Volatile Organic Chemicals
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Volatile Organic Chemicals ( VOCs in short) are compounds of carbons and compounds that can be evaporated into the air readily.
You might not know it but all of us are exposed to VOCs in our everyday lives. Think of the smell of your new carpet, new clothes, air fresheners or a newly painted room. You were actually breathing in some VOCs!
Even though most of them have a pleasant smell to it, VOCs can be harmful to human health! Some of the ways in which VOCs can affect you are :
- Eye , nose or throat irritation
- Headaches or giddiness from high amounts of Benzene
- Damage to Central Nervous Systems
The list can go on and on as there are many different individual VOCs that can affect human health. One personal experience I had was just recently, when I moved into my new room in one of the residences in school. I experienced bad headaches in the morning and i suspected that the cause of it was my Gel based air freshener. I then moved the air freshener further away from my bed and nearer to the window, and not surprisingly, i stopped experiencing these headaches.
Currently, there has not been sufficient research to show how different VOCs can affect our health, and most of their impacts are still unknown. Furthermore, according to a the Environmental Protection Agency, VOC concentrations are can be 2 to 5 times higher at home as compared to outdoors.
Here are examples of some of the VOCs
Formaldehyde
Found in many furniture products, glue, some cosmetics,
Irritates the moist membranes in our respiratory tract and eyes
Emission van last for months after installation
Benzene
Certain level of exposure can lead to leukemia and aplastic anemia
Carcinogen (cancer causing)
Found in fumes evaporating from glue, paints, detergents, nail polish etc
Combustion is also a source , occurs naturally from petroleum
Tetrachloroethylene
From dry-cleaned clothing!
Carcinogen
Air your clothes before wearing!
Paradichlorobenzense
From "fresheners", deodorizers, moth balls etc
Carcinogen at high doses
It is somewhat impossible to eliminate all VOCs in our lives. However, as a rule of thumb, having good ventilation at home is crucial to mitigating the effects of these VOCs. Also, checking the product labels to see if they contain such materials or how much they emit will be good.
Share with me some of your experiences with VOCs at home at the comments section below!
References:
US Environmental Protection Agency, Volatile Organic Compound's Impact on Indoor Air Quality.
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/volatile-organic-compounds-impact-indoor-air-quality
ToxFAQs for Formaldehyde, 2015, Agency for Toxic Substances & Diseases Registry
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=219&tid=39
ToxFAQs for Benzene, 2007, Agency for Toxic Substances & Diseases Registry
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/TF.asp?id=38&tid=14
ToxFAQs for Tetrachloroethylene, 2014, Agency for Toxic Substances & Diseases Registry
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/TF.asp?id=264&tid=48
Hill, M. K. (2010). Understanding environmental pollution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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