Survey and risk assessment of chemical substances in chemical products used for "do-it yourself" projects in the home

This report covers the survey and risk assessment of selected do-it-yourself (DIY) products. The project is a follow-up study to “Survey and risk assessment of chemical substances in chemical products used for“ do-it-yourself ”projects in the home” Survey of chemical substances in consumer products No. 167

The project contains three parts: 1) Mapping of products and establishment of exposure scenarios, 2) Analysis of volatile chemical substances 3) Risk assessment.

20 products have been selected based on the mapping and these have been sampled by The Chemical Inspection Service. The analysis of volatile chemical substances in these products has been conducted by emission testing in climate chambers after 5 hours, 3 days, and 28 days, respectively after application. The analyzed products have been chosen based on their chemical content as well as their hazard classification, with the aim that all the aforementioned product categories are represented.

After 28 days emissions have generally dropped to much lower levels for all products, however, for some substances tolerable exposure levels are still exceeded. This applies, for example, to the substance  2-ethylhexanoic acid from 1-component paints and lacquers, which is considered critical, as the substance is potentially harmful to unborn children. Furthermore, an unacceptably high emission of the mucosal irritant preservative CMIT was found for a 2-component paint after 28 days, which was not measured after neither 5 hours nor 3 days.

Source: mst.dk (Automatically translated from Danish)