EFFECT OF BUILDING-MATERIALS AND VENTILATION ON INDOOR AIR-POLLUTION BY FORMALDEHYDE

The effect of building materials and ventilation on the indoor formald ehyde concentration was studied in three houses built by the same comp any. Formaldehyde in indoor air was adsorbed on DNPH-cartridge by suct ion using a diaphragm air pump, eluted with acetonitrile and determine d by high performance liquid chromatography. Formaldehyde emission fro m various building materials was determined by the desiccator method d efined in Japanese Industrial Standard A5908. In the case of the house built using flooring emitting a considerable amount of formaldehyde, concentration of formaldehyde in indoor air was higher than that of th e Japanese guideline, 100 mu g/m(3) even after one year. When the hous e was built with the building materials ranked the F-1, (average value lower than 0.5 mg/l) grade, which is defined as the highest rank by J apanese Agricultural Standard, formaldehyde concentration in indoor ai r did not exceed the guideline value even just after the construction. Indoor formaldehyde concentration under unventilated conditions was 1 .5 to 3 times those under mechanical ventilated conditions. These resu lts indicated that indoor air pollution by formaldehyde was dependent on the building materials and ventilation rates.