Emission tests | Construction products

Determination of emissions of hazardous substances from construction products

Non-harmonised construction products that are not regulated by the relevant European Union regulations are subject to Czech law within the EU. At this national level, they are currently regulated by Government Regulation No. 163/2002 Coll., which lays down technical requirements for selected construction products. These documents also include requirements for the emission of hazardous substances into the indoor environment of buildings, however, limit values are not defined at EU level and individual Member States follow their national requirements for hygienic emission limits. In the Czech Republic, this is Decree No. 43/2025 Coll., which establishes hygienic limits for chemical, physical and biological indicators for the indoor environment of living rooms of certain buildings, as amended.

Scope of service offered by our laboratory using the emission procedure from a solid sample of building material according to EN 16516+A1

• Performing the emission of a sample from a building product according to EN 16516+A1 and ISO 16000-9 in a test chamber
• Determination of selected volatile organic compounds (VOC) limited by Decree No. 43/2025 Coll., i.e. benzene, toluene, sum of xylenes, styrene, ethylbenzene, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, by GC-MS according to ISO 16000-6 Indoor air — Part 6: Determination of volatile organic compounds in indoor and test chamber air by active sampling on Tenax TA sorbent, thermal desorption and gas chromatography using MS or MS-FID
• Determination of aldehyde emissions, including formaldehyde, by HPLC according to ISO 16000-3 Indoor air — Part 3: Determination of formaldehyde and other carbonyl compounds in indoor air and test chamber air — Active sampling method
• Determination of ammonia emissions according to Annex XVII of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (REACH) for cellulose insulation materials

According to these international test regulations, the determination of the emission of volatile substances is carried out after 3 and then after 28 days. Due to the limit values specified in Decree No. 43/2025 Coll. and the fact that the emission value decreases significantly over time, in most sample cases the measurement after 3 days is sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the national legislation. In the case of interest, it is also possible to perform long-term emission determinations after 28 days.

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Responsible for the accuracy of data: Ing. Jitka Bakalová