People spend majority of their lives indoors today, be it at home resting, in an office at work, or when we go to malls for leisure during break-time. Hence, it is not surprising that there is an increased focus on the quality of air indoors, particularly in its Volatile organic compound (VOC) concentration. VOCs are compounds that evaporate easily. They are found in almost every household item. Some examples of VOCs include acetone (commonly found in nail polish removers), benzene (found in glue or carpeting) and terpenes (used in scented products such as soap or fabric softener). VOCs are seemingly unavoidable in everyday life and VOC levels are often disregarded and forgotten because of the lack of interest and knowledge about it. However, this should not be the case, as the impacts of exposure to VOCs are truly insidious.

 

 

Death attributed to VOC exposure has accounted for an estimated 4.3 million deaths annually (WHO, 2014), and majority originates from less-developed nations where houses lack proper ventilation, and where citizens still rely heavily on gas stoves or wood-fired heating. Several kinds of VOCs such as benzenes are even discovered to be carcinogenic. Common acute symptoms for exposure to high levels of VOCs are eye, nose and throat irritation, as well as headaches and nausea. Breathing in VOCs also exacerbate asthmatic conditions, affecting children and elderly more so than adults.

 

Now, you might wonder then, if VOCs have many known side effects, why have we as a society, not done anything to mitigate this source of indoor pollution? Agencies have attempted to establish regulations, such as the Clean Air Act enacted by the US congress, which promises high standards in the nation’s air quality (UL, 2018). However, most regulations imposed on VOC emissions focus more on outdoor emissions rather than indoor emissions. Even if regulations are present, they are often filled with loopholes. For instance, the Japanese Government established a guideline for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) which sets a standard for maximum indoor VOC levels in public buildings such as offices. However, such regulations cannot be fully implemented in households because government interventions within homes are considered a violation of personal freedom (Azuma, Uchiyama and Ikeda, 2008).

 

To help out the situation at home, regulations will have to be placed on the source of the pollution and not the homeowners. This means holding household product companies accountable for the chemicals they use. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website assures that there are national and international organisations that check and classify household products according to impact levels of indoor air quality on health such as irritation or chronic toxicity. However, this labelling and certification process is neither compulsory nor standardised, hence consumers might still run the risk of overexposure to harmful VOCs.

Through this post, I hoped I managed to raise awareness of the harms of VOCs, and encouraged consumers to be mindful of the products we use at home so as to protect ourselves from any onslaught of health implications.

 

References

World Health Organisations (2014) “Household (Indoor) Air Pollution.” 2014, November. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/indoorair/en/

UL PSi. (2018, April 20). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs): A brief regulatory overview. Retrieved from https://msc.ul.com/en/resources/article/volatile-organic-compounds-vocs-a-brief-regulatory-overview/

Kenichi Azuma, Iwao Uchiyama & Koichi Ikeda (2008, May) The regulations for indoor air pollution in Japan: a public health perspective, Journal of Risk Research, 11:3, 301-314, DOI: 10.1080/13669870801967119