What is it?
Besides formaldehyde, there are other aldehydes that can be found in the indoor environment, such as acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, butyraldehyde, hexanal or benzaldehyde.
They are volatile organic compounds that can be released from certain building materials, furniture, consumer products or combustion processes.
Their behaviour and properties vary from one compound to another, but all of them belong to the group of chemical pollutants that help to characterise indoor air quality.
Where can it be found?
The main sources include paints, varnishes, adhesives, resins, processed wood products, textiles, cleaning products, air fresheners, cosmetics and some combustion processes.
They can also form during the natural degradation of certain materials or enter from outside in settings with heavy traffic or industrial activity.
The concentration present depends on emissions from the sources, ventilation and the environmental conditions in the building.
How is it assessed?
What the inspection looks at
The technical inspection identifies potentially emitting materials and activities.
What is recorded for each measurement
Equipment, quantity, unit, location, date, measurement conditions and duration, together with the relevant limitations and the interpretation criterion applied.
How this factor is measured
Depending on the aim of the assessment, specific measurements or samples may be taken with professional instruments.
Interpretation takes into account the construction context of the building, ventilation, the age of the materials and any possible sources detected.
In assessments intended as expert evidence, calibrated instruments are used to ensure the reliability and traceability of the measurements.
Criteria
Results are interpreted using recognised technical references for indoor air quality and guidance values where they exist for the compound analysed.
The final assessment takes into account the intended use of the rooms, the time spent in them and the overall behaviour of the indoor environment, avoiding the interpretation of a single parameter in isolation.
This guide does not publish values or thresholds. Technical criteria, legal limits and recommendations are different things and are not presented as equivalent.
Improvement measures
Work always begins by understanding and, where possible, reducing the source, before acting on the path or on the space. Measures are prioritised by expected effect, feasibility and proportionality, and no products are recommended by default.
The measures depend on the sources identified during the assessment. Options that may be examined include:
- Improving ventilation.
- Replacing high-emission materials or products.
- Choosing low-emission alternatives.
Each recommendation is made on an individual basis after analysing all the results obtained.
How Cemprotecta helps
This factor is not assessed on its own. It is measured within an assessment that treats the space as a system, because each compound behaves differently and its concentration depends on the sources and ventilation.
What an assessment gives you is knowing what is there, where it is and what can be done about it, with an ordered sequence of measures rather than a list of problems.
- Inspection of the space and of accessible installations.
- Measurement or sampling in the rooms where people spend most time.
- Combined interpretation with the other factors assessed.
- A report with measures ranked by their expected effect on exposure.
Request an assessment
If this factor concerns you in your home or workplace, tell us about your case. The prior inspection will determine whether it is worth measuring and what else should be assessed alongside it.