New International Product Emissions Regulations are Coming, Pushing Manufacturers To Develop and Verify Low-Emitting Products

UL AQS Helps DuPont Leverage Previous Product Emissions Testing to Meet New International Standards

ATLANTA, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Increasingly, indoor air quality (IAQ) is shooting to the top of the list of environmental concerns. Internationally, environmental agencies, government bodies and privately-held companies championing good IAQ are releasing programs to help ensure that products sold around the world support healthy indoor environments.

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In the last year alone, France has passed a law that all construction and decorative products must undergo product emissions testing, proposed LEED 2012 standards include product emissions criteria for new categories of wet products; and the German Institute of Building Technology (DIBt) issued its emission labeling requirements to meet the European Union Construction Products Regulation, requiring that no construction product should cause harm to building occupants.

UL Air Quality Sciences, Inc. (UL AQS), the pioneer and provider of product emissions testing, is helping manufacturers make sense of a long list of international product emissions testing programs and requirements, providing both testing and product engineering support. ISO 17025 compliant, UL AQS is uniquely qualified to test to international standards, undergoing rigorous evaluations to become an approved testing laboratory for Germany's Blue Angel Program, DIBt and GREENGUARD™. 

Long-time UL AQS customer, DuPont Building Innovations, manufactures DuPont™ Corian® solid surfacing materials that offer versatile, high-performance surfacing material options for residential and commercial spaces. DuPont has long been a first-mover in supporting healthy indoor environments. With France's new product emissions testing requirement becoming law on January 1, 2012, DuPont wanted to be one of the first to earn approval to sell their surfacing products in France.

"DuPont has long seen tremendous value in delivering low-emitting products that support healthy indoor environments. It's a great way to differentiate and further advance our already unique, high-performance products. UL AQS performed the product emissions testing that confirmed our GREENGUARD certification. We were able to leverage those results to efficiently meet France's standard. UL AQS collaborated with us to deliver results in a straight forward defined process," commented Dr. Michael Arthur Banks, Codes and Regulatory Compliance Leader, DuPont Building Innovations.

International programs - both mandatory and voluntary - are growing around the globe. To help manufacturers understand the different programs, their requirements and standards for selling products in countries around the world, UL AQS has released, Key International Chemical Emissions, Labeling and IAQ Programs for Building Materials & Products, a comprehensive technical report outlining standard requirements worldwide.

"Our goal is to help manufacturers understand how product emissions testing benefits them and their efforts to sell products internationally. Creating products that support healthier indoor environments is the right thing to do and we're excited to help manufacturers progress with their efforts to do so," commented Dr. Marilyn Black, President of UL AQS.

To download the technical report or learn more about environmental chamber technology, visit AQS.com.

About UL Air Quality Sciences (UL AQS)

UL Air Quality Sciences, Inc. (AQS) is an ISO 17025 accredited indoor air quality testing and research laboratory. With the largest environmental chamber facility in North America, UL AQS conducts innovative product development testing for product manufacturers and provides certification services in testing products for their pollutant emissions for third party programs including GREENGUARD, Green Label Plus, Green Seal, EcoLogo, CHPS, UL Environment, Blue Angel, and USGBC. UL AQS has tested over 70,000 products and has over 100 environmental chambers established for low level chemical emission and human exposure studies. For more information, visit www.aqs.com.

SOURCE UL Air Quality Sciences