VDI/DIN-Commission on Air Pollution Prevention (KRdL) - Standards Committee
DIN ISO 12219-3
Interior air of road vehicles - Part 3: Screening method for the determination of the emissions of volatile organic compounds from vehicle interior parts and materials - Micro-scale chamber method (ISO 12219-3:2012)
Innenraumluft von Straßenfahrzeugen - Teil 3: Screeningverfahren für die Bestimmung von flüchtigen organischen Verbindungen aus Fahrzeuginnenraumausstattungsteilen - Mikroprüfkammer-Verfahren (ISO 12219-3:2012)
Overview
Various volatile compounds (VOCs) are emitted from construction materials and synthetic products. Current researches focus on the health impact of airborne VOCs. In recent years, there has been increasing interest not only in the quality of ambient and workplace air but also in the indoor air quality in rooms other than workplaces. This is due not least to the fact that the human being spends up to 90 % of time indoors. The vehicle interior takes third place after homes and workplaces. Therefore, it is important to determine the material emissions of interior vehicle parts and to reduce them to an acceptable level, if required. 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 provides the instructions for a fast, qualitative and quantitative analytical method for vapour-phase volatile organic compounds released from car trim materials under simulated real use conditions using a small emission test chamber. This method is intended for evaluating new car interior trim components but can, in principle, be applied to used car components. The principle of the test is to determine the area (or mass) specific emission rate of VOCs emitted from automotive products. The test is performed in a micro-scale test chamber at a constant temperature and flow rate. The surface area (or mass) of the sample in the micro-scale test chamber is constant and, by measuring the mass or vapour-phase concentrations of emitted compounds, the area (or mass) specific emission rates of VOCs from the product under test can be determined at a given time, t. 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 (2,4-DNPH) sorbent tubes followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis with ultraviolet absorption for the determination of formaldehyde and other carbonyls (according to ISO 16000-3). This procedure is complementary to existing standards and provides third parties - test laboratories and manufacturing industry - with a cost-effective approach for: -- monitoring and screening VOC emissions as part of routine quality control; -- monitoring product uniformity/conformity in between formal certification tests; -- comparing emissions from products within a range (for example different colours/patterns); -- evaluating prototype, low-emission materials/products during development. The described method covers design, construction, performance, evaluation and use of sampling bags for testing the vapour-phase emissions diffusing from vehicle interior trim components.
