What are the chemicals of concern?
When addressing indoor air quality, there are three types of chemicals of concern: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s), Formaldehyde, and Phthalate and other Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds (Semi-VOC’s). Currently, SCS tests for VOC’s and Formaldehyde within all three indoor air quality certification programs. At this time, there are no industry recognized standards that can accurately measure emissions of phthalates and other semi-VOC’s due to the chemical structure of these compounds.
Volatile Organic Compounds
The smell of new carpet or fresh paint is generally associated with the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. VOCs are a certain class of carbon-containing compounds that react or evaporate readily. They are used in the manufacture of furniture, carpet and upholstery, paint, solvents, cleaning supplies and many other materials found inside our indoor environment. There may be hundreds of different types of VOCs in the air we breathe, and in fact, the concentration of VOCs is often orders of magnitude higher in indoor air than in the air outside. All of these individual VOCs can be measured together as the total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), which is a useful indicator of whether airborne contaminants are present. However, it is also very important to measure the concentration of certain individual VOCs because some are much more dangerous than others.
Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is a highly toxic chemical found in pressed or composite wood products that use urea-formaldehyde resins as adhesives. Hardwood plywood (often used for decorative paneling and furniture), particle board (often used in sub-floors and shelves) and medium density fiberboard (often used in cabinets and furniture tops) are the three classes of pressed wood product most often used for indoor applications. Medium-density fiberboard contains a higher ratio of resin to wood than the other two products and thus has the highest rate of formaldehyde emissions of the three products. Exposure to low concentrations of formaldehyde may cause eyes, nose, or throat irritation, nausea, asthma attacks and allergic reactions. Formaldehyde has been shown to cause cancer in animals and is thought to be carcinogenic to humans. Formaldehyde has been formally listed as a Toxic Air Contaminant with no safe level of exposure by the Air Resources Board in the state of California since 1992.
Phthalates and other Semi-volatile Organic Compounds
Phthalates, or phthalate esters, are colorless, odorless chemical compounds used primarily to increase the flexibility of plastics, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Phthalates are among a class of chemicals known as semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), which includes halogenated fire retardants, perfluorocarbons, and some pesticides. SVOCs are harder to measure accurately than volatile organic compounds (VOCs), in part because some SVOCs are so toxic that they pose health risks even in very low, hard-to-measure concentrations.
Learn more about how we measure the concentration of these and other chemicals of concern in the ‘How do we measure indoor air quality?’ section.
