{"id":20223,"date":"2024-03-03T11:00:09","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T11:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.granddesignsmagazine.com\/?p=20223"},"modified":"2024-03-01T14:35:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T14:35:30","slug":"what-are-volatile-organic-compounds-vocs-and-how-do-you-reduce-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.granddesignsmagazine.com\/renovate\/what-are-volatile-organic-compounds-vocs-and-how-do-you-reduce-them\/","title":{"rendered":"What are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and how do you reduce them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are organic substances that evaporate easily at room temperature. It’s an umbrella term for many harmful substances and common VOCs include benzene,\u00a0<\/a>ethylene glycol<\/a>, formaldehyde<\/a>, dichloromethane<\/a>, tetrachloroethylene<\/a>, toluene<\/a>, xylene<\/a> and terpenes<\/a>, such as limonene<\/a> and pinene<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not all VOCs are manmade: most VOCs in the atmosphere are actually naturally occurring, produced by plants, animals or microorganisms. And not all VOCs are \u2018bad\u2019.<\/p>\n

Different VOCs have different effects on human health, and differing effects according to the concentration<\/strong> of the substance; the length of time<\/strong> you are exposed to it; existing health problems<\/strong>: underlying respiratory or immunity conditions or allergies can make you more susceptible to the effects of some VOCs; the age<\/strong> when you are exposed: babies, children and pregnant women are at greater risk.<\/p>\n

Not all VOCs are dangerous in the concentrations likely to be encountered in our homes; not all of them will affect everyone; and some are only dangerous once they combine with other chemicals to form new compounds, such as formaldehyde or ozone.<\/p>\n

Where do we find VOCs?<\/h3>\n

In our homes, VOCs are found in things like paint, solvents and paint stripper, some kinds of new furniture and flooring, cleaning products, printer ink, aerosols, air fresheners and dry-cleaning fluids.<\/p>\n

A strong scent can be a clue that VOCs are present, though, just to keep things complicated, some VOCs are odourless.<\/p>\n

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Image credit: Pexels\/Karolina Grabowska<\/p><\/div>\n

What are the risks of VOCs?<\/h3>\n

Because it is a category that involves so many different chemicals, it is hard to make sweeping general statements about VOCs. If you click through the links in the list of VOCs named above, you will see factsheets from the government summarising the current understanding about each chemical’s potential impact on human health.<\/p>\n

In general, short-term exposure to high levels of certain VOCs can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches and nausea, while long-term exposure to high levels of some VOCs can damage the liver, kidneys and central nervous system.<\/p>\n

Some VOCs are classified as carcinogens, though, typically, these will most often cause serious problems for people who have been exposed to very high concentrations of them over a period of years, in, for example, a workplace.<\/p>\n

How to reduce exposure to VOCs<\/h2>\n

Nonetheless, given all the potential health hazards, it seems sensible to try to minimise exposure to VOCs within our homes, particularly if our households includes youngsters, anyone likely to get pregnant, or anyone with underlying respiratory issues, allergies or impaired immunity. There are lots of quite simple ways to do this.<\/p>\n

Paints<\/h3>\n

Paint has historically been a source of large amounts of VOCs. But some manufacturers have developed new water-based formulas for their paints, which do away with many of the VOCs. Some companies describe these lower-VOC paints as “no VOC” or “VOC-free”. The trade body that includes paint manufacturers, the British Coatings Federation, runs a certification scheme called the VOC Globe scheme which offers a more precise categorisation of paint according to its VOC content.<\/a>\u00a0This includes the following categories:<\/p>\n