[Development of emission models for volatile organic compounds from indoor materials]

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from indoor materials was a major cause of indoor air pollution. The characteristics of VOCs emission was an important part of research programs on indoor air quality. The technology of test chambers with exactly controllable conditions has been successfully used in studies of VOCs emissions. The technology could be used to model the chamber VOCs concentration level vs time profile C(t), which could in turn be used to estimate the sample emission rate vs time profile R(t). The emission models of VOCs from indoor materials were presented in this review. The principal of emission process, parameters and the applications of emission models were introduced. The application of diffusion model, dilution model and vapor pressure (VP) model were limited due to the existence of sink effect. Sink model is the most promising model at present.