VOC Emissions from Wood and Vinyl Flooring Topcoats using ASTM D5403

摘要

ASTM D5403 is the procedure that is referenced by EPA test Method 24 for determining the VOC emissions for production facilities using radiation curable coatings. Recently, there has been considerable discussion within the UV community on the value of the post-cure one-hour bake cycle that is part of the test. In order to help clarify for ourselves the relative magnitude of VOC emissions caused by the bake cycle, we tested a number of current production UV/EB coatings. This paper compiles the results of that testing for a total of fourteen different UV/EB coatings for vinyl and several additional coatings for wood. For all of the systems, we were able to generate data using the aluminum plates specified by ASTM D5403. As expected, we observed significantly higher VOC emissions from the bake cycle than from the process cycle. Our results support the position that the bake cycle of the test is not of value for predicting emissions from production facilities that use UV/EB coatings.