Assessment of the Health and Comfort Effects of Chemical Emissions from Building Materials: the State of the Art in the European Union

摘要

The promotion of healthier indoor air requires the use of building materials whose chemical emissions are free of toxicity and unfavourable sensory properties. Testing and assessment of chemical emissions are essential in order to identify “safe” materials, and to encourage manufacturers to produce, and the market to adopt, such materials. Various testing and assessment procedures for building materials have been developed in European countries such as Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. Recently the European Collaborative Action “Indoor Air Quality and its Impact on Man” proposed criteria and a testing procedure for the assessment of VOC emissions from solid flooring materials. The innovative aspects of this proposal are: a procedure for the performance of chemical emissions testing; sensory testing coupled with toxicological evaluation; and a procedure to handle compounds for which toxicological information is scarce or absent. This procedure, after validation and experience from practical use, will probably be extended to other building materials.