Determination of Organic Emissions from New Carpeting

Abstract

New carpeting has been the source of a number of indoor air health and odor complaints. Investigations of a variety of carpet samples have shown that there is a diversity of organic emissions among carpet types; some of the compounds found have been listed in the Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances. This article describes two complementary analytical methods for screening carpet samples: a “headspace” method for volatile emissions and a Soxhlet extraction method using methylene chloride for the semivolatile and nonvolatile compounds. The analytical results from seven carpet types are presented. Special emphasis is placed on the compound 4-phenylcyclohexene, one of the causes of “new carpet smell,” which also has been anecdotally linked to adverse, short-term health effects. Other compounds of possible interest that were found include dichlorobenzene, bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, triethyl phosphate, ∈-caprolactam, and methylene-bis(4-isocyanatobenzene).