Question 1: Hello, we need to somehow monitor air quality while spraying a 2-part spray foam product in a building. I’ve read your page about isocyanate testing. But, the long test times and turnaround times don’t really solve our needs. Would particle counters pick up an increase in particles that would correlate to the presence of isocyanates in the air? Or are the harmful aspects of isocyanates in a gaseous form as opposed to particulate?
Foam Application
Answer: Hello, Thank you for asking. The volatile isocyanate will be missed by the particle counter, and the nonvolatile fraction will be heavily overestimated. In other words, it will not work.
Question 2: Hi, thank you. What about devices from Amazon that claim to measure VOCs?
Answer: The VOC instruments will respond to any solvents, which are always present on the construction site. So, still no, you cannot use VOC monitors to detect isocyanates. 40 years ago there were instruments that could read isocyanate. Then governments reduced the threshold for isocyanates by 100 times, and those instruments could not deliver such low sensitivity, and were taken off the market. To the best of my knowledge, there is no reliable direct reading instrument.
On a different note, Amazon is the wrong outlet to buy scientific equipment. I tried, and every time it ended up in frustration.
Question 3: Hi LCS. Really appreciate your responses here… If we’re dealing with an existing building, it seems we could use one of the VOC meters (or similar) to establish a baseline. Then we’d at least be able to see any increase in isocyanate levels. No?
Gilian Pump with cassette
Answer: Sorry, still no. A typical level of VOC in any old building is 50-500 ppb. This would be your baseline. Isocyanates are regulated at 2 ppb. Your baseline is significantly higher than the target measurement, so the technique will not work. In addition to this, there are only a handful of VOC instruments that can read in PPB range, and they are about $10,000 per instrument
Currently, there is no replacement for lab testing for isocyanates.
Thank you for your business.
Sincerely yours
LCS Laboratory.
Dear reader, we are happy to answer your professional questions or to help you wit air quality measurements. Please feel free to contact us via email.
