Volatile organic chemical emissions from carpet cushions: Screening measurements. Final report

Technical Report · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/31672· OSTI ID:31672

Hodgson, A T; Phan, T A

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has received complaints from consumers regarding the occurrence of adverse health effects following the installation of new carpeting (Schachter, 1990). Carpet systems are suspected of emitting chemicals which may be the cause of these complaints, as well as objectionable odors. Carpets themselves have been shown to emit a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The objective of this study was to screen the representative samples of carpet cushions for emissions of individual VOCS, total VOCs (TVOC), formaldehyde, and, for the two types of polyurethane cushions, isomers of toluene diisocyanate (TDI). The measurements of VOCS, TVOC and formaldehyde were made over six-hour periods using small-volume (4-L) dynamic chambers. Sensitive gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques were used to identify many of the VOCs emitted by the cushion samples and to obtain quantitative estimates of the emission rates of selected compounds. Separate screening measurements were conducted for TDI. The data from the screening measurements were used by the CPSC`s Health Sciences Laboratory to help design and conduct week-long measurements of emission rates of selected compounds.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 31672
• Report Number(s): LBL--35334; ON: DE95009371; CNN: Agreement CPSC-IAG-92-1134; Agreement CPSC-IAG-92-1120
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

56 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
APPLIED STUDIES
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
CONSUMER PROTECTION
EMISSION
HEALTH HAZARDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PROGRESS REPORT
TEXTILE INDUSTRY
TOLUENE
VOLATILE MATTER