Organic vapor emissions from wall-to-wall carpets as a source of indoor air pollution

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  A study was conducted examining levels of organic vapors emitted from wall to wall carpeting. Ambient and head space air samples were collected over 13 days from four sites in which new carpeting had been installed using direct glue down synthetic nylon pile carpeting with styrene/butadiene based latex mastic and analyzed by gas chromatography. Similar chromatographic patterns were seen between ambient and head space chamber samples and between the four sites. Organic compounds identified up to 13 days after carpet installation included toluene (108883), o-xylene (95476), n-nonane (111842), d-limonene (138863), n-undecane (1120214), and n-tridecane (629505). p-Xylene (106423), n-octane (111659), and m-xylene (108383) were seen up to 8 days after installation. Emission rates ranged from 12.51 to 213.53 milligrams/square meter/hour (mg/m2/hr) during the first day after carpet installation and from 0.21mg/m2/hr to 2.53 on day 13; air concentrations ranged from 3.40 to 40.69mg/m3 on day one and from 0.83 to 0.23mg/m3 on day 13. None of the measured air concentrations approached reported thresholds for sensory symptoms following exposure to refined petroleum solvents. The authors conclude that a minimum of 2 weeks is necessary for organics emitted from newly installed carpeting to decay to below the odor threshold for most individuals. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Exposure Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Petroleum Safety Solvents
• Keywords:
  Air-sampling Environmental-exposure Exposure-levels Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality NIOSH-Author Occupational-exposure Organic-vapors Petroleum-products Solvent-vapors
• ISSN:
  1047-322X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; North Carolina ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies ; DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  436-439
• Volume:
  11
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00232683
• Citation:
  Appl Occup Environ Hyg 1996 May; 11(5):436-439
• CAS Registry Number:
  Limonene (CAS RN 138-86-3) ; m-Xylene (CAS RN 108-38-3) ; Nonane (CAS RN 111-84-2) ; Octane (CAS RN 111-65-9) ; o-Xylene (CAS RN 95-47-6) ; p-Xylene (CAS RN 106-42-3) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Tridecane (CAS RN 629-50-5) ; Undecane (CAS RN 1120-21-4) ; Limonene (CAS RN 138-86-3) ; m-Xylene (CAS RN 108-38-3) ; Nonane (CAS RN 111-84-2) ; Octane (CAS RN 111-65-9) ; o-Xylene (CAS RN 95-47-6) ; p-Xylene (CAS RN 106-42-3) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Tridecane (CAS RN 629-50-5) ; Undecane (CAS RN 1120-21-4)
• Editor(s):
  Tharr D ; Tharr D
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1996
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Applied Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:985bdf2719ebb5e1a24d2af8c22d5bab5ebe2f40f0bae7e8beb8cff234784d055d42c89482352d62439a618f6b432464dfc81cb9a6a104cee889fb4a159cff17
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/205296/cdc_205296_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 556.11 KB ]