Prioritizing Chemical Emissions from Closed-Cell Spray Polyurethane Foam

Download or read book Prioritizing Chemical Emissions from Closed-Cell Spray Polyurethane Foam written by Scott Ecoff and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We conducted field and laboratory chamber studies in March 2013 to assess airborne concentrations of chemicals emitted from a rigid closed-cell medium-density spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation material. For the field study, SPF was installed by high-pressure spray application in the main attic and in four smaller crawlspaces of a home built in 1975. The field study involved the collection of area air samples in the home before, during, and after SPF application. We also evaluated chemical emissions from SPF using laboratory micro-scale chambers specifically optimized to evaluate postspray chemical emissions from SPF. Micro-scale chambers are a common tool used by labs to assess volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from a source, and standard test methods are being developed by ASTM specifically for SPF. To prioritize VOC emissions from SPF, a simple well-mixed, single-zone box model and the emission factors generated from a micro-scale chamber study were used to evaluate the screening-level VOC airborne concentration in the home. These screening-level values were then compared to air sampling data obtained during the field study. For two VOCs that were the predominant chemicals emitted from the SPF, the airborne VOC concentrations were within an order of magnitude between modeling and actual field measurement at Days 7 and 28. This study indicates that emission factors obtained through micro-scale chamber testing together with a screening-level model could serve as a prioritization tool in evaluating indoor VOC airborne concentrations for SPF applications. More sophisticated models are needed to better characterize emission mechanisms, indoor fate, transport, and airborne concentration of all chemicals, including semivolatile VOCs that may be emitted from SPF.