Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(4), 4326-4339; doi:10.3390/ijerph110404326
Behavior of VOCs and Carbonyl Compounds Emission from Different Types of Wallpapers in Korea
1
Environmental Infrastructure Research Department, National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), 42 Hwankyeong-Ro, Seo-gu, Incheon 404-708, Korea
2
Environmental Health Research Department, National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), 42 Hwankyeong-Ro, Seo-gu, Incheon 404-708, Korea
3
Climate and Atmospheric Research Department, National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), 42 Hwankyeong-Ro, Seo-gu, Incheon 404-708, Korea
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 14 January 2014 / Revised: 31 March 2014 / Accepted: 11 April 2014 / Published: 17 April 2014
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environment and Health - Bridging South, North, East and West: Proceedings from the ISEE, ISES and ISIAQ Conference 2013)
Abstract
Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbonyls from three types of commercially available wallpapers (i.e., PVC-coated, paper-backed, natural material-coated) in Korea were evaluated using a 20 L small chamber. A total of 332 products were tested for emission factors, frequencies of occurrence and composition ratios. Toluene and formaldehyde concentrations were below Korean standard values for all products; however, the total VOC (TVOC) concentrations exceeded current standards (4.0 mg/m2·h) for 30 products. The TVOC emission factor for PVC-coated wallpapers, for which polymer materials are used in the manufacturing process, was seven and 16 times higher than those of paper-backed and natural material-coated wallpapers, respectively. The detection frequencies for toluene and formaldehyde were the highest (82.5%) and fourth highest (79.5%), respectively among the 50 target chemical species. The composition ratios for BTEX ranged from 0.3% to 5.1% and unidentified VOCs, which were not qualitatively analyzed using standard gas methods, ranged from 90.2% to 94.8%. Among six carbonyl compounds (acrolein was not detected in any type of wallpaper), acetone had the highest concentrations in PVC-coated (44.6%) and paper-backed (66.6%) wallpapers. Formaldehyde emissions were highest (64.6%) for natural material-coated wallpapers, a result of the formaldehyde-based resin used in the manufacturing process for these products. View Full-TextKeywords:
building materials; wallpaper; volatile organic compounds; carbonyl compounds; small chamber
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Lim, J.; Kim, S.; Kim, A.; Lee, W.; Han, J.; Cha, J.-S. Behavior of VOCs and Carbonyl Compounds Emission from Different Types of Wallpapers in Korea. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11, 4326-4339.
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