Analysis of volatile organic compounds emitted from aircraft carpets:comparison using headspace and dynamic chamber tests

Volatile organic compounds(VOCs) emitted from three types of carpets used in aircrafts were compared by using headspace and dynamic chamber tests. The headspace samples contained many compounds that were not detected in the dynamic chamber test; in addition, the dominant VOCs found by these two methods were different. The findings indicate that for highly sorptive materials such as carpets, headspace analysis may give inaccurate indication of actual VOC emissions, and it is necessary to conduct dynamic chamber tests over a certain period of time in order to identify the true emission characteristics. From the dynamic chamber tests, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol was the main VOC emitted from all three carpets. The study also examined the emission characteristics of aircraft carpets. In all experiments, total VOC(TVOC) concentration peaked within a few hours after the start of the experiment and was followed by rapid decay. The emission parameters of TVOC emitted by all three carpets were calculated and the simulated data matched the measured data well.