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VDI/DIN-Commission on Air Pollution Prevention (KRdL) - Standards Committee

Overview

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are widely used in industry and may be emitted by many everyday products and materials. They have attracted much attention in recent years because of their impact on indoor air quality. After homes and workplaces, people spend a lot of time in their vehicles. It is important to determine the material emissions of interior parts and to reduce them to an acceptable level, if required. Therefore it is necessary to obtain comprehensive and reliable information about the types of organic compounds in the interior air of vehicles and also their concentrations. This part of ISO 12219 specifies the sampling bag test method for measuring volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde and other carbonyl compounds which may diffuse from vehicle interior parts into the air inside road vehicles. This method is intended for evaluating and screening new vehicle interior parts and materials such as seats, the instrument panel, ceiling materials and so on. One or multiple test specimens put in a sampling bag are heated to a specified temperature, then a fraction of the gas in the sampling bag is collected to measure the test concentrations. By comparing the test concentrations with the corresponding blank concentrations, the sampling bag values of VOCs, formaldehyde, and other carbonyl compounds diffusing from one test specimen can be calculated. This part of ISO 12219 provides test laboratories and manufacturing industry with a cost-effective approach for: - evaluating and screening prototype, "low-diffusion" materials or products during development; - comparing diffusions from products within a range (for example, different colours or patterns). The described method specifies the design, construction, performance, evaluation, and use of sampling bags for testing vapour-phase organic emissions diffused from vehicle interior parts. The analytical part of the overall measurement procedure is based on the use of sorbent tubes with subsequent thermal desorption and gas chromatographic analysis for VOCs (according to ISO 16000-6) and the use of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) sorbent tubes, followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis with ultraviolet absorption for the determination of formaldehyde and other carbonyl compounds (according to ISO 16000-3). The specified analytical procedure is valid for the determination of VOCs ranging in concentration from microgram per metre cubed (µg/m³) to several milligrams per metre cubed (mg/m³). The method is applicable to the measurement of non-polar and slightly polar VOCs ranging in volatility from n-C₆ to n-C₁₆. The specified analytical procedure for formaldehyde and other carbonyl compounds is validated for the determination of carbonyl compounds within the concentration range of approximately 1 µg/m³ to 1 mg/m³. The International Standard has been prepared by Joint Working Group ISO/TC 22-ISO/TC 146/SC 6/WG 13 (JWG 13) "Determination of volatile organic components in car interiors" of Technical Committee ISO/TC 22 "Road vehicles" and ISO/TC 146 "Air quality", Subcommittee (SC 6) "Indoor air". The chairmanship and secretariat of JWG 13 are held by Germany. The responsible German committee is NA 134-04-04-15 UA "Bestimmung von VOC in der Fahrgastzelle" ("Determination of volatile organic compounds in car interiors"). Technical Section IV "Umweltmesstechnik" ("Environmental measurement engineering") of the Commission on air pollution prevention of VDI and DIN - Standards Committee KRdL as well as Working Group "Innenraumemission" ("Interior emission") of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) have been significantly involved in the preparation of the standard.

Document: references other documents

Document: referenced in other documents

Responsible national committee

NA 134-04-04-06 UA - Interior air of road vehicles