Emissions of DEHP-free PVC flooring

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Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Date
2019-11
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
903-912
Series
Indoor Air, Volume 29, issue 6
Abstract
Degrading 2-ethylhexyl-containing PVC floorings (eg DEHP-PVC floorings) and adhesives emit 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) in the indoor air. The danger of flooring degradation comes from exposing occupants to harmful phthalates plasticisers (eg DEHP), but not from 2-EH as such. Since the EU banned the use of phthalates in sensitive applications, the market is shifting to use DEHP-free and alternative types of plasticisers in PVC products. However, data on emissions from DEHP-free PVC floorings are scarce. This study aimed at assessing the surface and bulk emissions of two DEHP-free PVC floorings over three years. The floorings were glued on the screed layer of concrete casts at 75%, 85%, and 95% RH. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were actively sampled using FLEC (surface emissions) and micro-chamber/thermal extractor (µ-CTE, bulk emissions) onto Tenax TA adsorbents and analyzed with TD-GC-MS. 2-EH, C9-alcohols, and total volatile organic compound (TVOC) emissions are reported. Emissions at 75% and 85% RH were similar. As expected, the highest emissions occurred at 95% RH. 2-EH emissions originated from the adhesive. Because the two DEHP-free floorings tested emitted C9-alcohols at all tested RH, it makes the detection of flooring degradation harder, particularly if the adhesive used does not emit 2-EH.
Description
Keywords
2-ethylhexanol, C9-alcohol, flooring, phthalates, PVC, TVOC
Other note
Citation
Castagnoli, E, Backlund, P, Talvitie, O, Tuomi, T, Valtanen, A, Mikkola, R, Hovi, H, Leino, K, Kurnitski, J & Salonen, H 2019, ' Emissions of DEHP-free PVC flooring ', Indoor Air, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 903-912 . https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12591