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 - 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 - TY - RPRT A1 - Müller, Birgit A1 - Brandt, Simone A1 - Badura, André A1 - Knigge, Anton A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Jann, Oliver T1 - Geruchs- und emissionsarme Produkte für eine gesunde Innenraumluft - Entwicklung von Anforderungen für den Blauen Engel bei innenraumrelevanten, großflächigen Produkten N2 - Gerüche in Innenräumen können belästigend wirken und das Wohlbefinden sowie die Gesundheit beeinflussen. Hauptziel der Untersuchungen ist es zu prüfen, ob die Vergabekriterien des Blauen Engels für die Produktgruppen „Elastische Bodenbeläge“ (DE-UZ 120) und „Emissionsarme Bodenbeläge, Paneele und Türen aus Holz und Holzwerkstoffen für Innenräume“ (DE-UZ 176) um geruchsrelevante Aspekte ergänzt werden können. Dies ist erstrebenswert, da Untersuchungen in Vorgängerprojekten gezeigt haben, dass die gemessenen Emissionen untersuchter Produkte zwar abnehmen, die Geruchsbelastung jedoch in etwa gleichgeblieben ist. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen zeigen, dass es möglich ist Anforderungen an den Geruch der Produkte zu stellen. Ferner wird untersucht und gezeigt, dass die bislang vorläufig festgelegte Schwelle einer empfundenen Intensität von 7 pi für die Zulassung von Bauprodukten gemäß Schema des Ausschusses zur gesundheitlichen Bewertung von Bauprodukten (AgBB) und Blauer Engel, als Beurteilungsmaßstab geeignet ist. Der im AgBB-Schema zugrunde gelegte Zusammenhang zwischen der geruchlichen Zumutbarkeit und der empfundenen Intensität kann mit den durchgeführten Messungen untermauert werden. Es kann gezeigt werden, dass bei Tests mit großen, ungeschulten Personengruppen etwa 70% der Probandinnen und Probanden Produkte mit einer empfundenen Intensität von bis zu 7 pi geruchlich als zumutbar empfinden. Zur Bewertung der empfundenen Intensität wird ein Vergleichsmaßstab verwendet. Die Einhaltung konstanter Bedingungen für die Temperatur und die relative Feuchte bei den Messungen ist von großer Bedeutung, da diese einen Einfluss auf die Messergebnisse haben. Daher werden Untersuchungen bei unterschiedlichen Temperaturen und relativer Luftfeuchte, die mit einer eigens dafür gebauten kleinen raumlufttechnischen Anlage eingestellt werden können, durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse belegen, dass die Einhaltung konstanter Prüfbedingungen wichtig ist und zeigen deren Einfluss auf die Geruchwahrnehmung. In einem neuen Luftqualitätslabor der HTW Berlin können Innenräume unter standardisierten Bedingungen geprüft werden. Es werden vergleichende Messungen mit Emissionsprüfkammertests durchgeführt, um zu prüfen, ob ähnliche Ergebnisse erreicht werden können. Das Ziel ist es, die Räume später für sensorische Messungen mit verschiedenen Ausstattungen zu nutzen. Das Vorhaben baut auf den Ergebnissen der Vorhaben UBA Texte 35/2011 „Sensorische Bewertung der Emissionen aus Bauprodukten – Integration in die Vergabegrundlagen für den Blauen Engel und das Bewertungsschema des Ausschusses zur gesundheitlichen Bewertung von Bauprodukten“ (Müller, 2011) und UBA Texte 92/2019 „Emissions- und geruchsarme Bauprodukte für energieeffiziente Gebäude – Entwicklung von Anforderungen und Konzepten für den Blauen Engel aus Klimaschutzsicht“ (Müller, 2019) auf. KW - Emission KW - Indoor air quality KW - VOC KW - Geruch KW - Bauprodukte PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-7610 SN - 1862-4804 VL - 78/2025 SP - 1 EP - 214 PB - Umweltbundesamt CY - Dessau-Roßlau AN - OPUS4-63341 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Brandt, S. A1 - Brozowski, F. A1 - Horn, Wolfgang A1 - Müller, B. T1 - Odour testing of building products: Examinations for an on-going development of the test standard ISO 16000-28 N2 - VOC-emissions and their odours from building products and furnishings present indoors should not have an impact on personal well-being or health. Odours can be measured by applying the standard ISO 16000-28. Indoor air determination of odour emissions from building products using test chambers. One of the described procedures is the assessment of perceived intensity using a comparative scale by a group of panellists. In this paper, the perceived intensity sampling procedure and its evaluation method are investigated and shown to need improvement. New technical developments in the methodology used to increase the reproducibility of measurement results are discussed. Since odour tests are used for labelling, they have a major influence on the assessment of construction products, similar to the procedure of the German Committee for Health Evaluation of Building Products (AgBB). In the original ISO standard, the evaluation is typically performed using a sampling container separated from the emission chamber. For a better sample presentation, an adapter was developed to connect the emission test chamber to the evaluation funnel and thus enable an odour assessment which is comparable to a direct measurement. The investigations show that losses of odourous substances can be greatly reduced, which is very desirable when seeking to obtain reliable results in odour measurement. Another experimental series was carried out to reduce the measurement effort in the evaluation of perceived intensity. Application of the developed greater than or less than/equal to. query could be helpful here. The results show that the query mostly leads to the same result as the evaluation of the perceived intensity using the method according to the standard but is much easier to perform. Overall, the results can contribute to improving the acceptance of the evaluation of perceived intensity using ISO 16000-28 and to determining odours from building materials increasingly more precisely. T2 - Healthy Buildings 2023 Europe CY - Aachen, Germany DA - 11.06.2023 KW - Building material KW - Odour KW - Perceived intensity KW - VOC KW - Emission test chamber PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-580070 SP - 345 EP - 352 PB - ISIAQ (International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate) CY - Herndon, VA, USA AN - OPUS4-58007 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Strzelczyk, Rebecca T1 - Zeolites loaded with VOCs as reference for material emissions testing N2 - Nowadays, people spend most of their time indoors. Thus, a good indoor air quality is important. Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from furniture and building materials can cause health complaints1. Quantitative VOC-emission testing is carried out under standardized conditions in emission test chambers. In the presented project an emission reference material (ERM) is developed that emits a defined mixture of VOCs which is required for quality assurance and -control (QA/QC) measures. Porous materials (e.g zeolites, activated carbons, MOFs or aerogels) are used as reservoir materials and impregnated with VOC. The porous materials are selected, among others, by their pore size, pore size distribution, polarity and availability. Due to their regular pore structure zeolites are tested at first. For a prediction of the emission profile, the ERM is supposed to exhibit a constant emission rate over time. The aim is a stability of ≤ 10 % change in the emission rate over a minimum of 14 days. Method For impregnation, the material is placed into an autoclave inside a rotatable basket. The VOC is added and the autoclave is closed. Afterwards, CO2 is inserted. The closed system is then heated to the supercritical point of CO2 (31 °C, 73.75 bar). In this state, the CO2 acts as solvent for the VOC. By rotating the basket, the distribution of the VOC is ensured. After a few minutes, the pressure is decreased slowly and the CO2 is released. For the determination of the emission profile, the impregnated sample is placed into an emission test chamber. These chambers can be operated either with dry or humid air (50 ± 5 % rel. humidity). Every second to third day, air samples are taken and analyzed by gas chromatography. For an ideal impregnation, several different pressures and temperatures as well as impregnation times are tested. Results Two zeolite materials tested in dry air conditions reach emission profiles with a decrease of less than 10 % over 14 days (heptane and toluene, respectively). Further it was discovered that smaller pellets of the same zeolite show better results than bigger particles. When the pore size of a zeolite is too small, e.g. 0.3 nm, the VOC cannot be absorbed sufficiently. The main disadvantage of zeolites is their hygroscopicity because it has a large impact on the release of VOC when they are used in emission test chambers under standardized test conditions (23 °C, 50 % rel. humidity). Activated carbons have emission profiles with a larger change over 14 days. However, the high hydrophobicity allows measurements in humid air conditions which was not possible with the before mentioned hygroscopic zeolites. It is possible to impregnate powdered materials as well, and thus powdered non-hygroscopic (n.h.) zeolites were impregnated. Their emission profiles are comparable to those of the activated carbons. The use of methylated hygroscopic zeolites with a decrease in hygroscopicity did not yield successful emission measurements. The change over 14 days is calculated only for the stable phase (~250–300 h). The desired stability of ≤ 10 % change of the emission rate over 14 days could already be reached under dry testing conditions. Further investigations under humid conditions show that zeolites with high Si/Al-ratios are non-hygroscopic and comparable to activated carbons (20–30 % change). The next step is to reduce the change in the emission rate of these materials to the aimed ≤ 10 % over 14 days. T2 - Deutsche Zeolithtagung CY - Jena, Germany DA - 28.02.2024 KW - VOC KW - Emission KW - Quality assurance KW - Reference material KW - Zeolite PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-59843 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -