ISO 5684:2023

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 5684
First edition
2023-04
Adhesives — Floor covering adhesives
and products for flooring installation
— Assessment and classification of
low volatile organic compound (VOC)
products
Reference number
© ISO 2023
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ii
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms.2
5 Emission scenario and reference room . 2
5.1 Emission scenario . 2
5.2 Reference room and loading factor . 2
6 Test chamber conditions .2
7 Product sampling and transport to the laboratory . 3
8 Handling of product samples in the laboratory . 3
8.1 General . 3
8.2 Preparation of test specimen . 3
8.3 Preparation of water-based primers . 3
8.4 Preparation of non-water-based primers . 3
8.5 Preparation of flooring adhesives . 3
8.6 Preparation of levelling compounds . 4
8.7 Preparation of (dry) film adhesives (tapes) and underlays for flooring . 4
9 Determination of vapour-phase organic compounds in test chamber air .4
9.1 General . 4
9.2 Determination of VOCs and SVOCs in test chamber air . 5
9.3 Determination of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde in test chamber air . 5
9.4 Determination of carcinogenic substances of category 1 in test chamber air . 5
10 Expression of results . 5
11 Reporting of test results .6
Bibliography . 7
iii
Foreword
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iv
Introduction
Safety in use is an important criterion when selecting adhesives and installation materials. This applies
both to the user of the installation materials and to the residential user of the floor or flooring over its
entire service life. Volatile solvents with boiling points of less than 200 °C, which occur in relatively high
concentrations at the workplace during application, should not be used with respect to occupational
safety. Even those products that are referred to as "solvent-free" by the manufacturers and labelled
accordingly can, if they contain higher-boiling solvents and/or plasticisers, release volatile ingredients
into the indoor air over long periods of time (e.g. weeks, months and years), which is not compatible
with today's requirements for indoor air quality. In addition, products used in residential areas should
not release long-term emissions of volatile and very volatile organic compounds (VOC, VVOC)
that can be detected in the indoor air over weeks, months and sometimes years in relatively low but
nevertheless health-relevant concentrations.
This document specifies an easy reference method for testing the emission (release) of substances from
floor covering adhesives and products for flooring installation into indoor air, expressed as emission
classes based on toluene equivalents. This method uses a test chamber to determine the emissions
under conditions, which are kept constant during the test. These conditions are selected so, that the
test results can be expressed in terms of concentrations of substances in the air of the reference room.
The reference room dimensions, associated product loading factors, as well as climate and ventilation
conditions are selected according to existing standards for determining product emissions to represent
the general indoor environment.
This test setup determines a material characteristic of the floor covering adhesives and products for
flooring installation and is limited to this.
v
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 5684:2023(E)
Adhesives — Floor covering adhesives and products for
flooring installation — Assessment and classification of
low volatile organic compound (VOC) products
1 Scope
This document specifies a reference method for the determination of volatile organic compound (VOC)
emissions into indoor air from floor covering adhesives and products used for flooring installation.
This method is applicable to determine volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds,
and volatile aldehydes. It is based on the use of a test chamber and subsequent analysis of an air sample
for organic compounds by GC-MS respectively HPLC.
The main purpose of the test procedure is to obtain relevant performance data for the classification
of flooring adhesives and products used for the installation of floor coverings with respect to low VOC
emissions during the use phase of the flooring.
NOTE 1 This document describes the overall procedure and makes use of existing standards mainly by
normative reference, complemented when necessary with additional or modified normative requirements.
NOTE 2 No conclusions about occupational health and safety can be drawn from the testing and/or the
classification of products according to this standard.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 3251, Paints, varnishes and plastics — Determination of non-volatile matter content
ISO 16000-3, Indoor air — Part 3: Determination of formaldehyde and other carbonyl compounds in indoor
and test chamber air — Active sampling method
ISO 16000-6, Indoor air — Part 6: Determination of organic compounds (VVOC, VOC, SVOC) in indoor and
test chamber air by active sampling on sorbent tubes, thermal desorption and gas chromatography using
MS or MS FID
ISO 16000-9, Indoor air — Part 9: Determination of the emission of volatile organic compounds from
building products and furnishing — Emission test chamber method
ISO 16000-11, Indoor air — Part 11: Determination of the emission of volatile organic compounds from
building products and furnishing — Sampling, storage of samples and preparation of test specimens
ISO 22631:2019, Adhesives — Test methods for adhesives for floor and wall coverings — Peel test
EN 16516, Construction products: Assessment of release of dangerous substances Determination of
emissions into indoor air
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 16516 apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
4 Symbols and abbreviated terms
For the purpose of this document, the following abbreviated terms apply.
GC Gas chromatography
HPLC High performance liquid chromatography
MS Mass spectrometry
SVOC Semi-volatile organic compound
TIC Total ion current chromatogram
TSVOC Total semi-volatile organic compound
TVOC Total volatile organic compound
VOC Volatile organic compound
5 Emission scenario and reference room
5.1 Emission scenario
Regarding the determination of emission into indoor air, the emission scenario specifies the climate and
ventilation conditions of the air surrounding the product in the reference room. The actual condition(s)
of use in reality can be different. It is also not possible to evaluate emissions under all possible use
scenarios. Therefore, this document refers to defined conditions of EN 16516 that are agreed to
be representative of use of the product in “normal” indoor environments, such that all construction
products can be evaluated under comparable conditions.
These defined conditions assume a standardised installation of the product in the reference room with
standardised dimensions, climate and ventilation.
5.2 Reference room and loading factor
In this document, only the reference room and set of conditions as defined in EN 16516 are used as
conventional references for any s
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