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Chamber Assessment of Formaldehyde and VOC Emissions from Wood‐Based Panels
Author(s) -
Brown S. K.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
indoor air
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.387
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 1600-0668
pISSN - 0905-6947
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0668.1999.t01-1-00008.x
Subject(s) - formaldehyde , hexanal , volatile organic compound , environmental science , waste management , environmental chamber , environmental chemistry , pulp and paper industry , environmental engineering , chemistry , engineering , organic chemistry
Volatile organic emissions from particleboard, medium density fibreboard (MDF) and office furniture have been measured in dynamic environmental chambers, both small and room‐sized. Characterisation of product emission properties in small chambers was possible when inter‐ and intra‐sheet variations were considered. Formaldehyde emission factors for all products were approximately double European low‐emission specifications and did not decay to the latter for several months. Long‐term emission behaviour could not be predicted from short‐term measurements. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions were low for the MDF product, higher for particleboard, and highest for laminated office furniture. The compounds emitted differed from those reported in other countries. VOC emissions from the sheet products decreased more quickly than formaldehyde, reaching low levels within two weeks, except for MDF which was found to become a low‐level source of hexanal after several months.