Evaluation of a method used to test for potential XXXX of carpet emissions.

@entity19 @entity137 @entity2359 @entity146
After a private testing laboratory had reported mortality, @entity2359 , and @entity146 in @entity19 exposed to emissions from heated carpet in a modified application of the sensory irritation test (ASTM E981-84), the studies reported in this paper were conducted to evaluate the method used in testing for carpet @entity137 and to see if the reported findings were reproducible. @entity19 were exposed head-only to offgasses generated by heating carpet (AT #3) to temperatures that ranged from 37 to 70 degrees C. Control @entity19 were simultaneously exposed to heated air. The animals were evaluated for mortality, clinical signs and @entity146 . @entity2359 was evaluated using functional observational battery and motor activity monitoring. Pathological evaluations of organs and tissues, including the nervous system, were also conducted. The carpet samples heated to higher temperatures produced greater concentrations of total volatile organic compounds than those heated to 37 degrees C. Both carpet-exposed and control @entity19 displayed some effects, such as body weight loss, mortality and pathological lesions, that were due to the exposure system. There was no mortality or @entity2359 , nor were there clinical signs or pathological lesions as a result of carpet exposures. @entity19 exposed to carpet heated to 70 degrees C had slightly decreased respiratory rates and an increased incidence of breathing patterns indicative of sensory irritation. Therefore, none of the results reported by the private testing laboratory could be reproduced when this carpet was heated to temperatures below 70 degrees C, and slight sensory irritation was the only effect observed at the 70 degrees C test conditions. Effects from the exposure system itself made interpretation of results difficult, and concurrent controls were considered essential for interpretation of data.
