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Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, are liquids or solids used in consumer products that turn into a gas when exposed to air and sunlight. Some VOCs have been linked to asthma, cancer and reproductive and developmental damage as well as damage to the liver, kidneys, or central nervous system.
Shampoo, body lotion, dish soap, caulking compounds, room deodorizers, household cleaners, paint strippers, flooring, carpeting, and hardboard products are just a few of the thousands of consumer items that may contain these chemicals.
Exposure is typically highest in the home, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. In fact, “concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors.” EPA notes.
A study released Tuesday found that more than 5,000 tons of 33 potentially harmful VOCs were emitted in the state of California in 2020, measuring exposure to potential carcinogens and tracking volatile organic compounds in consumer products.
“Imagine an ounce of water evaporating. Even though it’s now a gas, the weight doesn’t go away,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Meg Schwarzman, associate director of the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.
“We added up the liquid or solid weight of 33 volatile organic compounds in consumer products and found that a total of 5,000 tons of volatile gases were released in 2020 alone,” he said. “That is tons, not pounds, tons.”
Although the analysis was done on products sold in California, the same products are sold in the United States and possibly internationally, Schwarzman noted.
“It is a wake-up call. Much of the regulatory focus has only been on occupational exposures with no thought to what happens in the home. People don’t understand how much they are exposed to toxic chemicals in their living environment,” said toxicologist Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Toxicology Program and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, who was not involved in the new paper.
Exposure could increase the risk of a number of health problems, depending on the chemicals, said Jane Houlihan, national health and science director for Healthy Babies Bright Futures, a coalition of advocates working to reduce infant exposure to chemicals. neurotoxic chemicals, “including low birth weights, congenital defects of the male reproductive system, and cancer.”
“Failure to comply with our public health guidelines that allow the use of toxic VOC chemicals in everyday consumer products is especially dangerous for pregnant women, infants and young children, who are especially vulnerable,” said Houlihan, who was not involved. in the study.
The Consumer Brands Association, which represents manufacturers of many personal care, home and pet products, among others, had no comment on the study.
Telly Lovelace, director of issue communications for the American Chemistry Council, which represents the US chemical, plastic and chlorine industries, told CNN via email that her members are “serious” about their responsibility to produce chemicals that can be used safely.
“Our members perform extensive scientific analysis to assess the potential risk of their chemicals, from development through use and safe disposal,” Lovelace added.
The analysis, published in the journal Environmental science and technologyused data from the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, which tracks the type and amount of volatile organic compounds used by manufacturers in products sold in California.
“CARB does that because it is their job to control ozone at ground level, which contributes to smogsaid Homer Swei, senior vice president for healthy life sciences at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit environmental health organization. Neither Swei nor EWG were part of the new investigation.
“Manufacturers’ reporting is mandatory and it’s a data source that doesn’t exist anywhere else,” Swei said. “That database hasn’t been plugged in before for this kind of information, which is pretty smart.”
The research team then turned to California’s right-to-know law, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, commonly known as Prop 65, which maintains a list of chemicals believed to cause cancer or harm reproductive and developmental Of those, 33 were listed as volatile organic compounds. (Because Proposition 65 does not control asthma, the effects of VOCs on that condition could not be examined.)
The analysis found that more than 100 types of products contain VOCs flagged by the Prop 65 database. In addition to personal care products, potentially toxic VOCs are used to make insect repellents, disinfectants, laundry detergents, toiletries, car and boat care, carpet and upholstery cleaners, shoe and leather cleaners, office and art supplies to name a few.
Consumers can’t easily find that information on a label unless it involves one of the 33 chemicals of concern under Proposition 65, Schwarzman said.
“You’ve seen warnings on labels that say, ‘This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer or reproductive harm,’ or whatever the concern is,” he said. “That benefits the rest of the country, because manufacturers don’t create a special label for products sold in California.”
The general lack of safety information can make it equally difficult for companies that want to reformulate their products with nontoxic chemicals, Schwarzman added.
“There is no centralized list of safer alternatives, so companies that want to reformulate really have to work to find the data,” he said. “It’s also very difficult to make security claims without implying the previous version of a product.
“I can’t imagine a label that says, ‘New non-cancer formula’ is now available.”
The researchers placed 11 of the chemicals listed in Proposition 65 at a higher level of concern, based on their widespread use in consumer and occupational products and their risk to the health of consumers, workers, or the general population.
Mothballs, for example, are made of 1,4-dichlorobenzene, which can break down into toxic vapors like hydrochloric acid and carbon monoxide, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Medicine.
Of the 5,000 tons of VOCs released in 2020, according to the study, mothballs accounted for 300 tons.
Methylene chloride can damage the eyes, liver, heart and skin and can cause cancer, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Protection.
“Exposure can cause drowsiness, dizziness, numbness and tingling in the extremities, and nausea.” the CDC says. “Severe exposure can cause unconsciousness and death.”
In 2020, consumer products emitted about 2.75 tons of methylene chloride per day, according to the study. The exhibition was mainly paint removers. That was unexpected, Schwarzman said, due to a EPA ban on use of chemical in paint strippers in 2019: “We expected methylene chloride emissions from this source to have decreased over time.”
Formaldehyde was the most common VOC product used on the body, showing up in nail polish, shampoo, makeup, and other personal care products. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogenaccording to the US National Toxicology Program and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In all, formaldehyde appeared in 17 product categories, including household and industrial cleaners, carpets, and hardboard furniture.
In the home, art supplies, general purpose cleaners and laundry detergents contained the highest amount of VOCs, the study found. Just one product, adhesives, exposed users to nearly half of the chemicals of concern.
“As a category, stickers were the best example of how you can use a single product and get multiple exposures,” Schwarzman said. “There were 17 different potentially toxic Prop 65 VOCs in the stickers.”
Benzene was the third most common VOC found in consumer products, according to the study. Benzene is a known cancer-causing chemical used to make plastics, dyes, detergents, medicines and pesticides, among other products.
In 2021, a study found benzene in more than half of 108 lots of antiperspirant and deodorant body sprays from 30 brands. The discovery prompted manufacturer Procter & Gamble to remove 17 types of Old Spice and Secret antiperspirants from shelves at the time.in an abundance of caution.”
Finding alternatives is a key way to avoid potentially toxic fumes, experts say. Continued consumer interest in green products has provided a number of safer options, Swei said.
“I think general purpose cleaners and personal care products are two of the areas where there are significantly safer substitutes,” he said. “I wouldn’t worry too much if use one or two cleaning products from time to time.
“But if your job requires you to use a ton of cleaning products, or too many VOC categories at the same time for long periods of time, that would be a concern,” Swei said.
A definitive solution would need consumers to talk to lawmakers and manufacturers about the lack of regulations, said former director of the National Toxicology Program, Birnbaum.
“We do not regulate indoor air, except for radon. We regulate ambient or outdoor air, but many people spend 90% of their time indoors, especially babies, children and the elderly,” he said.
“We need proper labeling,” Birnbaum said. “But even then, they can say that the chemical is ‘inert’ and not mention that it could turn into a vapor. We need policy changes at the federal level so that individual consumer choices to protect themselves and their families can be effective.”
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