ISO 12219-2:2012

Overview

ISO 12219-2:2012 - "Interior air of road vehicles - Part 2: Screening method for the determination of the emissions of volatile organic compounds from vehicle interior parts and materials - Bag method" - defines a cost‑effective screening procedure to measure volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde and other carbonyl compounds emitted from vehicle interior parts. The standard specifies the design, construction, performance, evaluation and use of sampling bags and the related test workflow for assessing emissions from seats, instrument panels, ceiling materials and similar vehicle interior components.

Key technical topics and requirements

• Scope and purpose: Screening method intended for prototype evaluation, low‑diffusion material screening and comparative testing (e.g., colours or patterns).
• Test principle: Place one or more test specimens in an inert sampling bag, heat to test temperature, collect a fraction of the bag air and analyze VOCs and carbonyls; sampling bag values are calculated by comparing test and blank concentrations (Clause 10).
• Sampling bag specifications:
  • Material: inert, impermeable and low‑sorbing (e.g. fluorinated resins such as PVF or FEP).
  • Minimum capacity: at least 10 L.
  • Airtight sealing: low‑emitting tape or heat bond.
  • Blank concentration performance: ideally below 0.075 µg/bag for formaldehyde/carbonyls and 0.05 µg/bag for VOCs.
• Test conditions and equipment:
  • Heating in a thermostatic oven (example test temperature cited: 65 °C) with uniform control within ±1 °C.
  • Purity of filling gas (nitrogen or air) must meet ISO 16000‑3 and ISO 16000‑6 requirements.
  • Apparatus: pumps, integrating flow meter (volumes adjusted to standard conditions 23 °C and 101.3 kPa), sorbent tubes/DNPH cartridges.
• Analytical methods:
  • VOCs: sorbent tube sampling (e.g., Tenax TA), thermal desorption (TD) followed by GC–MS and optional FID per ISO 16000‑6.
  • Formaldehyde/other carbonyls: DNPH cartridges and HPLC per ISO 16000‑3.
• Quality checks: monitoring of test conditions, recovery rate verification and required reporting (Clauses 7, 11, 12).

Practical applications and users

Who uses ISO 12219-2:2012:

• Automotive OEMs, interior component suppliers and materials manufacturers
• Third‑party test laboratories and certification bodies
• R&D and quality assurance teams for material selection and process control

Typical uses:

• Screening prototypes and low‑emission materials during development
• Comparative testing across product variants (colours, coatings)
• Pre‑screen prior to more extensive chamber testing (e.g., whole vehicle or small chamber)

Related standards

• ISO 12219 series (Part 1: whole vehicle chamber; Part 3: micro‑scale chamber; Part 4: small chamber; Part 5 under preparation)
• ISO 16000 series (notably ISO 16000‑3 and ISO 16000‑6) and ISO 16017‑1 for sorbent tube sampling and analysis

Keywords: ISO 12219-2:2012, sampling bag method, VOC emissions, vehicle interior, formaldehyde, DNPH, Tenax TA, TD-GC-MS, HPLC, screening method.