Volatile organic compound emissions from latex paint - Part 1. Chamber experiments and source model development

Latex paints are widely used in residential and commercial indoor environme nts. The surface areas covered by the paints in these environments are rela tively large. Thus, latex paints have the potential for having a major impa ct on indoor air quality (IAQ). A study was undertaken to develop methods f or evaluating the impact of latex paint emission on IAQ. Small chamber expe riments using stainless steel and Fainted and unpainted gypsum board substr ates were conducted to determine the emission characteristics of latex pain t. The emissions from the stainless steel were relatively short lived (3 to 4 days), whereas the emissions from gypsum board lasted for over 200 days. Because gypsum board is a common substrate for latex paint, all emission m odels were developed for the gypsum board substrates. The data from the sma ll chamber tests led to the development of two empirical and two mass-trans fer-based source emission models. Approximately 100 to 200 days of data wer e required to estimate the parameters required for the empirical models. On ly 8 days of data were required to estimate the parameters for the mass-tra nsfer-based models. The final models use paint formulation and mass transfe r correlations to predict the emissions of the major individual volatile or ganic compounds emitted by latex paint.