VOCs And Clean Air In Michigan

What are VOCs?

Volitile organic compounds (VOCs) sound like something we should have learned about when we were snoozing in Mr. Smith's 5th hour chemistry class. We hear about them, occasionally see them in the news... but what are they?

They are a group of chemicals that contain carbon and easily evaporate at room temperature.

But maybe the question should be: why should I care about them? And here's why: they change from liquid or solid state into gas form when exposed to air, and when this happens, we can breath them into our lungs.

Actually, besides inhalation (called "respiration" in science geekspeak), there are two other ways to get VOCs in a body: swallowing ("ingestion") and through the skin ("thermal absorption).

And VOCs are all around our homes and offices.

Michigan and VOCs

Do you have paint on your walls? You have VOCs. Do you have furniture in your office? VOCs. Carbonless copy paper? Disinfectants? Other cleaning supplies? Organic chemicals are widely used as ingredients in household and office products. All of these products can release VOCs when you are using them, when they are stored (to some degree), and when they are exposed to certain things (for example, when decorative paneling gets wet, it releases formaldehyde).

With all of our industry (well, what remains), you'd think Michigan would have a huge amount of VOCs lurking about. And that is true, but the real problem isn't with our outside air. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors. In fact, the EPA estimates VOC levels are ten times higher in Michigan houses when contrasted to the outside air.

And it should come as no shock, when we consider the wide array of products that release VOCs: paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper, graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions.

I could name more, but my fingers will get blistered typing all the different products that release VOCs.

Organic chemicals are widely used as ingredients in household products. Paints, varnishes, and wax all contain organic solvents, as do many cleaning, disinfecting, cosmetic, degreasing, and hobby products. Fuels are made up of organic chemicals. All of these products can release organic compounds while you are using them, and, to some degree, when they are stored.

Health Effects

I was in training several months ago. The instructor was naming off health conditions caused by VOCs so fast, I thought he must teach Latin or Greek on the side. But, to keep things simple, and because spell check goes nuts if I type a medical word more complicated than "headache," here is a brief, non-exhaustive, and simple list of typical conditions people develop when exposed to VOCs:

• Eye, nose, and throat irritation
• Headaches
• Loss of coordination
• Nausea
• Liver damage
• Kidney damage
• Central nervous system damage
• Skin issues, rashes, etc.
• Fatigue

That's quite a list. But here's the problem: the ability of VOCs to cause health effects varies greatly.. some VOCs cause problems after a short-term exposure. Other VOCs affect health over the long haul. And as with other pollutants, the extent and nature of the health effect will depend on many factors including level of exposure and length of time a person is exposed.

And since they are all over the place (kind of like mold spores), we can't get down to a zero exposure. But we can reduce and limit our exposure. And we'll look at that in another post.