2012-12-11 16:27:41
As part of the Grenelle Environment Forum, compulsory labeling of construction and furniture products as well as wall and floor coverings, paints and varnishes which emit substances into the ambient air has been proposed and included in the environmental code.
Since January 1, 2012, new construction and decoration products intended for indoor use (various coverings, partitions, insulation materials, etc.) can only be placed on the market if they include a label relating to pollutant emissions. volatile. Ultimately, all products sold in France will have to have a label by September 2013.
The terms of this labeling were defined in Decree No. 2011-321 and the decree of April 19, 2011 relating to the labeling of construction products or wall or floor coverings and paints and varnishes on their carbon emissions. volatile pollutants.
Detail of the labeling
Ten substances and the “total volatile organic compounds” (TVOC) parameter are to be measured at emission. Four classes rated from A+ to C are offered; the requirements to be respected are threshold limits for exposure concentrations defined for each substance and parameter (expressed in µg.m–3). The most penalizing rating of the different substances emitted by a material is retained on the label. The graphic characteristics of the latter are also detailed in the decree of the Ministry of Ecology: it bears the title “Emissions into indoor air”, a pictogram, a class scale and a large format letter corresponding to the classification of the product.
This new labeling is the first in terms of environmental health: it constitutes a selection criterion for the uses of construction and decoration materials and allows consumers to select the products that are the least harmful to their indoor environment.
At the European level
At the European level, the Joint Research Center (JRC) coordinates work on the harmonization of VOC emissions protocols for construction materials. A proposal for harmonization of emission protocols from a preparatory group bringing together different European organizations involved in this topic (AgBB, Anses, DiCL, FiSIAQ and IEH) was made in the European collaborative action report n°27 published in 2012.
In this context, a reflection on the harmonization of the concept of concentration limits of interest at the European level was launched in 2010. ANSES is collaborating in this work. (The last step of the Afsset 2009 protocol aims to compare the exposure concentrations for each individual compound to limit concentrations of interest (CLI). A CLI is considered a limit concentration and thus aims to prevent the occurrence of health effects during long-term exposure to emissions from construction and decoration materials. A CLI is constructed for each individual compound according to the available reference values: indoor air quality guide values (VGAI), toxicological values reference values (TRV), occupational exposure limit values (VLEP), in the order of consideration according to their availability.)
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