The development of exposure scenarios for testing consumer products within the EPHECT project; the EU-LCI concept for exposure scenarios

摘要

The EPHECT project (Emissions, exposure patterns and health effects of consumer products in the EU; www.ephect.eu) was focussed on the assessment of exposures resulting from the household use of personal care products, air fresheners, and cleaning agents; products causing an exposure related to the use scenario, being potential sources of health relevant air pollutants in households. To establish emission test scenarios characterised by a maximum agreement with the existing standards for building material emission testing, as well as a maximum similarity between the protocols for the different product classes, the EPHECT umbrella for consumer product testing was developed. In this umbrella, the product test scenario was determined by (1) the product's aggregation state (liquid, gel, solid), and (2) its package, which is on its turn related to the use scenario (to be sprayed, to be volatilized, etc.J.The EPHECT umbrella for consumer product testing was found to be a suitable tool to assess emission profiles and emission factors. Emission characteristics varied between products of the same product class and reached TVOC ideal room concentrations up to 960 ug/m~3 for continuous sources. Complex use scenarios were found to increase uncertainly of emission factors and chamber concentrations, yet more work needed to develop a standardized protocol for consumer product emission testing. EU-LCI (Lowers Concentration of Interest) values have been proven to be of significant value for building product emission evaluations, based on chamber measurements of single products under defined conditions. The use scenarios of consumer products however, in a complex indoor environment, characterised by a multitude of sources, physical parameters and occupancy patterns, complicate the exercise of mirroring the EU-LCI principle to consumer product emission evaluations. However, the application of the EU-LCI concept on the emissions assessed within the EPHECT project, illustrates its potential value for consumer product evaluation.