Problem buildings - Indoor Environmental Quality - page 216

Table 7.11 Volatile Organic Compounds

Identified in Emissions from Carpeting
Benzene Ethylmethylbenzenes

4-Phenylcyclohexene Trimethylbenzenes

Ethanol Chlorobenzene

Carbon disulfide Chloroform

Acetone Benzaldehyde

Ethyl acetate Styrene

Ethylbenzene Undecanes

Methylene chloride Xylenes

Tetrachloroethene Trichloroethene

Toluene Phenol

1,1,1-Trichloroethane Dimethylheptanes

1,2-Dichloroethane Butyl benzyl phthalate

Hexanes 1,4-Dioxane

Octanal Pentanal

Acetaldehyde Methylcyclopentane

Methylcyclopentanol Hexene

Source: From Bayer, C.W. and Papanicolopolous, C.D.,

Proc. 5th Internatl. Conf. Indoor Air Qual. Clim., Toronto,

3, 713, 1990.

include a large variety of VOCs and a limited number of SVOCs, which vary
among products and manufacturers. An example of VOC emissions from
textile carpeting manufactured in the U.S. in the late 1980s can be seen in
Table 7.11 . Emissions included a variety of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocar-
bons, aldehydes, esters, alcohols, and chlorinated hydrocarbons. Among
these was 4-phenylcyclohexene or 4-PC, a by-product of the manufacture of
styrene-butadiene latex used to bond fibers to backing, and the source of
what has been described as the typical odor of carpeting. Exposure to 4-PC
was suggested to be the cause of health complaints associated with new
carpeting. However, little is known of 4-PC's toxicity and effects on humans.
Carpeting is bonded to floor substrates using adhesives that vary in
composition. Adhesives used in the late 1980s emitted VOCs at levels that
were several orders of magnitude higher than those emitted from the car-
peting it was designed for.
In response to USEPA's Carpet Initiative (see Chapter 13), carpeting and
adhesive manufacturers in the U.S. have voluntarily (since 1990) instituted
a program of emission testing and production of “low-emission” products.
As a consequence, total emissions of VOCs from carpet and adhesive mate-
rials have decreased dramatically, including emissions of 4-PC.
Significant associations between SBS-type symptom prevalence and textile
carpeting has been reported in five of six major cross-sectional epidemiological
studies. These were the studies of Danish municipal buildings, Swedish pri-
mary schools, Danish schools, Canadian office buildings, and California office
buildings. In Danish municipal buildings, textile floor covering was signifi-
cantly related to mucous membrane symptoms. In Swedish primary schools,