EUROLAB laboratory provides testing and compliance services within the scope of EN 16516 standard. The EN 16516 standard specifies a horizontal reference method for determining the emissions of regulated hazardous substances from building products to indoor air. This method can be applied to volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds and highly volatile aldehydes. It is based on the use of a test chamber followed by analysis of organic compounds by GC-MS or HPLC.
Additional information is given on indirect test methods and measurement of very volatile organic compounds. This European Standard describes the general procedure and draws on existing standards, mainly by normative reference, supplemented where necessary with additional or amended normative requirements.
This European Standard was developed under the M/366 'Construction Products Directive (CPD) mandate to develop horizontal standardized assessment methods for harmonized approaches to hazardous substances and deals with the preparation of horizontal measurement/test methods to determine: From construction products to indoor air, soil, emission of regulated hazardous substances to surface water and groundwater. This authorization is a complement to the product authorizations granted to CEN under European law for construction products by the European Commission. Harmonized product standards (hEN), developed at CEN under the mandate of the European Commission, specify building products/products placed on the market and address their intended use.
This European Standard has undergone a robustness check to determine how minor changes in certain test parameters can affect the test result. This study also provided data on reproducibility within a testing lab and has since been expanded to include reproducibility data from repeated trial testing across different labs.
The responsibility for the product specification lies with the product TCs as described in CEN/TR 16496. This determination of the emission to indoor air is performed on products under the intended conditions of use. The intended use of a building material is usually specified in the relevant harmonized product standard. Specific emission rates determined using this European Standard relate to the application of the product under the climatic (temperature and humidity) and ventilation conditions specified in a particular European Reference Chamber. It is important to convert the test results to a concentration in the reference room air, as it is not possible to assess emissions in all possible use scenarios.
Reference room dimensions, relevant product loading factors, as well as climatic and ventilation conditions are chosen to be representative of the overall indoor environment. Based on the vast amount of existing European experience, it was possible to identify an emissions scenario and a reference room and set of relevant product loading factors to be used.
This European Standard specifies the horizontal reference method for testing the emission (release) of dangerous substances from construction products to indoor air. This method uses a test chamber where emissions are produced under conditions held constant during testing. These conditions are chosen so that test results can be expressed in terms of concentrations of hazardous substances in the air of the reference room. It should be noted that the test chamber is defined in terms of performance requirements. This responds to the Mandate M/366 requirement for a horizontal approach while maintaining sufficient flexibility in room dimensions to allow representative samples of different materials to be placed.
This European Standard also deals separately with indirect methods that provide a comparable or relative result to the result of the reference method in its specified field of application. Such methods may be easier and/or cheaper to implement. They comply with Mandate M/366 provided that their comparability or correlation with the reference test method is demonstrated in their particular field of application.
The choice of an emissions scenario and a reference room for assessing emissions to indoor air is generally in line with the approach taken in existing European national regulations and voluntary schemes for emissions from construction products to indoor air. It is also compatible with the horizontal requirements of Mandate M/366. The purpose of this European Standard is not to develop a new test method, but to combine the use of existing standards with normative references. This approach is complemented, where necessary, by additional or modified requirements to satisfy all conditions.
In summary, the horizontal test method specified in this European Standard determines the specific emission rate of organic compounds in the vapor phase from a building product to indoor air. This can be converted by calculation to a concentration in the air of the reference chamber.
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EUROLABreporting and certification activities, United Accreditation Foundation (UAF), Turkish Accreditation Agency (TÜRKAK) ve Enterprise Accreditation Foundation (EAF) based on the accreditation provided by the accreditation body. The Enterprise Accreditation Foundation (EAF) accreditation body is also a signatory of the United Nations (UN GLOBAL COMPACT) organization.
