Product emissions of volatile organic compounds from convection dried Norway spruce ( Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) timber

Abstract

Emissions of wood building products will be of increased relevance in the future due to a regulation (Construction Products Regulation, CPR) as well as harmonised standardisation currently being established by the European Commission. Objective of this study was to look into the effect of four different drying schedules on volatile organic compound (VOC) product emissions from convection dried Norway spruce timber. Samples dried at high temperature initially emitted generally less VOCs compared to samples dried at low temperature. After 28 days of testing, differences were less clear. The composition of compounds was not influenced by the drying schedule, and emissions did not exceed concentrations of 300 μg m⁻³. However, preliminary tests on other Norway spruce samples showed emissions up to one order of magnitude higher, mainly due to stress induced high extractives content, illustrating the variability of the amount of emitted compounds.