Techniques for the Measurement of Total Volatile Organic Compound (TVOC) Content in Coatings, Coating Components, and Dyestuffs, 2003 Spring Technical Conference Proceedings

Increased regulatory visibility as well as process and product odor concerns have highlighted the need to accurately quantify the total volatile organic compound (TVOC) content in low TVOC samples such as paper coatings and coating components or high odor samples such as certain dyestuffs. EPA Method 24 has been the historical method of choice but it is totally inadequate when TVOC levels drop below approximately 2%. EPA and European regulatory agencies are aware of this deficiency and are working to develop alternative measurement methods. The alternative methods offer greater sensitivity than Method 24 because they measure the TVOCs directly. This paper describes the measurement of TVOC content of select paper coatings, coating additives, and dyestuffs using EPA Method 24 and two proposed alternative test methods. The alternative measurement methods provided a significant improvement over Method 24 in low TVOC samples. However, these proposed methods have serious deficiencies that will need to be addressed before they can achieve widespread acceptance. Given the known deficiencies of EPA Method 24, it is probable that some type of direct TVOC measurement technique similar to these alternative methods will supplant Method 24 as the standard test method for measuring TVOC content in low TVOC samples.