Measuring and Predicting the Emission Rate of Phthalate Plasticizer from Vinyl Flooring in a Specially-Designed Chamber

Abstract

The emission of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) from vinyl flooring (VF) was measured in specially designed stainless steel chambers. In duplicate chamber studies, the gas-phase concentration in the chamber increased slowly and reached a steady state level of 0.8-0.9 μg/m(3) after about 20 days. By increasing the area of vinyl flooring and decreasing that of the stainless steel surface within the chamber, the time to reach steady state was significantly reduced, compared to a previous study (1 month versus 5 months). The adsorption isotherm of DEHP on the stainless steel chamber surfaces was explicitly measured using solvent extraction and thermal desorption. The strong partitioning of DEHP onto the stainless steel surface was found to follow a simple linear relationship. Thermal desorption resulted in higher recovery than solvent extraction. Investigation of sorption kinetics showed that it takes several weeks for the sorption of DEHP onto the stainless steel surface to reach equilibrium. The content of DEHP in VF was measured at about 15% (w/w) using pressurized liquid extraction. The independently measured or calculated parameters were used to validate an SVOC emission model, with excellent agreement between model prediction and the observed gas-phase DEHP chamber concentrations.

Investigations on the emissions of biocides and PCBs under low volume conditions

“…Since several SVOCs adsorbed on the diffusive sampler it can be assumed that SVOCs are also adsorbed on the surfaces of the showcases and emission test chambers. This assumption is confirmed by workings of Xu et al (2012) and Clausen et al (2004).…”

Emission of Phthalates and Phthalate Alternatives from Vinyl Flooring and Crib Mattress Covers: The Influence of Temperature

“…2 Because phthalate additives are not chemically bound to the polymer matrix, they usually are emitted slowly from the products into the air or other media. 3 As a result, phthalates are ubiquitous and among the most abundant SVOCs in indoor environments. 1,4−6 Recent studies have suggested that exposure to some phthalates may cause irreversible changes in the development of the human reproductive tract; 7−13 increase the risk of asthma, rhinitis, and allergies; 4,14−18 and affect endogenous hormones.…”

“…They showed that emissions of these compounds that have very low volatility are subject to "external" control (partitioning from the material into the gas phase, the gas-phase mass-transfer coefficient, and strong sorption onto interior surfaces, including airborne particles). Using data collected in a specially designed stainless steel chamber, Xu et al 3 showed that the emission rate of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) from vinyl flooring can be predicted based on a priori knowledge of y 0 , the gas-phase concentration of DEHP in equilibrium with the material phase, the material to air and air to stainless steel-surface mass-transfer coefficients (h m ), and the stainless steel/air equilibrium relationship. Liang and Xu 30 recently improved the design of the earlier emission chamber and developed a novel, rapid method to measure y 0 for a range of phthalate compounds released from building materials.…”

Improving the Healthiness of Sustainable Construction: Example of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

“…Early animal studies have so far tended not to quantify the impact of lower doses and more complex combinations of factors on human health. However, when biomonitoring of concentrations of phthalate metabolites was undertaken in the general population using blood and urine, the blood results suggested that over 75% of the US population is exposed to phthalates, while for urine this was as high as 95% [75].…”