5 Common VOCs are Affecting Your Indoor Air Quality
VOCs are odorless and invisible, but they can have an impact on your buildings air quality. Indoor air quality is important to the health of building occupants and the indoor environment itself. The 5 common VOCs that affect indoor air quality are:
1. Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is probably the most common VOC that people are aware of. It can be found in any number of building materials, especially particleboard and plywood. When these products are new, they emit formaldehyde gas. The emission will decrease with time as the materials off-gas, but it never fully goes away. So, if you have a house made of particleboard, certain glues and adhesives, and pressed wood products like cabinets or furniture, your indoor air could contain elevated levels of formaldehyde.
2. Benzene
Benzene is another one that people are probably familiar with because it’s used in manufacturing plastics like polystyrene (Styrofoam) and nylon, as well as used to make some paints and dyes. It’s also released from products that contain polystyrene, like disposable foam cups.
This may interest you: How to Remove VOCs
3. Xylene
Xylene is a solvent and it’s used to dissolve paint and varnish and as an ingredient in some adhesives and paints. It’s also used as a degreasing agent for metals and plastics. You can find it in paints, paint thinners and removers, varnishes, adhesives and glues, rubber cement, felt-tip marker fluid, correction fluid, leather dressings, and finishes.
The sources of these contaminants can vary from product to product. It may come from the manufacturing process or from improper use of a product. For example, you may be using oil-based paint thinners or cleaning solutions improperly, or it might come from the products used to construct your home.
4. Trichloroethylene
Trichloroethylene is an industrial solvent. It’s used to degrease metal parts and some paints, varnishes, floor polishes, adhesives, rubber cement, and spot removers also contain trichloroethylene. Whenever you sand or scrape painted surfaces or strip furniture or floors, you are releasing trichloroethylene into your indoor air.
5. Toluene
Toluene is another organic solvent that’s also used in paints, paint thinners and strippers, adhesives and glues, rubber cement, correction fluid, and felt-tip marker fluid. If you have any of these products in your home or garage, you could have elevated toluene levels in your indoor air.
If you think that these substances are affecting your health, talk to a professional who can and install a VOC air cleaner.
