In order to reduce the cost of testing for volatile organic compound（VOC） emissions from wood-based panels,the authors designed and developed a small 15 L environmental chamber.They used a portable VOC gas monitor and gas chromatography-mass spectrometer to measure emission components and concentrations from medium density fiberboard samples.The results showed that aromatics,alkanes and olefins were the main VOC emissions.Compared with a large 1 m3 environmental chamber,the total VOC and alkane concentration levels using the small environmental chamber is slightly higher.