Standards for FLEC^® emission testing

Emission-cell test methods

FLEC^® is designed for emission testing in accordance with ISO 16000-10, ASTM D7143-24, NT BUILD 438 and NT BUILD 484.

These methods cover the use of emission cells to determine area-specific emissions of volatile organic compounds from building products, furnishings and other material surfaces.

Sampling, specimen preparation and analysis

The complete measurement procedure also requires appropriate methods for handling test materials, collecting air samples and analysing the target compounds.

• ISO 16000-11:2024 — sampling, storage and preparation of test specimens from building products and furnishings.
• ISO 16000-6:2021 — active sampling on sorbent tubes, thermal desorption and GC-MS or GC-MS/FID analysis of VOCs.
• ISO 16017-1:2000 — pumped sampling of VOCs on sorbent tubes followed by thermal-desorption gas chromatography.
• ISO 16000-3:2026 — active air sampling and subsequent analysis of formaldehyde and, with appropriate method modifications, other carbonyl compounds in indoor and test chamber air, principally using DNPH cartridges and HPLC-UV. This is a sampling and analytical standard; emission-cell testing is addressed separately by ISO 16000-10.
• ASTM D6196-23 — selection, preparation and analysis of adsorbent tubes for VOC measurement by thermal desorption.
• ASTM D5197-21 — active sampling and analysis of formaldehyde and other carbonyl compounds.

Related European framework

EN 16516:2017+A1:2020 is the European horizontal reference method for assessing emissions of regulated dangerous substances from construction products. It is primarily based on emission-chamber testing and should therefore be regarded as a related framework, not as a direct FLEC emission-cell method.

Korean standards and national methods

KS I ISO 16000-10 is the Korean national adoption of ISO 16000-10 for determining VOC emissions from building products and furnishings using an emission test cell. It is a national implementation of the ISO method rather than a separate FLEC test principle.

ES 02131.2 is a Korean indoor-air test method for VOC and formaldehyde emissions from building materials using an emission test cell. Historically, it has been specified as a supplementary method requiring correlation with the Korean small-chamber reference method.

Earlier Korean standards also included KS M 1998-3, an emission-cell method that was subsequently incorporated into the consolidated KS M 1998 series.

Related Chinese national methods

China has published national emission-cell and rapid on-site methods for VOC emissions from furniture. They are technically related to surface-oriented emission measurements, but they are not Chinese adoptions of ISO 16000-10 and do not specifically identify FLEC®.

• GB/T 39763-2021 — technical requirements for equipment used for rapid on-site collection of VOCs from furniture.
• GB/T 39764-2021 — rapid on-site detection of VOC emissions from upholstered furniture.
• GB/T 32443-2015 — determination of VOC emissions from furniture using an emission test cell method; technical compatibility with FLEC must be assessed against the complete standard.

Other Chinese standards—including GB/T 31106-2014, GB/T 31107-2014, GB/T 37757-2019 and GB/T 42898-2023—use climate or emission chambers for furniture, electrical products or building products. They are related VOC-emission methods, but they are not direct FLEC emission-cell methods.

Compliance note: CHEMATEC does not claim that FLEC complies with the Chinese GB/T methods listed above. Instrument geometry, airflow, sealing, sampling and validation requirements must be reviewed for each intended application.

Other national adoptions

Many countries publish ISO 16000-10 under their own national designation. European editions such as DIN EN ISO, BS EN ISO, DS/EN ISO, SS-EN ISO and SFS-EN ISO 16000-10 are national publications of the same ISO/EN method, not separate FLEC test principles.

Related global chamber and micro-chamber methods

The following methods are important within international, US and Japanese VOC-emission testing. They use chambers or micro-chambers rather than the FLEC emission cell and therefore represent related or alternative methods—not direct evidence of FLEC compliance.

• ISO 16000-9:2006 — international emission test chamber method for VOC emissions from building products and furnishings.
• ASTM D5116-25 — guide for determining organic emissions using small-scale environmental chambers; it expressly refers emission-cell testing to ASTM D7143.
• ASTM D6670-25 — full-scale environmental chamber practice for large materials, assemblies, furnishings and equipment.
• ASTM D7706-17(2023) — rapid VOC screening using micro-scale chambers; intended to complement rather than replace reference chamber or FLEC methods.
• ISO 16000-25:2011 — micro-chamber method for determining SVOC emissions from building products.
• JIS A 1901:2015 — Japanese small-chamber method for determining emission rates of chemical substances from building products.

Method distinction: Results from a chamber, micro-chamber and emission cell are not automatically interchangeable. Any claim of equivalence requires a documented correlation or validation for the material, compounds and test conditions concerned.

Standard revision in progress

ISO/CD 16000-10, Edition 2 is currently under development and is intended to replace ISO 16000-10:2006. As a Committee Draft, it is not yet a published standard; ISO 16000-10:2006 remains the current international edition until the revision is completed.

The applicable combination of test, sampling and analytical methods depends on the material, measurement objective and target compounds. Laboratories should always verify the current edition and requirements of each standard.