ISO 16000-5:2007

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 16000-5
First edition
2007-02-01
Indoor air —
Part 5:
Sampling strategy for volatile organic
compounds (VOCs)
Air intérieur —
Partie 5: Stratégie d'échantillonnage pour les composés organiques
volatils (COV)
Reference number
©
ISO 2007
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©  ISO 2007
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ii © ISO 2007 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword. iv
Introduction . vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Definition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 1
4 Sources and occurrence. 2
5 Measurement technique. 3
5.1 General. 3
5.2 Short-term measurements . 3
5.3 Long-term measurements. 3
6 Sampling and measurement planning. 3
6.1 General. 3
6.2 Measurement objective and environmental conditions. 4
6.3 Time of sampling . 6
6.4 Duration of sampling and frequency of measurement . 6
6.5 Sampling location. 8
6.6 Presentation of results and measurement uncertainty . 8
6.7 Quality assurance. 9
Annex A (informative) Examples of organic chemicals detected in indoor air. 10
Annex B (informative) Protocol for recording activities and boundary conditions during sampling . 12
Bibliography . 13

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards
adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an
International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO 16000-5 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 146, Air quality, Subcommittee SC 6, Indoor air
and by Technical Committee CEN/TC 264, Air quality in collaboration.
ISO 16000 consists of the following parts, under the general title Indoor air:
⎯ Part 1: General aspects of sampling strategy
⎯ Part 2: Sampling strategy for formaldehyde
⎯ Part 3: Determination of formaldehyde and other carbonyl compounds — Active sampling method
⎯ Part 4: Determination of formaldehyde — Diffusive sampling method
⎯ Part 5: Sampling strategy for volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
⎯ 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/FID
⎯ Part 7: Sampling strategy for determination of airborne asbestos fibre concentrations
⎯ Part 8: Determination of local mean ages of air in buildings for characterizing ventilation conditions
⎯ Part 9: Determination of the emission of volatile organic compounds from building products and
furnishing — Emission test chamber method
⎯ Part 10: Determination of the emission of volatile organic compounds from building products and
furnishing — Emission test cell method
⎯ Part 11: Determination of the emission of volatile organic compounds from building products and
furnishing — Sampling, storage of samples and preparation of test specimens
⎯ Part 12: Sampling strategy for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins
(PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
⎯ Part 13: Determination of total (gas and particle-phase) polychlorinated dioxin-like biphenyls and
polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans — Collection on sorbent-backed filters
iv © ISO 2007 – All rights reserved

⎯ Part 15: Sampling strategy for nitrogen dioxide (NO )
⎯ Part 16: Detection and enumeration of moulds — Sampling by filtration
⎯ Part 17: Detection and enumeration of moulds — Culture-based method
The following parts are under preparation:
⎯ Part 14: Determination of total (gas and particle-phase) polychlorinated dioxin-like biphenyls and
polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans — Extraction, clean-up and analysis by high-resolution
gas chromatography/mass spectrometry
⎯ Part 18: Detection and enumeration of moulds — Sampling of moulds by impaction
Furthermore, ISO 16017-1 and ISO 16017-2 deal with VOC measurements.

Introduction
In ISO 16000-1, general requirements relating to the measurement of indoor air pollutants and the important
conditions to be observed before or during the sampling of individual pollutants or groups of pollutants are
described.
This part of ISO 16000 describes basic aspects to be considered when working out a sampling strategy for the
measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor air. It is intended to be a link between
⎯ ISO 16000-1, Indoor air, General aspects of sampling strategy,
⎯ the analytical procedures described in ISO 16000-6, Indoor air, Determination of volatile organic ®
compounds in indoor air and test chamber air by active sampling on Tenax TA sorbent, thermal
desorption and gas chromatography using MS/FID, and
⎯ the more generic ISO 16017-1, Indoor, ambient and workplace air — Sampling and analysis of volatile
organic compounds by sorbent tube/thermal desorption/capillary gas chromatography — Part 1: Pumped
sampling and ISO 16017-2, Indoor, ambient and workplace air — Sampling and analysis of volatile
organic compounds by sorbent tube/thermal desorption/capillary gas chromatography — Part 2: Diffusive
sampling.
This part of ISO 16000 presupposes knowledge of ISO 16000-1.
[1]
The sampling strategy procedure described in this part of ISO 16000 is based on Guideline VDI 4300 Part 6 .

vi © ISO 2007 – All rights reserved

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 16000-5:2007(E)

Indoor air —
Part 5:
Sampling strategy for volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
1 Scope
This part of ISO 16000 is intended as an aid to planning volatile organic compound (VOC) indoor pollution
measurements. In the case of indoor air measurements, the careful planning of sampling and the entire
measurement strategy are of particular significance since the result of the measurement may have far-
reaching consequences, for example, with regard to the need for remedial action or the success of such an
action.
An inappropriate measurement strategy may contribute to the complete uncertainty of the measurement result
in a larger extent than the measurement procedure itself.
This part of ISO 16000 uses the definition for indoor environment defined in ISO 16000-1.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application 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 16000-1:2004, Indoor air — General aspects of sampling strategy
ISO 16000-6, Indoor air — Part 6: Determination of volatile organic compounds in indoor air and test chamber ®
air by active sampling on Tenax TA sorbent, thermal desorption and gas chromatography using MS/FID
ISO 16000-8, Indoor air — Part 8: Determination of local mean ages of air in buildings for characterizing
ventilation conditions
ISO 16017-1, Indoor, ambient and workplace air — Sampling and analysis of volatile organic compounds by
sorbent tube/thermal desorption/capillary gas chromatography — Part 1: Pumped sampling
ISO 16017-2, Indoor, ambient and workplace air — Sampling and analysis of volatile organic compounds by
sorbent tube/thermal desorption/capillary gas chromatography — Part 2: Diffusive sampling
3 Definition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
Numerous organic compounds are present in indoor environments. Depending on volatility, these are present
in the gas phase or are bound to suspended particulate matter or deposited dust. A working group of the
[2]
World Health Organization WHO classified organic compounds based on boiling point (see Table 1).
[2]
Table 1 — Classification of organic pollutants of indoor air
Saturation
a a
Description Abbreviation Boiling point range vapour Examples of sampling media

pressures
from °C to °C kPa
Very volatile Activated carbon, cooled sampling
organic VVOC < 0 50 to 100 > 15 media, molecular sieves, canister
compounds method
® 1)
Volatile organic Tenax , graphitized carbon or
−2
VOC 50 to 100 240 to 260 > 10
compounds activated carbon
Semi-volatile
−2 −8 b ® 1)
organic SVOC 240 to 260 380 to 400 10 to 10 PUF or XAD-2
compounds
Particulate organic
POM > 380  Filters
matter
a
The WHO information has been supplemented.
b
Polyurethane foam.
This classification, based primarily on the boiling point, takes into account aspects of the analysis, especially
gas chromatography. Since the transition points are fluid here, it is not useful to specify sharp limits for the
boiling point ranges and the sampling media to be selected.
NOTE 1 Boiling points of some compounds are difficult or impossible to determine because they decompose before
they boil at atmospheric pressure. Vapour pressure is another criterion for classification of compound volatility that may be
[3]
used for classification of organic chemicals .
NOTE 2 TVOC (total volatile organic compounds) is defined in ISO 16000-6.
4 Sources and occurrence
Several hundred VOCs have been detected in indoor air, stemming from various sources. These sources may
be present in the room continuously or intermittently. The most important continuous sources are all kinds of
building products, furniture, and room textiles. Intermittent sources include household products and products
for renovation, as well as the occupants and a number of their activities, such as smoking and hobby work.
Ambient air shall also be considered as a source although its contribution to indoor air pollution by VOCs is
generally less important.
The various types of sources mentioned in the preceding paragraph emit a wide range of different VOCs into
the indoor air. They also have different emission profiles. As the goal of
...