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Gas testing pump (C) Daniel Friedman Formaldehyde Gas Test Types, Methods, Procedures

Formaldehyde Gas Detection & Testing Procedures & Strategies:

How to measure for formaldehyde outgassing or gas exposure hazards indoors. Formaldehyde Gas (Formalin Gas) Exposure Screening Test Devices, Instruments, Chambers are Described.

Page to photo, the author's GasTech™ pump using a colorimetric gas detection tube in a private home.

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- Daniel Friedman, Publisher/Editor/Author - See WHO ARE WE?

HCHO Formaldehyde Outgassing Testing Methods

Photograph of a Drager hand pump used to measure carbon dioxide levels in the environment.A variety of testing methods are used to screen for indoor formaldehyde levels.

Watch out: before hiring a consultant or ordering a formaldehyde test kit

see WHEN SHOULD YOU TEST for FORMALDEHYDE

At FORMALDEHYDE GAS TEST KITS, METERS we give details about different kits, tools, or instruments such as formaldehyde gas detection instruments used for testing for formaldehyde gas and we list sources of various formaldehyde test tools, badges, home test kits etc. including the Dräger Bio-Check Formaldehyde Test Kit shown at page top.

Watch out: no gas exposure test will accurately describe the actual human exposure levels in a building if the test is not properly conducted. The risks are of both Type 1 Errors (a false positive result) and Type 2 Errors (a false negative result).

That is to say that depending on how it was conducted, your test may indicate a costly, actionable problem where in fact there is not one (a false positive) or your formaldehyde (or any other) test may indicate that there is no hazard or no problem when in truth there is one (a false negative result).

With that warning stressed, formaldehyde testing in buildings is available in these categories:


SeeReferences or Citations for details about these formaldehyde testing standards.

Watch out: while chamber testing is the most precise and in some regards most accurate approach to measuring the actual or possible formaldehyde off-gassing of a material sample, the measurements obtained by this method may not accurately reflect the actual formaldehyde off-gassing that will occur from the finished-product when installed n a home where the product properties are different (laminated in layers, for example and with only one side exposed to air) and where environmental conditions are both different and variable (temperature, humidity, air movement, level of fresh-air ventilation and other factors).

Formaldehyde exposure limits & Standards: Australia, Canada, the E.U., U.S. Federal and State Level, New Zealand & Other Countries

Formaldehyde gas (HCHO or Formalin) exposure limits & standards are given in detail

at FORMALDEHYDE GAS EXPOSURE LIMITS

See MOLD / ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERT, HIRE ? for help in deciding if it is probably appropriate to hire an expert to help sort out the question of a building-related illness.

Watch out: beware of self-styled experts who are going to just stop by and perform a test. Without a careful client interview, a taking of the building's history, an observation of its site, construction, materials, history, and other related factors, an environmental test performed alone may give disappointing and expensive results that are not useful: even if a test indicates there is a problem you may have to hire someone over again to perform much the same work in order to find the problem source and to recommend appropriate corrective measures.

See WHEN SHOULD YOU TEST for FORMALDEHYDE

Consumer or DIY Formaldehyde Testing

See FORMALDEHYDE GAS TESTS by HOMEOWNERS

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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

Question: report on inadequate indoor gas testing, deaths, illnesse, worries about competent gas testing

My wife and I were exposed to carbon monoxide (and I'm assuming other combustible gases) for well over a year without knowing. We lived on a ground floor of an apartment and holes were drilled through the floor for plumbing and elec. but were never covered. They insurance company had Pinchin Engineering do a test on the place. and we were shown a basic 1 page sheet of CO and CO2 levels both in and around the house.

The readings from our detector that we finally bought a year later were at times almost 300. there readings were 20.

however the CO2 levels were 859.

Does this mean that combustion was happening because of both the readings and if so wouldn't tests be done for other combustible gases that may be present?

We lost a baby, dog died 2 years later, heart and kidney failure. wife has heart and joint issues. and I have a list as well. They settled out of court for $300Gs but I feel like we didn't receive ALL the disclosure from the air quality test. - Matt 11/30/11

Reply:

Matt,

Of course we are so sorry about the tragic losses you described, and I understand the tragedy of losing a child. When we suffer a tragic loss it is so difficult to endure that the look for a cause and blame is understandable, though sometimes we can be led astray in such a search.

In attempting to relate an illness or fatality to a building or environmental condition, a good place to start is with the physicians involved - ask about possible relationships between the illness or death and environmental factors.

About varying gas levels in buildings, our field experience confirms that small changes in a building (a window open or shut, or a door, or a bird building a nest in a chimney, or seasonal sooting in an oil fired appliance) and similar events can make an enormous difference in the measured result of indoor gases, airborne mold, other contaminants. For that reason, it is no surprise that a year later an individual measurement of gases indoors might find a very different level.

Only if the source of an indoor hazard can be clearly traced to a condition that was present, recogniziable by general home inspection standards and procedures, and visible at the time of the original inspection would one suspect the original inspector or test company of negligence.


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Formaldehyde Article Series Contents

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FORMALDEHYDE GAS TEST METHODS, PROCEDURES at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.


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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to GAS HAZARDS in BUILDINGS

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