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EMPIR project supports building product availability with reduced emissions of dangerous substances

House interior

Protecting the health of EU citizens through improved measurements of indoor pollutants

People who spend a large part of their time in offices or other enclosed spaces often complain of health problems. Common complaints include watery eyes, mucous membrane irritation, headaches, shortness of breath and asthma. Researchers refer to this as ‘building related illness’. Among other things, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are considered to be a trigger. VOCs are gaseous emissions that can be released by floor coverings, furniture, wall paints or varnishes. They include substances such as formaldehyde, but also solvents and a wide variety of additives that are intended to improve product properties.

European citizens spend more than 80 % of their time indoors, so it is vital to have a healthy indoor environment. To achieve this, the release of harmful substances from building materials and other products used indoors into the air must be minimised. Reliable, accurate, traceable measurements of the emissions are needed in order to reach a high-level of consumer protection.

The project

Completed EMPIR project Metrology for the determination of emissions of dangerous substances from building materials into indoor air ( 20NRM04, MetrIAQ) worked to provide the traceable measurement of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from such materials. The project developed candidate emission reference materials with defined and almost stable emission profiles, and certified reference gas standards, in accordance with the quality control requirements of the emission test chamber procedure described in EN 16516 Construction products: Assessment of release of dangerous substances.

Good practice guide

Guideline for the use of the ERM for the improvement of the QA/QC of the emission chamber test method in EN 16516, including a description of (i) the optimal storage conditions, (ii) loading into the emission test chambers and (iii) a sampling and measurement protocol

In this guideline, recommendations for the sample handling, sampling, analysis, data interpretation and evaluation of emission reference materials for the emission test chamber procedure are presented. The reference materials described in this guideline are either impregnated porous materials produced by BAM, or microcapsules filled with VOCs produced by Fraunhofer IMM. Different VOCs were used to produce the emission reference materials. The performance of the reference materials was extensively tested during development, in an internal validation and additionally with help of an inter-laboratory comparison.

Press releases

The development of the reference materials for air pollutants during this EMPIR project is described in two press releases:

Indoor air: reference material for VOCs - Better protection from indoor air pollutants

Indoor Air Under Scrutiny: Fraunhofer IMM Develops New Approaches for Emission Testing

Project coordinator Matthias Richter from BAM said

‘The reference materials developed in the project can make an important contribution to achieving a uniform high quality of emission tests in Europe and beyond, as they enable more precise laboratory comparisons. We provided recommendations to manufacturers of reference materials to enable them to produce references for the variety of typical VOC emissions.’

The improvement of the metrological infrastructure in the field of materials emissions testing supports the long-term European harmonisation of the health-based evaluation of indoor emissions from regulated construction products.

This EMPIR project is co-funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the EMPIR Participating States.

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