Considerations in evaluating emissions from consumer products

Abstract

While several indoor air quality studies suggest consumer products (e.g. aerosol sprays, paint removers, etc.) can be significant sources of volatile organic compounds, until recently characterizing emissions from consumer products has received relatively little attention. Many considerations that must be addressed in designing studies of consumer product emissions are similar to those addressed in studies of the emissions from building materials and combustion appliances. These similarities are discussed and, in addition, the considerations unique to studies of consumer product emissions are discussed with reference to an ongoing study of consumer products that contain methylene chloride. These unique considerations include bulk chemical analysis, the form of the product (e.g. liquid, aerosol or paste) and the related consumer usage pattern. The issue of personal exposure of the product user vs the average area concentration resulting from product use must be considered, as well as the challenge of incorporating results into predictive models that adequately treat the effect of different usage patterns. Finally, post-study considerations, such as exploring new issues discovered in the study, studying similar products, and validating predictive models through extension into field studies are summarized.