 IVOCs are gases that are emitted by many household products. They have many long and short-term health effects. Household products that emit VOCs include paint, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, glues and adhesives, building materials, and furnishings. It can also be found in gasoline and diesel. However due to closed space and the basic home products that are used throughout the home, concentrations of many VOCs are higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are easy to detect because they are the plasticy smell from building products. Though the smell lessens over time, the chemicals are still there.
Since people today spend approximately 80% or more of their time at home or in an office, long-term exposure to VOCs in the indoor environment can contribute to sick building syndrome. Many building materials such as paints, adhesives, wall boards, and ceiling tiles emit formaldehyde (what is known to be used to embalm) which irritates the mucous membranes in your nose and lungs and can make a person irritated and uncomfortable. There are also many sources of VOCs in office buildings, which include new furnishings, wall coverings, and office equipments such as photocopy machines which can off-gas VOC particles into the air. The average exhaled human breath contains a few hundred parts per billion of volatile organic compounds and is used in breath analysis to serve as a VOC marker to test for diseases such as lung cancer. One study has shown that “volatile organic compounds are mainly blood borne and therefore enable monitoring of different processes in the body”. Also, many VOCs are found in brownfield sites which are reclaimed ground that was once utilized for industrial uses such as mining. This is known to be the cause of several “downwinder” diseases such as cancer and maybe even learning disabilities.
VOCs are sometimes released into our environment, where they can damage soils and groundwater quality and are very difficult to remove. Vapors of VOCs escaping into the ambient air contribute to air pollution both inside and outside. VOCs are also significant greenhouse gases via their role in creating ozone and in prolonging the life of methane in the atmosphere. Everyone should be aware of their indoor air quality and take action to prevent the increase of indoor air pollutants. For example, volatile organic compounds can have health affects on infants or children. It has been reported that “respiratory, allergic, or immune effects in infants or children” are associated with indoor VOCs and other indoor air pollutants. VOCs in an indoor environment can be reduced by 50% when household rugs and carpets are cleaned with quality vacuum cleaners and hot water. More can be done by using more eco-friendly materials such as VOC-free paint and flooring.
In recent years many common materials and products used indoors have been developed and are labeled by their manufacturers as "low VOC" or "zero VOC content" and other similar labels. Be sure to read labels very carefully before investing in any new prodcuts to make sure that they truly are low VOC emittinga. For more information on VOCs, visit the EPA's indoor air quality web pages at http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html.
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