Influence of Environmental Factors on Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Plywood Tested by a Rapid Detection Method

At certain concentrations, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may harm people's health. This article introduces a new rapid detection method for testing VOCs released from three-layer plywood. A Micro-Chamber/Thermal Extractor was used to analyze the effect of environmental factors on release characteristics of VOCs in the stable phase, and a single-factor experiment was used to analyze the release of VOCs under different temperatures, relative humidity levels, and ratios of air exchange rate to loading factor, by using the rapid sampling device together with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results showed that aromatic hydrocarbons, alkanes, and esters were the main components of VOC emissions released from three-layer plywood. The percentage of VOC components in the stable phase changed as the single factors changed. Temperature has the greatest impact on the percentage of VOC components. The VOC concentration increased as temperature and relative humidity increased but decreased as the ratio of air exchange rate to loading factor increased. Temperature had a greater impact on VOC release from three-layer plywood than did relative humidity or the air exchange rate to loading factor ratio.