Measurement of semi-volatile organic compounds emitted from various types of indoor materials by thermal desorption test chamber method

Abstract

This paper presents measurements on semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) emitted from building materials, household electric appliances, and indoor products. It is extremely difficult to apply the emission test chamber method to the accurate measurement of SVOCs because they are absorbed by the internal walls of the chamber. The authors have reported on the development of the thermal desorption test chamber method that can measure correctly the emission rates of SVOCs emitted from materials under actual room-air temperature conditions. This method is composed of two measurement steps. In the first step we capture organic compounds emitted as gaseous matter. After removing the test piece from the chamber, in the second step we continuously gather the organic compounds absorbed by the chamber's internal walls while heating the chamber. We have used this method to measure emissions from various objects, and have confirmed that most SVOCs are caught in the second step. In this paper, we also report on our verification of the accuracy of SVOC measurements taken using an emission chamber and describe the emission characteristics of SVOCs.