Berkeley Analytical Aces 2023 GEV Round-Robin Test for VOC Emission Testing & Analysis
Berkeley Analytical devotes considerable effort and resources to ensure that its VOC emission test and air sample analysis results are as accurate and precise as possible. To further this aim, Berkeley Analytical participates in all internationally available interlaboratory studies associated with the test methods in the scope of its ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. This year, Berkeley Analytical participated in the 2023 international, round robin study for VOC emission testing that was organized by GEV, the Association for the Control of Emissions in Products for Flooring Installation, Adhesives and Building Materials. Thirty-nine laboratories submitted data with the large majority of these laboratories based in the E.U. We’re pleased to announce that Berkeley Analytical was one of only four laboratories with nearly perfect z scores for all parameters, i.e., |z|≤ 1. As the result of this outstanding performance, GEV has added Berkeley Analytical to their select group of approved laboratories for EMICODE® certification testing.
Round robin testing is a quality control technique used to evaluate the consistency and accuracy of test results across multiple laboratories. For the GEV round robin tests, participants were sent samples of parquet adhesive, parquet lacquer, and a floor leveling compound. They were asked to prepare test specimens for these samples according to instructions and to conduct small-scale chamber VOC emission tests by EN 16516 with the analysis of emitted VOCs by thermal desorption GC/MS following ISO 16000-6. GEV then analyzed the data and generated statistical distributions of the results for area-specific emission rates of selected individual VOCs, groups of related VOCs (alcohols), sum of VOCs, TVOC, and calculated R values for LCI compounds. The statistical distributions were shown as z scores. The lower and upper tolerance limits corresponded to a 𝑧 score of ±2, i.e., ±2 standard deviations from the central tendency.
Berkeley Analytical uses interlaboratory studies such as the GEV RRT as essential components of its quality management system. The results identify potential biases that may require corrective actions to minimize such biases and are used in the calculation of uncertainty budgets and expanded uncertainties for the laboratory’s numerical results.
When you contract Berkeley Analytical for VOC emission testing and VOC analysis of air samples, you can be assured that our laboratory performs among the top-ranked laboratories for such tests. Contact Berkeley Analytical to speak to an expert about VOC emission and VOC analysis of air samples.