FROM CNN HEALTH, May 2, 2023: Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are liquids or solids used in consumer products that turn into gas when exposed to air and sunlight. Some VOCs have been linked to asthma, cancer and reproductive and developmental harm as well as damage to the liver, kidneys or central nervous system.

Shampoo, body lotion, dishwashing soap, caulking compounds, room deodorizers, household cleaners, paint removers, flooring, carpet and pressed-wood products are just a few of the thousands of consumer items that may contain these chemicals.

Exposure is often higher 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,” the EPA notes.

A study released Tuesday found that over 5,000 tons of 33 potentially harmful VOCs were emitted in 2020 in the state of California, which measures exposures to potential carcinogens and tracks volatile organic compounds in consumer products.

“Picture an ounce of water that evaporates. Even though it is now a gas, the weight doesn’t go away,” said lead study 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 a total of 5,000 tons of volatile gases were released in 2020 alone,” she said. “That’s tons, not pounds – tons.”

Although the analysis was done on products sold in California, the same products are sold across the United States and possibly internationally, Schwarzman noted.

“It’s a wakeup call. So much of the regulatory focus has only been on occupational exposures without thinking about what happens in the home. People don’t understand how much they’re exposed to toxic chemicals in their living environment,” said toxicologist Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Toxicology Program and National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, who was not involved in the new paper.