use. As such ERMs are hardly available on the market, the EU-funded EMPIR project MetrIAQ [1] was started to fill this gap by developing a material with temporally constant emission of VOCs typically found in indoor air. Different capsules in a size range between 5 and 50 μm were synthesized through an interfacial polyaddition/polycondensation reaction in direct (water-in-oil) system. As VOC several types of hydrophobic liquid materials were used. After synthesis, the morphology and physicochemical properties of capsules were characterized by electron microscopy, FTIR and DSC/TGA. An encapsulation efficiency up to 90% could be reached. The emission kinetic of volatile agents was studied in emission test chambers at 23 °C and 50% RH for 14 days. First results indicate that variation of the cross-linking grade of the shell material is one important parameter to adjust the desired emission rate. The overall aim is to achieve a consistent emission profile that decreases by less than 10 % over a target period of at least 14 days. T2 - 36th European Colloid & Interface Society Conference CY - Chania, Crete, Greece DA - 04.09.2022 KW - Capsules KW - Volatile organic compound KW - Polymer KW - Material emissions KW - Reference materials PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56039 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Wilke, Olaf T1 - Volatile organic compounds from building products - Results from seven proficiency tests with emission test chambers conducted between 2008 and 2021 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 every two years using well-characterised 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, 41 VOCs were included of which 37 gave test chamber air concentrations between 10 and 98 µg/m³. This is the typical concentration range to be expected and to be quantified when performing chamber tests. Four compounds had higher concentrations between 250 and 1105 µg/m³. The relative standard deviations (RSD) of BAM proficiency 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 23% in 2021. In contrast, the first large European interlaboratory comparison in 1999 showed a mean RSD of 51%. T2 - Proficiency Testing in Analytical Chemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine CY - Windsor, United Kingdom DA - 25.09.2023 KW - Proficiency Test KW - VOC-Emission KW - Chamber-test PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-59694 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Müller, Birgit T1 - Low-odour and low-emission indoor products - Nose vers. odour threshold values N2 - To achieve good air quality in buildings, it is necessary to remove, avoid or reduce cleaning loads through ventilation. To reduce the cleaning loads and their effect on the odour perception of the occupants, a sensory test in indoor spaces and on building products is necessary in addition to VOC emission measurements of the contaminants. ISO 16000-28 provides the basis for odour assessment of products using a human olfactory panel. Through many years of experience and testing of these methods, it can now be assumed that reproducible odour ratings are available for many products used indoors. An odour measurement is mandatory for the Blue Angel for carpets and is being tested for environmentally friendly resilient floor coverings. Based on the results of an earlier project and new results of the upcoming study, the ISO should be revised and completed. The project investigates the odour and VOC emissions of building products based on natural raw materials. The data generated is used to address several issues, which are briefly explained below. Floor coverings based on linoleum and rubber are included in the Blue Angel eco-label with an odour assessment. The aim of the project is to clarify whether other assessment methods in addition to intensity can provide better information. Positive hedonics have an influence on the intensity assessment. Typically, building products show high intensity with low hedonic values. Results for wood-based products often show high intensity and positive hedonics. Based on these examples, an appropriate odour assessment of wood-based products for the Blue Angel, supported by research results, should be possible. The concept of the odour guide value which is based on odour threshold values was renewed in 2023. This approach will now be compared with the standardised odour measurement (16000-28). This assessment is based on GC/MS measurements and uses odour thresholds analytically when panel-based odour assessment is not possible. For this procedure well defined odour thresholds are necessary T2 - AIRMON 2025 The 11th International Symposium on Modern Principles of Air Monitoring and Biomonitoring. CY - Loen, Norway DA - 15.06.2025 KW - Emission KW - Indoor air quality KW - Materials emissions test KW - VOC KW - Geruch PY - 2025 UR - https://stami.no/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Programhefte-Airmon-2025-Juni-10-YTH.pdf AN - OPUS4-63634 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Klein, Luise A1 - Bethke, Robert T1 - Determination of uptake rates of VVOCs and carbonyls in indoor air on passive sampling system N2 - The identity and concentration of volatile contaminants are important factors in ensuring a healthy indoor environment. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor air can be determined by using passive samplers that are exposed to the air for a well-defined period of time. This sampling method is often used in environmental surveys, e.g. the German Environmental Survey (GerES). Conclusions about indoor air concentrations can be drawn from substance and adsorption material specific uptake rates. For the assessment of indoor air quality, highly volatile organic compounds may also be substantial, but for many of these substances realistic uptake rates and suitable analytical methods are lacking. A small chamber is used to generate gas atmospheres with constant concentrations of the analytes at 23 °C and 50 % relative humidity. For a large number of compounds, a very small flow of pure liquid VVOCs is introduced into the chamber via a syringe pump and mixed with a constant flow of clean and humidified air. A gas mixture from cylinders is also used for this purpose. Carbograph 5TD has already been proven as a suitable sorption material for active sampling for most of VVOCs. With this procedure up to 55 different VVOCs should be tested in this study. Stable concentrations of gas phase atmospheres of the first group of VVOCs (acetone, 2-butanone, methyl acrylate) were produced for exposure of passive samplers. Comparison of different adsorbent materials showed that Carbograph 5TD was the most suitable for passive sampling of these substances, with higher uptake than Carbopack X and Tenax® TA. Very strong adsorbents are not suitable for this experimental design as it adsorbs larger amounts of water. The effective uptake rates were calculated for the first three VVOCs on Carbograph 5TD tubes and an exposure time of 7 days. The same experiment will be performed for all VVOCs and ideally one material should be the best option for all of them. T2 - AIRMON 2025 The 11th International Symposium on Modern Principles of Air Monitoring and Biomonitoring. CY - Loen, Norway DA - 15.06.2025 KW - VVOC KW - Air quality KW - Passive sampling PY - 2025 UR - https://stami.no/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/Programhefte-Airmon-2025-Juni-10-YTH.pdf AN - OPUS4-63632 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -