The FLEC® has been validated and used in research for many years.
Below is a publication list of journal articles, abstracts, poster or oral presentations where the FLEC or CHEMATEC’s other products have been in focus.
If you have anything that can be added to the list, we encourage you to contact CHEMATEC.
2014 |
Schripp, Tobias; Salthammer, Tunga; Fauck, Christian; Bekö, Gabriel; Weschler, Charles J Latex paint as a delivery vehicle for diethylphthalate and di-n-butylphthalate: Predictable boundary layer concentrations and emission rates Journal Article In: Science of The Total Environment, vol. 494-495, pp. 299 - 305, 2014, ISSN: 0048-9697. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Boundary layer, Mass transfer coefficient, Material/air partition coefficient, Phthalates, Reference material, Test chamber @article{SCHRIPP2014299,The description of emission processes of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs and SVOCs) from building products requires a detailed understanding of the material and the air flow conditions at the surface boundary. The mass flux between the surface of the material and air depends on the mass transfer coefficient (hm) through the boundary layer, the gas phase concentration of the target compound immediately adjacent to the material (y0), and the gas-phase concentration in bulk air (y(t)). In the present study emission experiments were performed in two chambers of quite different sizes (0.25m3 and 55m3), and, in the larger chamber, at two different temperatures (23°C and 30°C). The emitting material was latex wall paint that had been doped with two plasticizers, diethylphthalate (DEP) and di-n-butylphthalate (DnBP). The phthalate content in the paint was varied in the small chamber experiment to evaluate the impact of the initial concentration in the bulk material (C0) on the emission rate. Boundary layer theory was applied to calculate hm for the specific phthalates from the Sherwood number (Sh) and the diffusion coefficient (Dair). Then y0 was determined based on the bulk gas-phase concentration at steady state (y¯). For both, DEP and DnBP, the y0 obtained was lower than the respective saturation vapor pressure (Ps). Furthermore, for both phthalates in latex paint, the material/air partition coefficient (C0/y0) was close in value to the octanol/air partition coefficient (KOA). This study provides a basis for designing phthalate emitting reference materials that mimic the emission behavior of common building materials. |
2009 |
Shinohara, Naohide; Kai, Yuya; Mizukoshi, Atsushi; Fujii, Minoru; Kumagai, Kazukiyo; Okuizumi, Yumiko; Jona, Miki; Yanagisawa, Yukio On-site passive flux sampler measurement of emission rates of carbonyls and VOCs from multiple indoor sources Journal Article In: Building and Environment, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 859 - 863, 2009, ISSN: 0360-1323. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Air exchange rates, Boundary layer, Building material, Emission rates, Emission source, Flux, Formaldehyde, Toluene @article{SHINOHARA2009859,In indoor environments with high levels of air pollution, it is desirable to remove major sources of emissions to improve air quality. In order to identify the emission sources that contribute most to the concentrations of indoor air pollutants, we used passive flux samplers (PFSs) to measure emission rates of carbonyl compounds and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from many of the building materials and furnishings present in a room in a reinforced concrete building in Tokyo, Japan. The emission flux of formaldehyde from a desk was high (125μg/m2/h), whereas fluxes from a door and flooring were low (21.5 and 16.5μg/m2/h, respectively). The emission fluxes of toluene from the ceiling and the carpet were high (80.0 and 72.3μg/m2/h, respectively), whereas that from the flooring was low (9.09μg/m2/h). The indoor and outdoor concentrations of formaldehyde were 61.5 and 8.64μg/m3, respectively, and those of toluene were 43.2 and 17.5μg/m3, respectively. The air exchange rate of the room as measured by the perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) method was 1.84/h. Taking into consideration the area of the emission sources, the carpet, ceiling, and walls were identified as the principal emission sources, contributing 24%, 20%, and 22% of the formaldehyde, respectively, and 22%, 27%, and 14% of the toluene, respectively, assuming that the emission rate from every major emission sources could be measured. In contrast, the door, the flooring, and the desk contributed little to the indoor levels of formaldehyde (1.0%, 0.54%, and 4.1%, respectively) and toluene (2.2%, 0.31%, and 0.85%, respectively). |
2007 |
Shinohara, Naohide; Fujii, Minoru; Yamasaki, Akihiro; Yanagisawa, Yukio Passive flux sampler for measurement of formaldehyde emission rates Journal Article In: Atmospheric Environment, vol. 41, no. 19, pp. 4018 - 4028, 2007, ISSN: 1352-2310. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Boundary layer, Emission source, Flux, Formaldehyde, Passive sampler, Rate-limiting process @article{SHINOHARA20074018,A new passive flux sampler (PFS) was developed to measure emission rates of formaldehyde and to determine emission sources in indoor environments. The sampler consisted of a glass Petri dish containing a 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine (DNPH)-impregnated sheet. At the start of sampling, the PFS was placed with the open face of the dish on each of the indoor materials under investigation, such as flooring, walls, doors, closets, desks, beds, etc. Formaldehyde emitted from a source material diffused through the inside of the PFS and was adsorbed onto the DNPH sheet. The formaldehyde emission rates could be determined from the quantities adsorbed. The lower determination limits were 9.2 and 2.3μgm−2h−1 for 2- and 8-h sampling periods. The recovery rate and the precision of the PFS were 82.9% and 8.26%, respectively. The emission rates measured by PFS were in good agreement with the emission rates measured by the chamber method (R2=0.963). This shows that it is possible to take measurements of the formaldehyde emission rates from sources in a room and to compare them. In addition, the sampler can be used to elucidate the emission characteristics of a source by carrying out emission measurements with different air-layer thicknesses inside the PFS and at different temperatures. The dependency of the emission rate on the thickness of the air layer inside the PFS indicated whether the internal mass transfer inside the source material or the diffusion in the gas-phase boundary layer controlled the formaldehyde emission rate from a material. In addition, as a pilot study, the formaldehyde emission rates were measured, and the largest emission source of formaldehyde could be identified from among several suspected materials in a model house by using the PFS. |