California Department of Health Services Standard Practice for the Testing of Volatile Organic Emissions from Various Sources Using Small-Scale Environmental Chambers, including 2004 Addenda
The referenced standard supersedes the Special Environmental Requirements, Specifications Section 01350, developed by the State of California for screening building materials. Receiving and handling requirements, lab methods and reporting have been revised or expanded in the updated standard. The testing is pass/fail.
The testing set-up for a small chamber will look something like this, although the testing lab takes care of this part, not the project team. Image – EPAMaterials must be conditioned for 10 days upon receipt by the testing agency. The test period is 96 hours with contaminant concentrations being sampled at 24, 48 and 96 hours. The chemicals being tested for are either probable or known carcinogens or are reproductive toxicants. Emission factors from the small chamber tests for each identified chemical are then used to calculate or “model” indoor air concentrations for a standard office or classroom. No chemical can exceed half of the Chronic Reference Exposure Level (CREL), the known concentration at which prolonged exposure may cause harm.
Products must shipped to testing facilities for controlled testing. Chain-of-custodyChain-of-custody (COC) is he path taken by raw materials, processed materials, and products from the forest to the consumer, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution. A chain-of-custody certificate number on invoices for nonlabeled products indicates that the certifier’s guidelines for product accounting have been followed. A chain-of-custody certification is not required by distributors of a product that is individually labeled with the Forest Stewardship Council logo and manufacturer’s chain-of-custody number. Chain of Custody (CoC) certification requirements are determined by Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody Standard 40-004 v2-1. documentation and strict handling requirements apply.
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2 Comments
GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certification
We have a rubber floor product that has GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certification and that manufacturer states "GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certification exceeds the California's Department of Public Health Section 01350, and certified products can contribute to the fulfillment of credit requirements .... for LEED certification".
If a product has GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certification does it meet the requirements of California Department of Health Services Standard Practice for the Testing of Volatile Organic Emissions from Various Sources Using Small-Scale Environmental Chambers, including 2004 Addenda? Will USGBC accept GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certification?
If a product complies with CA 01350 does it meet the requirements of California Department of Health Services Standard Practice for the Testing of Volatile Organic Emissions from Various Sources Using Small-Scale Environmental Chambers, including 2004 Addenda?
Rebecca,
GREENGUARD Children & Schools certification shows compliance to CA 01350 (which is short hand for the California Department of Health Services Standard Practice for the Testing of Volatile Organic Emissions from Various Sources Using Small-Scale Environmental Chambers). CA 01350 requires the minimization of around 35 VOCsA volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a carbon compound that vaporizes (becomes a gas) at normal room temperatures. VOCs contribute to air pollution directly and through atmospheric photochemical reactions (excluding carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, metallic carbides and carbonates, and ammonium carbonate) to produce secondary air pollutants, principally ozone and peroxyacetyl nitrate.. GREENGUARD Children & Schools not only requires the minimization of those VOCs, but around 300 others and has a limit on the total volatile organic compounds emitted from a product. Therefore USGBC and the State of California accept GREENGUARD Children & Schools as a compliance pathway for any requirements that call out CA 01350.
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