DIN ISO 12219-4:2013-12

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 qualitative and quantitative analytical method for measuring vapour-phase volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from car trim materials under simulated real use conditions using small emission test chambers (small chamber). Small chambers allow qualitative and quantitative VOC emissions data to be measured and recorded. The subsequent VOC emissions data can be used to develop a correlation between material level methods and the vehicle level method. This method is intended for evaluating new car interior trim components but can, in principle, be applied to used car components. Target compounds include VOCs (in the volatility range from n-hexane to n-hexadecane) and volatile carbonyls such as formaldehyde. Compounds more volatile can also be analyzed. This part of ISO 12219 provides third parties - test laboratories and manufacturing industry - with a cost-effective approach for: - identifying the effect of real use conditions on specific VOC emissions data, - comparing emissions from various assemblies with regards to specific VOC emissions, - evaluating and sorting specific assemblies regarding specific VOC emissions data, - providing specific VOC emissions data to develop and verify a correlation between material level methods and the vehicle level method, - evaluating prototype, low-emission materials/products during development. An automotive interior product is inserted into an almost ideally mixed small chamber (0,5 m³ to 4,0 m³) and stored in pre-set temperature, humidity and air change. Organic substances that escape the test specimen accumulate in the small chamber and are conveyed through an air stream. Air samples are taken at selected times. Out of these the concentration of gaseous air substances in the small chamber can be determined qualitatively and quantitatively with the help of chemical analysis procedures. The specified analytical procedure is valid for the determination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) ranging in concentration from sub-µg/m³ to several 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.