Evaluation methods of formaldehyde emission from building materials have been standardized in both JIS A 1460:2001 (Desiccator method) and JIS A 1901:2003 (Small chamber method). Although the desiccator method can not give formaldehyde emission rates directly, it has been applied to wood-based building materials and wallpaper in their product standards. On the other hand, the small chamber method can give formaldehyde emission rates directly; however, it needs costlier apparatus and longer time for measurement in comparison with the desiccator method. In this context, formaldehyde emission from coating materials and wallpaper were evaluated by using the two methods and the data obtained were compared with each other. It was confirmed that there was high correlation between the data obtained by the two methods. Therefore, the formaldehyde emission rates obtained by using the small chamber method can be estimated from the data obtained by the desiccator method.
