Materials Used for the Production of Upholstered Furniture Like Source of Odors in Interior

Abstract

This paper investigates the problematic of VOC emissions and their assessment by olfactory methods. The main goal of this contribution is determine the odors emitted by upholstery fabrics used for upholstered furniture. This contribution researches the correlation between the results, which were obtained by the olfactory assessment and the results of the measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by choose the kind of covering textiles. This research judged the influence of upholstery fabrics with different chemical composition (polyester, cotton and mixture of viscose and cotton) on olfactometric assessment. It was mainly focused on the determination of Hedonic tone and intensity of the odor. These olfactometric characteristics were determined using an equipment Sniffer 9000. Concurrently was also assessed the influence of climatic conditions in small space chamber on olfactometric assessment of tested materials. The climatic conditions differed mainly in terms of temperature and relative humidity in small space chamber. The results are compared with sensory perceptions and the qualitative and quantitative analysis of VOCs performed by using the gas chromatograph Agilent GC 6790 with mass spectrometer detector 5973. The experimental section shows that, the various types of criticized upholstery fabrics with different chemical composition emitted relatively low concentrations of VOC emissions. It was also demonstrated the influence of climatic conditions on VOC emissions and while on their olfactometric assessment. The tested materials of upholstery fabric showed very intensive olfactory sensation, which were described as very unpleasant (−4) in some cases.

Keywords

• olfactometry
• VOC emissions
• gas chromatography
• upholstery fabrics
• percept
• odor