ISO 16000-23:2018

Overview

ISO 16000-23:2018 - "Indoor air - Part 23" - specifies a laboratory performance test for evaluating how sorptive building materials reduce concentrations of formaldehyde and other carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones) in indoor air. The method applies to materials such as boards, wallpapers, carpets, paints and similar products. Testing uses spiked supply air in a controlled test chamber (based on ISO 16000-9) to quantify sorption via adsorption, absorption, or chemisorption.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Test principle: Controlled chamber exposures with supply air spiked with formaldehyde and other carbonyls to measure concentration reduction over time.
• Target compounds: Formaldehyde plus a range of aldehydes and ketones (e.g., acetaldehyde, acetone, benzaldehyde, various tolualdehydes).
• Performance metrics:
  • Area-specific reduction rate - mass sorbed per unit area per time.
  • Equivalent ventilation rate per area - clean-air ventilation equivalent provided by the material.
  • Saturation mass per area and lifetime/half-life estimates for long-term performance.
  • Breakthrough time for sample-tube based long-term tests.
• Test conditions and verification: Requirements for temperature, relative humidity, supply-air quality and concentration, air change rate, mass transfer coefficient, chamber airtightness, mixing efficiency, and recovery checks.
• Sample handling: Specimen preparation, sampling, transport and storage follow ISO 16000-11; air sampling and analysis use ISO 16000-3 (and ISO 16000-6 for VOCs as applicable).
• Scope limits: Not intended for materials that decompose target compounds catalytically under UV/visible light.

Practical applications and users

• Product manufacturers and R&D teams: to develop and benchmark sorptive materials that reduce formaldehyde and carbonyl levels.
• Independent test laboratories: to perform standardized chamber evaluations and produce comparable performance data.
• Indoor air quality (IAQ) consultants and building scientists: to assess the effectiveness of materials in reducing harmful indoor carbonyls.
• Specifiers, architects and building owners: to select materials that can lower indoor pollutant loads or provide an equivalence to increased ventilation.
• Regulators and certification bodies: to set performance claims, label products, or inform building code guidance.

Benefits include standardized, comparable performance data (area-specific reduction, saturation capacity, equivalent ventilation), enabling informed material selection and product claims related to indoor air quality improvement.

Related standards

• ISO 16000-3: Determination of formaldehyde and other carbonyl compounds - active sampling
• ISO 16000-6: VOCs by Tenax TA, thermal desorption and GC
• ISO 16000-9: Emission test chamber method (basis for chamber setup)
• ISO 16000-11: Sampling, storage and preparation of test specimens

Keywords: ISO 16000-23:2018, indoor air, formaldehyde, carbonyl compounds, sorptive building materials, test chamber, area-specific reduction rate, equivalent ventilation rate, performance test.