Assessment on emission of volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde from building materials

Published Date
Composites Part B: Engineering
June 2013, Vol.49:36–42, doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2013.01.008

• Author 

• Ze-Li Que ^a,b,,
• Fei-Bin Wang ^c
• Jian-Zhang Li ^d
• Takeshi Furuno ^e

• aCollege of Wood Science and Technology, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
• bResearch Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH), Kyoto University, Kyoto 6110011, Japan
• cCollege of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
• dCollege of Materials Science and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
• eFaculty of Science and Engineering, Shimane University, Matsue 6908504, Japan

Received 6 October 2012. Revised 29 November 2012. Accepted 5 January 2013. Available online 29 January 2013. 

Abstract
This paper assesses the reproducibility of testing formaldehyde and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) emissions from wood-based composites such as MDF (medium density fiberboard), hardboard, plywood, coated and raw particleboards, planed pine lumber, and gypsum board. Sawdust and shavings were also included in the study. With the help of a special device, air was sucked from the surfaces of the materials and then was adsorbed on charcoal and Tenax tubes. The adsorbed VOCs were determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The emission of formaldehyde was determined separately with Interscan Toxic Gas analyzer and chamber method.

The results showed that the most emitted VOCs were terpenes, aldehydes, and aromatics. Pine wood plank revealed the highest VOCs (approximately 900 μg/m³). Fresh particleboard showed the second highest value with 450 μg/m³. The VOC value of other examined materials were 80–170 μg/m³.

The composition of the emitted compounds was remarkably similar among the different materials. The low VOC emission from the board materials investigated did not verify the hypothesis that these materials provided a tangible contribution to VOCs in the indoor air.

Emission of formaldehyde from the board materials studied was very low with an exception. The exception was MDF with an emission value of 0.63 mg/m³formaldehyde whereas all the other materials examined had values around 0.05 mg/m³ or appreciably lower.

Keywords

D. Chemical analysis

D. Volatile organic compounds

A. Wood

B. Chemical properties

---

 Table 2

Table 2.

 Table 1

Table 1.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

 Table 3

Table 3.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 6.

Fig. 7.

Fig. 8.

Fig. 9.

Fig. 10.

• ⁎ 
  Corresponding author at: Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH), Kyoto University, Kyoto 6110011, Japan. Tel.: +81 774 38 3665; fax: +81 774 38 3678.
  
  

For further details log on website :
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359836813000140