International comparison of key volatile organic components in indoor air

An international comparison was coordinated by the National Physical Laboratory to assess the analytical capabilities of laboratories for measuring ten selected volatile organic compounds. These were chosen to represent a wide range of non-methane hydrocarbons, terpenes and oxygenated hydrocarbons, which pose a significant risk to public health from their presence in indoor environments from emissions by building and consumer materials. The components were loaded onto sorbent tubes and distributed to twenty-four participating laboratories for analysis. It was found that laboratories predominantly reported analytical results that were greater than the reference value, however the majority of results were closer to the reference value when compared to the previous comparison carried out in 2010.