Aug 31 2005
Airborne emissions from indoor materials and furnishings have the potential to release harmful or odorous volatile organic chemicals into homes, offices, schools, automobiles, and other indoor spaces. In fact, most individual products may release up to hundreds of individual volatile organic chemicals or VOCs such as toluene, benzene, and formaldehyde.
One of the most common approaches to minimizing the effect of these emissions is to use low emitting products or those that will contribute minimal pollution to the air. This technique of using low emitting products, called "source control," is an effective construction and interior design strategy for ensuring healthy indoor environments. However, in many cases, products are not used alone, but in combination with other materials; for example, paint on wallboard, fabric glued on foam cushioned furniture, adhesives on sub flooring and beneath carpet or hard surfaces, laminates on cabinets made of particleboard and adhered with glues, and roofing systems.
The emissions from these products in application may vary from what is found when they are simply tested alone.
Sometimes emissions may be reduced and yet, in some situations, new chemicals can be released resulting from interactions among the products. Many construction professionals and designers want to know how the products will behave in real applications, because it more realistically measures what will happen in the building once installed. Air Quality Sciences, Inc. has developed a series of new techniques that allow product assemblies to be tested in controlled environmental chambers.
Measurements can be made to evaluate various options for installation and construction so that the full building impact can be measured. This is beneficial to design and construction professionals who care about bottom line performance and whether or not an installed material is safe.
According to Dr. Marilyn Black, Chief Scientist of AQS, "Product manufacturers also want to know the impact of installation on their product's performance. In many cases, this leads them to develop preferred installation techniques and warranty definitions." Many state and federal agency building projects require emissions data on installation assemblies. In addition, low emitting certification programs such as GREENGUARD and Germany's Blue Angel Eco-Label, and Japan's Star Rating System for Building Materials recognize and will certify defined installation packages. Air Quality Sciences, Inc. is a fully integrated indoor air quality (IAQ) company that provides solutions to create healthy indoor environments and avoid potentially dangerous indoor pollution.
As the only IAQ firm with internal labs that are both ISO 9001:2000 registered and AIHA EMLAP accredited, AQS sets the standard for effective diagnoses and solutions. AQS also is a test laboratory for both the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute and the Blue Angel Labeling programs, which provide independent, third party certification for low-emitting products used indoors.
To learn more about AQS, Blue Angel and GREENGUARD, visit www.aqs.com, www.blauer-engel.de or www.greenguard.org, respectively.
To learn more about indoor air quality, visit Aerias at www.aerias.org.