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Development of test systems for characterizing emissions from spray polyurethane foam insulation (SPFI)
Citation:
Mason, M., Ken Krebs, M. Barnes, D. Greenwell, C. Bevington, C. Hetfield, K. Sleasman, N. Roahe, G. Folk, G. Skarping, M. Dalene, AND D. Karlsson. Development of test systems for characterizing emissions from spray polyurethane foam insulation (SPFI). Presented at Indoor Air 2014, Hong Kong, HONG KONG, July 07 - 12, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
This material is an extended abstract that will be presented as a poster at Indoor Air 2014 and used to inform discussion at an industry-government forum on developing ASTM methods to characterize emissions from spay polyurethane foam insulation. The purpose of the poster/abstract is to inform the participants of the conference (1500+ expected) of EPA's research on SPFI.
Description:
The relationship between onsite manufacture of spray polyurethane foam insulation (SPFI) and potential exposures to diisocyanates, amines, flame retardants (FRs), blowing agents, aldehydes and other organic compounds that may be emitted from SPFI is not well understood. EPA is developing methods to characterize emissions from SPFI products to support development of ASTM consensus standards for use by stakeholders to evaluate and improve products and to support a broader strategy to develop assessment tools and models that relate polyurethane foam product usage to potential exposures. Our approach is to develop emissions test systems specific to the challenges posed by a potentially wide range of reactive and semivolatile emissions, conduct scale-up experiments in full-scale chambers to inform interpretation of emissions data, and investigate emissions from products in assemblies and environments that simulate actual usage. We are currently in the first phase; development of emissions test systems and protocols specific to SPFI emissions.