Determination of formaldehyde and TVOC emission factor from wood-based composites by small chamber method

This paper assesses the reproducibility of testing formaldehyde and TVOC emissions from wood-based composites such as medium density fiberboard (MDF), particleboard (PB), laminate flooring, and engineered flooring using desiccator, perforator and 20 L small chamber methods. According to desiccator and perforator standards, the formaldehyde emission level of each flooring was ≤E₁ grade. The formaldehyde emission of MDF and PB was 3.48 mg/L PB and 5.38 mg/L by the desiccator method, and 8.57/100 g and 10.21/100 g PB by the perforator method, respectively. A 20 L small chamber was developed in Japan with performance in compliance with ASTM, ECA reports, and ENV 13419-1. To determine formaldehyde emission, the peak areas of each wood-based composite were calculated from aldehyde chromatograms obtained using the 20 L small chamber method. Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein/acetone, propionaldehyde, methacrolein, 2-butanone/butyraldehyde, benzaldehyde and isovaleraldehyde were detected as aldehyde compounds. In this experiment, it was found that MDF and PB emitted hexanal, pinenes, pentanal, nonanal, heptanal, octanol, etc. MDF and PB emitted significantly greater amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than the flooring materials did.