Preliminary investigation of volatile organic compounds and odor emissions from emulsion paint and laminate flooring in dynamic environmental chamber

Building materials are major sources of indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odors. This study investigated the emissions of VOCs and odors from emulsion paint and laminate flooring over a 264-hour period using a dynamic environmental chamber by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/olfactometry (GC–MS/O) and sensory assessment methods. The odor intensity (OI) of emulsion paint and laminate flooring ranged from 1.4 to 3.5 and from 2.0 to 3.2, respectively, peaking at 12 h and stabilizing after 24 h. Both acceptability and hedonic tone exhibited a significantly negative correlation with OI. The total VOCs (TVOC) concentration of emulsion paint ranged from 626.7 to 1041.1 µg/m³, while that in laminate flooring ranged from 43.4 to 581.2 µg/m³. Based on odor activity values (OAV), toluene, ethylbenzene, styrene, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, and decanal were identified as primary odorants emitted from the two building materials. The GC–MS/O method detected a great number of odorants, including 2-methyl-butane, cyclopentane, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, nonanal, decanal, o-xylene and styrene in emulsion paint. Laminate flooring exhibited odorants with the first five being consistent with those found in emulsion paint and an additional two identified as benzene and toluene. Some disparity was noted between the primary odorants identified by the OAV and GC–MS/O methods. TVOC concentration and OAV_sum showed no significant correlation with OI in the air mixture. These findings provide a preliminary investigation of the dynamic odor emission characteristics of building materials, highlighting the importance of comprehensive odor assessments.