Impact of household products on indoor air quality : definition of a simple and harmonized test protocol for volatile compounds emission

Consumer products in general and household products in particular are a significant source of indoor air pollutants. Exposure to these pollutants is important as it takes place in confined, poorly ventilated environments where people spend most of their time. The PEPS research project focused on studying the impact of household products on indoor air quality. A simple, adapted and reproducible test protocol for the characterization of volatile organic compounds (VOC) emitted by cleaning products is proposed. The developed methodology specifies: test conditions (type of test chamber, environmental parameters, application scenario of the product), the compounds of interest and the sampling conditions. In addition, it is representative of the use of cleaning products in real environments. Thus, definition of test conditions for the products and of performing the cleaning action during the test constitutes a key point of the work. Emissions of household products are evaluated under controlled conditions. A panel of 33 products, including 27 manufactured products and 6 home-made products, is constituted. Product composition is studied by collecting data provided by manufacturers and by the direct analysis of their content. A robustness study is conducted to define an harmonized and reproducible test protocol, which is then deployed to analyze the VOC emissions of the products. In addition to the development of this methodology, a field campaign is conducted in a realistic environment to collect knowledge on household products emissions in real conditions of use. This campaign is organized in the experimental house of the CSTB, MARIA, to evaluate, in real conditions, the emissions of 10 selected household products from the panel. The cleaning products are used in an experimental room according to realistic scenarios of use. VOC emissions are measured before, during, and after the use of the cleaning product showing the potential impact of those products on IAQ