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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found indoors have the potential to affect human health. Typical sources include building materials, furnishings, cleaning agents, etc. To address this risk, chemical emission testing is used to assess the potential of different materials to pollute indoor air. One objective of the European Joint Research Project “MACPoll” (Metrology for Chemical Pollutants in Air) aims at developing and testing a reference material for the quality control of the emission testing procedure. Furthermore, it would enable comparison of measurement results between test laboratories. The heterogeneity of the majority of materials makes it difficult to find a suitable reference sample. In the present study, styrene, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, N-methyl-α-pyrrolidone, lindane, n-hexadecane, 1,2-dimethyl- and 1,2-di-n-butyl-phthalate were added to 12 commercially available lacquers (6 alkyd and 6 acrylic polymer based lacquers) serving as carrier substrate. After homogenization, the mixtures were loaded into a Markes Micro-Chamber/Thermal Extractor (μ-CTE™) for curing and investigation of the emission behavior for each compound. For almost all of the investigated chemicals, the preferred glossy acrylic lacquer showed emissions that were reproducible with a variation of less than 20% RSD. Such lacquer systems have therefore been shown to be good candidates for use as reference materials in inter-laboratory studies.

The former use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in construction materials can lead to elevated indoor air concentrations. We studied the partitioning of PCB congeners between indoor air and silicone with a view to establish passive sampling of PCBs. The release of PCB congeners from silicone followed first order kinetics and confirmed air-side rate-limited mass transfer. Logarithmic elimination rate constants decreased linearly with the logKOA values of the PCB congeners, but varied in a non-linear way with air velocity. Linear uptake of PCBs was found for silicone disks (0.5 mm thickness) in a petri dish, while PCBs reached equilibrium in silicone-coated paper sheets (0.001 mm silicone on each side) exposed to indoor air for 1–2 weeks. The ratios of equilibrium concentrations in silicone and conventionally measured air concentrations were roughly comparable with silicone-air partition coefficients, but further research is required for the determination of silicone-air partition coefficients. Avoiding performance reference compounds (PRCs) because of the indoor setting, the two formats were calibrated against conventional active measurements. Comparisons of air concentrations derived from active and kinetic passive sampling showed a divergence by factors of 2.4 and 2.0 (median values) for the petri dishes and the silicone-coated paper, respectively. With promising results for sensitivity and precision, the calibration of kinetic passive samplers remains the main challenge and will need suitable, non-hazardous PRCs. Equilibrium sampling indicated promising alternatives.

As many people spend a large part of their life indoors, the quality of the indoor environment is important. Data on contaminants such as flame retardants, pesticides and plasticizers are available for indoor air and dust but are scarce for consumer products such as computers, televisions, furniture, carpets, etc. This review presents information on semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in consumer products in an attempt to link the information available for chemicals in indoor air and dust with their indoor sources. A number of 256 papers were selected and divided among SVOCs found in consumer products (n = 57), indoor dust (n = 104) and air (n = 95). Concentrations of SVOCs in consumer products, indoor dust and air are reported (e.g. PFASs max: 13.9 μg/g in textiles, 5.8 μg/kg in building materials, 121 ng/g in house dust and 6.4 ng/m3 in indoor air). Most of the studies show common aims, such as human exposure and risk assessment. The main micro-environments investigated (houses, offices and schools) reflect the relevance of indoor air quality. Most of the studies show a lack of data on concentrations of chemicals in consumer goods and often only the presence of chemicals is reported. At the moment this is the largest obstacle linking chemicals in products to chemicals detected in indoor air and dust.