With an increasing focus on air pollution, scientists are suggesting that products such as paints and air fresheners come with warning labels.
Volatile Organic Compounds
A wide array of household products such as paints, air fresheners, disinfectants, and automotive products – emit airborne gas byproducts known as Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), says the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). All these sorts of items may soon require a warning label on their packaging.
According to a 2015 study published in Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health authored by Dr. Anne Steinemann, an internationally recognized expert on pollutant exposures and associated health effects, the most prevalent VOCs classified as toxic or hazardous in fragranced air fresheners are acetone, ethanol, d-limonene, pinene, and acetate. The study found the same VOCs and the same problems with green and organic products too.
Toxic VOCs can produce a range of health effects – including eye, nose, and throat irritation, nausea and headaches, and even damage to the liver, kidney and central nervous system – depending on your exposure and sensitivity says the EPA.
Steinemann said:
“The most common chemicals in fragrance mixtures are terpenes (limonene, pinene, etc), and they have inherent toxicity. When they react with ozone in the air, they generate a range of secondary pollutants, like formaldehyde and ultra fine particles. Ultra fine particles have been linked with heart and lung disease, and respiratory difficulties.”
Warning Labels
Measures from the UK’s Environment Secretary Michael Gove’s clean air strategy would require that soaps, air fresheners, paint, glue, toilet cleaners, carpets, perfumes and the wood in kitchen cabinets come with a warning label because they have been found to be major contributors to air pollution. The labels will caution people to properly ventilated their homes when using or installing the product.
The UK Government’s clean air strategy, which has been published, warns about all the hazardous household products. However, the plan does pinpoint two smells, in particular, lemon and pine, or limonene and alpha pinene, as the greatest threats.
How are they a threat? The chemicals within them – volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – react with sunlight and pollutants in the air to create polluting gases.
The strategy states:
“There are a number of practical ways to reduce indoor air pollution from VOCs, which can be as simple as switching to lower-VOC alternatives, such as unperfumed cleaning products, and ensuring that homes are well ventilated to avoid an accumulation of emissions from multiple sources.”
The EPA recommends increasing ventilation when using products that emit VOCs, meeting or exceeding any label precautions, and throwing away unused or little-used containers safely, in order to minimize your exposure to VOCs.
What About Cars!?
The strategy has been criticized for doing too little to tackle other more severe forms of air pollution. Primarily how the Clean Air Strategy does too little to tackle pollution from cars, lorries, and vans. Tory chairman of the Commons environment committee, Neil Parish, told fellow MPs it was crucial to cut the levels of particulate matter from road traffic. He said:
“The Government should reduce the need for private vehicles in congested urban areas by improving public transport, and also making sure that public transport is much cleaner.”
Claire Haigh, of the campaign group Greener Journeys, added:
“We are extremely disappointed that ministers have again made no attempt to tackle the root cause of the UK’s air quality crisis – the number of diesel cars and vans on our roads. Diesel cars and vans are the biggest contributors to nitrogen oxide pollution from road transport, together accounting for 71 per cent of emissions, compared with just 6 per cent for buses and coaches. Yet, the Government has repeatedly refused to take any meaningful action.”
Gove admitted that the Government had to ‘do better’ on pollution. He then said:
“It’s critically important we make progress there, but it’s also important we deal with other sources of air pollution, whether that’s from slurry spread on agricultural land or whether it’s from wood-burning or other ways people generate domestic fuel and power.”
