What next?
So, after looking up the top 25 nasty chemicals in your report, you want to know what you can do to reduce your exposure to them. Read on and take informed action:
The biggest group of such pollutants found indoors are volatile organic compounds, VOCs, chemicals that readily vaporise at room temperature, releasing potentially harmful gases into the air. They are invisible gases emitted from furniture, paints, textiles, cleaning products, adhesives, insulation and so on. Some of these sources continue to produce VOCs when they are stored or transported.
VOCs range from harmless to harmful, and they encompass a wide range of chemicals, including formaldehyde, polyurethane foam, phthalates, acetone, benzene, formaldehyde and toluene. While some harmful VOCs have noticeable odours, others do not smell, making them difficult to detect without proper monitoring.
VOCs are a significant source of pollution in the environment, through industrial dumping, leaks, spills or from the use and improper disposal of household products that contain these chemicals. They can come from natural events such as wildfires as well as manufacturing. Once in groundwater they can generate toxic vapours that move through soils and can get into buildings and degrade indoor air quality (a process known as vapour intrusion).
They can be in the air, food or water, including swimming and bathing water. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to 10 times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands but that doesn’t mean you can’t reduce their impact on your life at home or work, and look after your health.
For more information on VOCs and their impact:
There are currently no enforceable standards set for VOCs in non-industrial settings. So, some of the ways that you can reduce exposure to VOCs in your indoors air include:
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Look at how many of the top nasty VOCs have been found in your sample, and identify likely sources for each. Make choices about products and services by examining what is in them, including these known chemicals. Where possible reduce their usage, and look to retest in three months’ time.
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Make sure that you increase ventilation when using products that emit VOCs, especially if opening a new product, for example a carpet, on a mattress. You can do this by opening windows, doors, and ensuring that you open a new product ideally somewhere you can leave it for a week or so before using it. That way, the initial amount of VOC emission can be significantly reduced, going into the outdoor air as opposed to you or your family’s lungs.
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Make sure that you take notice and follow any instructions or precautions that come with any product or service that you use in your home.
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Do not open containers of unused paints and similar without really good ventilation in place, especially around children.
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Make sure you have lots of fresh air around you when you use cleaning products, both during and for up to an hour afterwards.
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Don’t keep containers of paint, solvent, adhesives, craft materials and so on that have a small amount left or that you don’t really intend to use. They will be emitting VOCs and causing reactions in your home.
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Eliminate tobacco smoking within your home, especially around children.
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When you collect dry cleaned clothes, remove the covering and allow them to air, ideally outdoors for 24h before bringing them inside or to wear.
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Use paints and building products that specific low VOCs on the label.
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Make sure that your office, home or school ventilation systems are working effectively to reduce VOCs produced by printers, copies, or other machines.
Common questions
1. What level of VOCs is dangerous?
VOCs are not a single chemical and any toxic effects depend on the type of VOCs involved. Your report will give a detailed breakdown so you can see what VOCs are present, and then check on the science behind WHATSINMY? more information as to any chronic health risks associated with that VOC and any reaction products. Please note that any adverse health effects that you may encounter in exposure to a chemical depend on several factors, including the amount to which you are exposed (dose), the way you are exposed, the duration of exposure, the form of the chemical and if you were exposed to any other chemicals at the same time.
When it comes to regulations and recommendations for toxic substances, public sector authorities often set what’s called “not-to-exceed” levels in air, water, soil, or food. These levels are usually based on the impact they have on animals, and then they’re adjusted to help protect us humans. However, these not-to-exceed levels tend to vary among different organizations across the US, UK and Europe (and rest of the world). That’s because they might use different exposure times (like an 8-hour workday versus a 24-hour day), rely on different animal studies, or take other factors into account.
Regulations and recommendations are constantly evolving as more information becomes available. To ensure you have the most up-to-date information, you can check with the government department or organisation responsible for providing it.
2. Do VOCs stay in the body?
VOCs may not exist in the body forever but it is possible for them to build up to a point where they cause harm and ill health. Repeated exposure, especially for a person with pre-existing health vulnerabilities, can lead to an accumulation in the body high enough to cause health issues.
VOC levels are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. This holds true even near high-pollution sources like petrochemical factories. Considering that we spend 90% of our time indoors and most of that time is spent in our homes, VOC concentrations at home are important to address.
3. What are some of the places in my home that might not seem obvious where VOCs are emitted, often at high volume?
So the first would be when you’ve picked up your dry-cleaning – the clothes will emit the chemical solvents used to clean the fabric long after you pick them up from the cleaners. Perchloroethylene, a suspected carcinogen, can still be found in high levels on fabrics weeks after cleaning. Even when still in the bag, clothes can emit these chemicals into the air. It is worth being careful with you art & craft supplies like glues, markers, aerosol spray paints and photographic solutions as these can contain high levels of VOCs. In fact, permanent and dry erase markers have been shown to have an average total VOC emissions 400 times more than washable markers and highlighters.
Finally, home furnishings like upholstered furniture, carpets, new mattresses and materials with flame retardants and stain repellents emit VOCs. VOCs are higher with new products and tend to dissipate over time. Composite wood products like pressed wood furniture also contain formaldehyde.
4. PFAS & forever chemicals – what exactly are these and what they mean for my health and the environment?
Persistent chemicals are substances that are very slow to break down. Some are bio-accumulative, meaning they build up in living organisms, while others are mobile and can be transported to remote parts of the world. Epidemiological studies have linked exposure to persistent chemicals to a wide variety of negative health effects, including reduced fertility, developmental delays among children, and various cancers. However, there are thousands of these chemicals, and while the toxicity of some of them is well established, others are potentially less toxic, or they haven’t been studied, so we don’t know if they are harmful.
The most well-known of these substances is the family of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS are a group of chemicals that have been used in manufacturing and added to consumer products since the 1950s. They allow grease and dirt to slide off carpets and textiles, protect industrial equipment from heat damage and corrosion, and help to smooth and condition the skin. Approximately 63% of PFAS emissions are estimated to come from fluorinated gases, used in air conditioners, refrigerators, and heat pumps. They are also used in jet engines, medical devices, refrigeration systems, the construction industry and electrical devices.
PFAS are now so widespread as to be found in the blood of almost every human. This is concerning because at least some PFAS have been linked to health issues such as high cholesterol, impaired immunity and various cancers.
A large investigation revealed that 23,000 European sites are contaminated with PFAS. In the US, PFAS have been detected in 83% of waterways. One study, examining 45,000 surface and groundwater samples from around the world, found that 69% percent had PFAS levels above Canada’s safe drinking water criteria.
Many downstream users are taking steps to move out of using PFAS or have already done so. These include Apple, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Adidas and Walt Disney. A network of more than 100 companies – including H&M, Ralph Lauren and Kingfisher – have formed the “PFAS Movement” to support a ban on PFAS and work to phase it out.
5. Should I be worried about PFAS and forever chemicals?
PFAS are everywhere and as explained, have been detected in human bodies in different places across the world. The bigger potential route for harm is through drinking contaminated water and potentially through food and packaging. Other consumer products such as make up or personal care products, especially those used on the face or eyes could be another way for PFAS to enter the body.
The strongest predictor of having high levels of PFAS in your body appears to be living in an area with a heavily contaminated water supply. PFAS can get into drinking water through discharge from manufacturing plants, the use of certain firefighting foams at, for example, airports or military bases near water sources, or runoff from landfill sites. Last year, The Guardian reported on the legal discharge of large amounts of PFAS into the River Wyre by a chemical plant in Lancashire.
Since July 2022, the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), which oversees the safe supply of drinking water in England and Wales, has required water companies to monitor levels of 47 individual PFAS in drinking water and notify consumers if they breach certain levels. If they do, they must also treat the water – for example by diluting it with water from other sources.
6. What can I do if I want to restrict my exposure to PFAS and forever chemicals?
PFAS are used in such a wide range of manufacturing processes at present that it is a major challenge to eliminate them from your life entirely. However, you can look carefully at the products that you choose and use, plus consider the length and lifecycle of products e.g. recycle and re-use rather than always buy new.
