Cleaning products can expose people to pollutants at the same rate as a car muffler, warns study
- Scientists have made real-time observations in realistic indoor conditions
- They used commercial cleaners to clean surfaces while measuring chemicals
- The study has implications for people who have worked with Covid-19 disinfectants
Cleaning products have become more common than ever in the last two years, but a new study shows that their use can be a health risk.
Researchers in the United States have conducted real-time observations in “realistic indoor conditions” that mimic the work of professional indoor cleaners.
Commercial cleaners for disinfecting interior surfaces can deposit small contaminants in the human respiratory tract at a rate equal to or higher than that of vehicle aerosols, they found.
The new findings could have consequences for people who worked hard with disinfectant sprays during the Covid pandemic.
Some employees spend entire working days, often flooding contact surfaces in offices, to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
New findings published in Science Advances could have implications for people who worked with disinfectant sprays during the Covid pandemic (image)
HOUSEHOLD AEROSOLS RELEASE MORE HARMFUL CHEMICALS THAN SMOG FROM CARS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Domestic aerosols now emit more harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than all vehicles in the UK, a 2021 study found.
In 2017, the population of the United Kingdom emitted around 60,000 tonnes of VOCs from aerosols, but only around 30,000 tonnes from UK cars running on petrol.
But even taking into account all forms of road transport in the country – not just cars, but motorcycles, vans, trucks and buses – aerosols still emit more VOCs, the authors said.
Read more: Home aerosols emit more harmful chemicals than smog from cars in the UK
The study was led by Colleen Rosales, an environmental scientist at the University of California, Davis and published today in Scientific achievements.
Scientists knew that cleaning interior surfaces with disinfectants could generate secondary internal contaminants such as gases and aerosols.
But there are few studies that capture the formation of a secondary organic aerosol in realistic indoor conditions.
Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is a molecule obtained by oxidation over several generations of a parent organic molecule.
“SOA is a major part of the global atmospheric aerosol load,” said Professor Anele Virtanen, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Eastern Finland who was not involved in the study.
“Understanding the mechanism of formation and properties of SOA is important to assess its impact on climate, air quality and human health.”
To learn more about the formation of indoor SOA, the US team is focusing on monoterpenes, a class of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Monoterpenes are released from a very wide range of sources, including cooking, food, plants and many types of flavored products.
Indoors, monoterpenes can mix with ozone to form particles that can be buried in the lungs.
Road transport is a source of both greenhouse gases and air pollutants, and is responsible for a significant contribution to emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.
WHAT ARE MOSES?
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are released as gases from certain solids or liquids.
VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which can have short-term and long-term health effects.
Concentrations of many VOCs are up to ten times higher indoors than outdoors.
VOCs are emitted by a wide range of products numbering in the thousands.
Sources of VOCs in the home include aerosol sprays, cleaners and disinfectants, moth repellents, air fresheners and automotive products.
Other sources include building materials and furniture, office equipment such as copiers and printers, permanent markers, corrective liquids, copy paper and handicrafts, including adhesives and adhesives.
The team used a monoterpene-based household cleaner to wipe surfaces in a closed, mechanically ventilated test room in a research building in a wooded area for 12 to 14 minutes.
While the floor was cleaned, the researchers measured real-time precursors, oxidants, radicals, secondary oxidants and aerosols.
They estimate that a person using a monoterpene-based cleaning product will first inhale about 30 to 40 micrograms of a primary volatile organic compound per minute when they start cleaning.
Because secondary organic aerosols are formed when the product interacts with the air in the room, then the person will inhale about 0.1 to 0.7 micrograms of these particles per minute.
The authors suggest that maintaining background ozone levels indoors below 1 part per billion before cleaning can minimize the accumulation of pollutants.
VOCs, which are currently used in aerosols, are less harmful than the ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which they replaced in the 1980s.
CFCs, which are classified as halocarbons, damage the Earth’s protective ozone layer, which protects us from the harmful ultraviolet rays generated by the sun.
Recognizing the dangers of CFCs, the Montreal Protocol was negotiated in 1987, leading to their phasing out and recently to the first signs of recovery of the ozone layer of Antarctica.
Home aerosols, including deodorants and cleaning sprays, emit more harmful chemicals from smog each year than all VEHICLES in the UK, scientists warn
Domestic aerosols now emit more harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than all vehicles in the UK, a study reveals.
In 2017, the population of the United Kingdom emitted around 60,000 tonnes of VOCs from aerosols, but only around 30,000 tonnes from UK cars running on petrol.
But even taking into account all forms of road transport in the country – not just cars, but motorcycles, vans, trucks and buses – aerosols still emit more VOCs, experts say.
VOCs are a large group of odorous chemicals, many of which are released in cleaning and cosmetic products, fuel combustion and cooking.
Exposure to some VOCs has been linked to chronic health effects, including lung conditions, liver and kidney damage, nerve problems and cancer.
“Virtually all aerosol-based consumer products can be supplied in non-aerosol form, such as dry or roll-on deodorants, pieces of varnish, not spray,” said study author Professor Alistair Lewis of the University of York’s Department of Chemistry. .
“Making only small changes to what we buy can have a big impact on air quality, both outdoors and indoors, and have a relatively small impact on our lives.”
Read more: Domestic aerosols emit more harmful chemicals than smog from cars in the UK
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