RE: Guidelines for Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC)

[Guest guest]

You might find this document helpful: http://www.le.ac.uk/ieh/pdf/vocslflt.pdf

Also see: ECA-IAQ (1997). Total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) in indoor air

quality investigations. Report No 19. EUR 17675 EN. Luxembourg: Office for

Official Publications of the European Community.

Regards

on

__________________________________________________________

Dr T C on, BSc, PhD, CBiol, FIBiol

Acting Director and Head of Environmental Toxicology Group

MRC Institute for Environment and Health

94 Regent Road

Leicester LE1 7DD, UK

e-mail: ptch1@...

fax: +44 (0)

telephone: +44 (0)

internet: www.le.ac.uk/ieh

IEH Annual Report at http://www.le.ac.uk/ieh/pdf/AR2002.pdf

Guidelines for Total Volatile Organic Compounds

(TVOC)

Dear List Members,

Please advise what is the status concerning developing 'Guidelines

for Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC)' as related to indoor

environments.

Thank you in advance,

Cutz, CIH

Ontario, Canada

Email: cutza@... / 627788@...

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[Guest guest]

Dear :

Back in 1990, Seifert proposed as a Target Guideline for TVOC in Indoor Air to

be 300 micrograms per cubic meter. This TVOC was based on the actual summation

of the individual VOC compounds measured in the air. Unfortunately the TVOC

issue has become confused because a number of generalized VOC detectors (i.e.,

photoionization detectors, heated semi-conductors, etc) are being incorrectly

described by their manufacturers as TVOC detectors when they really don't

measure all of the VOCs of concern.

For more information see pages 76 and 77 of the book, Indoor Air Quality and

HVAC Systems.

Just some info,

W. Bearg, PE, CIH

Consultant in IEQ

[Guest guest]

Thank you ! Concerning the same assessment do you have an opinion of

using traditional IAQ assessment tools (CO2 levels, temperature and relative

humidity) besides estimating TVOCs to determine indoor air quality inside an

unoccupied (partially) new office building?

What special HVAC/IAQ sampling strategies should be employed during initial

NEW building occupancy? Are there any " best practice " guidelines to follow?

Thank you in advance,

Cutz

_______________________________

Cutz, CIH

Markham, Ontario, Canada

Email: 627788@...

WITH REFERENCE TO ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\

-------------------------------------------------------

From: sagefarm@...

To: iequality

CC: " Cutz, CIH " , iequality ,

Subject: Re: Guidelines for Total Volatile Organic Compounds

(TVOC)

Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 10:49:51 +0000

Dear :

Back in 1990, Seifert proposed as a Target Guideline for TVOC in Indoor Air

to be 300 micrograms per cubic meter. This TVOC was based on the actual

summation of the individual VOC compounds measured in the air.

Unfortunately the TVOC issue has become confused because a number of

generalized VOC detectors (i.e., photoionization detectors, heated

semi-conductors, etc) are being incorrectly described by their manufacturers

as TVOC detectors when they really don't measure all of the VOCs of concern.

For more information see pages 76 and 77 of the book, Indoor Air Quality and

HVAC Systems.

Just some info,

W. Bearg, PE, CIH

Consultant in IEQ

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\

--------------------------------------------------------

END

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[Guest guest]

,

Have you seen the EPA's free software called I-Beam?

It's full of some really good stuff - and did I mention it's free?!

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Corporate Bingo Sponsor

Re: Guidelines for Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC)Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 10:49:51 +0000Dear :Back in 1990, Seifert proposed as a Target Guideline for TVOC in Indoor Air to be 300 micrograms per cubic meter. This TVOC was based on the actual summation of the individual VOC compounds measured in the air. Unfortunately the TVOC issue has become confused because a number of generalized VOC detectors (i.e., photoionization detectors, heated semi-conductors, etc) are being incorrectly described by their manufacturers as TVOC detectors when they really don't measure all of the VOCs of concern.For more information see pages 76 and 77 of the book, Indoor Air Quality and HVAC Systems.Just some info, W. Bearg, PE, CIHConsultant in IEQ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------END_________________________________________________________________Add photos to your messages with MSN Premium. Get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-ca & page=byoa/prem & xAPID=1994 & DI=1034 & SU=http://hotmail.com/enca & HL=Market_MSNIS_TaglinesFAIR USE NOTICE:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the lead Dave!

I came across the [German Federal] " Indoor Air Hygiene Commission " IAQ

guidelines at the [German] Federal Environmental Agency website at:

http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/uba-info-daten-e/daten-e/irk.htm#5

I am not sure if I will be able to track-down the original documents.

All the best,

Cutz, CIH

Markham, Ontario, Canada

Email: cutza@... / 627788@...

References:

Seifert, B.: Richtwerte für die Innenraumluft: Die Beurteilung der

Innenraumluftqualität mit Hilfe der Summe der flüchtigen organischen

Verbindungen (TVOC-Wert).

Bundesgesundheitsblatt-Gesundheitsforschung-Gesundheitsschutz 42 (1999) pp.

270-278

(Guide values for indoor air quality: The evaluation of ndoor air quality by

means of the sum of volatile organic compounds (TVOC value))

Kontrolle von Schadstoffemissionen aus Baumaterialien und anderen im

Innenraumbereich eingesetzten Produkten. Bundesgesundheitsblatt 36

(1993) p. 76 (Control of pollutant emissions from building materials and

other products used in indoor areas)

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SOURCE: Indoor Air Hygiene Commission (IRK) of the [German] Federal

Environmental Agency (Berlin, Germany)

http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/uba-info-daten-e/daten-e/irk.htm#5

FURTHER TO ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\

-----------------------------------------------------------

From: sagefarm@...

To: iequality

CC: " Cutz, CIH " , iequality ,

Subject: Re: Guidelines for Total Volatile Organic Compounds

(TVOC)

Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 10:49:51 +0000

Dear :

Back in 1990, Seifert proposed as a Target Guideline for TVOC in Indoor Air

to be 300 micrograms per cubic meter. This TVOC was based on the actual

summation of the individual VOC compounds measured in the air.

Unfortunately the TVOC issue has become confused because a number of

generalized VOC detectors (i.e., photoionization detectors, heated

semi-conductors, etc) are being incorrectly described by their manufacturers

as TVOC detectors when they really don't measure all of the VOCs of concern.

For more information see pages 76 and 77 of the book, Indoor Air Quality and

HVAC Systems.

Just some info,

W. Bearg, PE, CIH

Consultant in IEQ

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\

---------------------------------------------------------

END

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[Guest guest]

Further to my earlier email, TVOC guideline values have been set by Finland,

ranging from 200ug/m3 ('best quality') to 600ug/m3 ('acceptable quality'), and

by Germany (1-3 mg/m3 as an 'indicator value').

Most authorities regard it inappropriate to set health-based quantitative

guidelines for TVOC because of the widely different toxicities of the component

VOCs.

on

__________________________________________________________

Dr T C on, BSc, PhD, CBiol, FIBiol

Acting Director and Head of Environmental Toxicology Group

MRC Institute for Environment and Health

94 Regent Road

Leicester LE1 7DD, UK

e-mail: ptch1@...

fax: +44 (0)

telephone: +44 (0)

internet: www.le.ac.uk/ieh

IEH Annual Report at http://www.le.ac.uk/ieh/pdf/AR2002.pdf

Re: Guidelines for Total Volatile Organic Compounds

(TVOC)

Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 10:49:51 +0000

Dear :

Back in 1990, Seifert proposed as a Target Guideline for TVOC in Indoor Air

to be 300 micrograms per cubic meter. This TVOC was based on the actual

summation of the individual VOC compounds measured in the air.

Unfortunately the TVOC issue has become confused because a number of

generalized VOC detectors (i.e., photoionization detectors, heated

semi-conductors, etc) are being incorrectly described by their manufacturers

as TVOC detectors when they really don't measure all of the VOCs of concern.

For more information see pages 76 and 77 of the book, Indoor Air Quality and

HVAC Systems.

Just some info,

W. Bearg, PE, CIH

Consultant in IEQ

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\

---------------------------------------------------------

END

_________________________________________________________________

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FAIR USE NOTICE:

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been

specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material

available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political,

human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as

provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17

U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to

those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information

for research and educational purposes. For more information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted

material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you

must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

[Guest guest]

Thank you Dr. on for your information! What is the reference

(source) for the Finish TVOC guideline?

Please note that the German TVOC guideline set by the German Indoor

Air Hygiene Commission (IRK) recommends " 0.2-0.3 mg/m3 or lower "

levels (see quote below). Would you have access to the " Proceedings

from the Healthy Buildings 2003 Conference " ? I understand that a

number of papers on VOCs where presented there.

Best wishes,

Cutz, CIH

Ontario, Canada

Email: 627788@...

Quote by the German Indoor Air Hygiene Commission (IRK):

" In order to account for the fact that indoor air contains a great

many organic compounds and health complaints are also registered

when guide values for individual types of indoor air pollution are

adhered to, the IRK developed evaluation standards for assessing

indoor air quality by using the sum of volatile organic compounds

(TVOC). It is stated explicitly that these TVOC values do not derive

from the basic scheme. To clarify uncertainties which resulted from

the derivation, ranges of concentration were applied instead of

individual numerical values. Therefore, a temporary daily stay at

best is reasonable in rooms with TVOC concentrations between 10 and

25 mg/m3 (such concentrations may arise during renovation). In rooms

intended for longer-term residence, the TVOC value in the range of 1-

3 mg/m3 should not be exceeded for long. Ideally, TVOC concentration

in indoor rooms should reach a maximum long-term average of 0.2-0.3

mg/m3 or lower whenever possible. "

[ http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/uba-info-daten-e/daten-e/irk.htm#5 ]

" on, Dr P.T.C. " <ptch1@l...> wrote earlier:

Further to my earlier email, TVOC guideline values have been set by

Finland, ranging from 200ug/m3 ('best quality') to 600ug/m3

('acceptable quality'), and by Germany (1-3 mg/m3 as an 'indicator

value').

Most authorities regard it inappropriate to set health-based

quantitative guidelines for TVOC because of the widely different

toxicities of the component VOCs.

on

__________________________________________________________

Dr T C on, BSc, PhD, CBiol, FIBiol

Acting Director and Head of Environmental Toxicology Group

MRC Institute for Environment and Health

94 Regent Road

Leicester LE1 7DD, UK

e-mail: ptch1@l...

fax: +44 (0)

telephone: +44 (0)

internet: www.le.ac.uk/ieh

IEH Annual Report at http://www.le.ac.uk/ieh/pdf/AR2002.pdf

Re: Guidelines for Total Volatile Organic

Compounds (TVOC)

Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 10:49:51 +0000

Dear :

Back in 1990, Seifert proposed as a Target Guideline for TVOC in

Indoor Air to be 300 micrograms per cubic meter. This TVOC was

based on the actual summation of the individual VOC compounds

measured in the air.

Unfortunately the TVOC issue has become confused because a number of

generalized VOC detectors (i.e., photoionization detectors, heated

semi-conductors, etc) are being incorrectly described by their

manufacturers as TVOC detectors when they really don't measure all

of the VOCs of concern.

For more information see pages 76 and 77 of the book, Indoor Air

Quality and HVAC Systems.

Just some info,

W. Bearg, PE, CIH

Consultant in IEQ

---------------------------------------------------------------------

END

[Guest guest]

Dear IEQuality List,

Thank you to all who responded to my earlier query while looking for the

" Guidelines for Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) " . I took the

liberty and compiled these information resources at the

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/iequality/files/ site under " Total VOC

Corner " .

Please feel free to peruse and add to this information collection.

With best wishes,

Cutz, CIH

Markham, Ontario, Canada

Email: 627788@...

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