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China Tightens Emission Requirements for Automotive Interiors

To help automotive OEMs comply with increasingly stringent global requirements, we offer two low VOC product segments for automotive interiors.

28 Feb 2017

: Our Low VOC Tapes Help You Meet Increasingly Stringent Global Requirements

Early last year, the Chinese government revised its national standards to lower the threshold of acceptable emission values in automotive interiors. Also known as Guobiao or GB standards, this regulatory system is frequently updated. These changes impact the global automobile industry as China represents the biggest automobile market in the world.

China’s new standards lower the acceptable level of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a vehicle’s cabin. As a category of organic substances that are already volatile at room temperature, VOCs can come from construction materials, textiles, and adhesives. Since some VOCs have been linked to harmful health effects, they are not desirable indoors.

VOCs released by certain plasticizers and adhesives are also part of what is commonly referred to as the “new car smell,” which most Chinese car buyers find objectionable. In fact, unpleasant interior odors topped the list of complaints by Chinese car buyers for a second straight year in J.D. Power’s China Initial Quality Study – a concern that doesn’t rank among the top 20 complaints among U.S automobile consumers.

In an increasingly global marketplace, the automotive industry faces some steep challenges when it comes to environmental compliance management. For facilities and customers across the globe, China’s GB standards are only one of multiple sets of regulations that impact the design and engineering of automotive interiors.

 

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In addition to our Low VOC adhesive tapes, tesa has created Ultra Low VOC – a new segment for products with very low total emission values.
tesa® Automotive: Interior Mounting
To help automotive OEMs comply with increasingly stringent global requirements, we offer two low VOC product segments for automotive interiors.

tesa’s Low VOC Solution for Interior Mounting, Cable Mounting, Cockpit, Door, Or Seats

Our product range for the automotive industry interior applications, cable mounting, cockpit, doors, or seats now offers two environmentally friendly segments. In addition to a Low VOC label for adhesive tapes, we have created Ultra Low VOC – a new segment for our products with very low total emission values.

Low VOC declarations in the automotive sector are not subject to one clear set of global guidelines. However, we use the GB standards as our benchmark since China is a leader in terms of low VOC standards.

According to the overarching Global Automotive Declarable Substances List (GADSL), there are about 3,000 substances that require declaration in the automotive sector. The new more stringent guidelines for automotive interiors have highlighted between 8 and 13 substances. The products in our low VOC portfolio contain neither the substances prohibited under the new Chinese GB standards nor under Japan’s JAMA standards.

At tesa, we take our commitment to our customers and the environment seriously, which is why we follow a clear low emissions strategy to fulfill the global demand for better air quality inside a vehicle. Because automotive OEMs set clear emission standards according to strict government regulations, our tapes are especially designed to meet these new emission limits – in any country or automotive market.