Every "green" article you read usually mentions low or no VOC, yet they fail to teach you what Volatile Organic Compounds really are - or more importantly, why you really need to know what they are.

I thought it fitting that I write this article, as I just did a project yesterday where VOCs had been the culprit in making a couple sick in their rental home.  The home in question had a catastrophic water incident occur last year (namely, a toilet which sprung a leak which wasn't discovered until the neighbor saw water pouring out from underneath the front door.)  The couple was not told about the incident until after they were living in the home when the homeowner needed access to install the new kitchen cabinets.

Because of this incident, everything in the home was new - new carpet, carpet pad, paint, kitchen and bathroom cabinets, etc.  Compound this with the fact that our homes typically don't have fresh air coming in (unless you open up the windows or provide it mechanically,) so you're left with a chemical soup filled "box" full of pollutants - generally up to 10 times worse than you would find outdoors, and sometimes much, much greater.  

The clients told me it had that "new house smell."  What they smelled, was the VOCs.  This is also what ultimately made them sick...

So what are VOCs?

VOCs:

▪ Are organic chemicals that form gases at room temperature

▪ Are called organic because they contain elemental carbon

▪ Hydrocarbons have both hydrogen and carbon atoms and may include benzene and toluene (both known carcinogens)

▪ Are emitted by a wide array of products - thousands of them

▪ Can cause adverse health effects which may be short or long-lived (and can include serious effects such as central nervous system and internal organ damage and even cancer)

▪ Are commonly found in paints and lacquers, carpet, flooring, plywood, particleboard, adhesives, cabinets & countertops, and other building products.

After only about 5 minutes of being in my client's home (which had been completely shut up with the air turned off for about 2 weeks) I experienced burning in my eyes, nose, throat, and had a headache within 20 minutes.  This was in the first 5 minutes without my respirator being on.  Can you imagine living there? 

While increasing ventilation is a good first step, there are many great no and low VOC products on the market - and readily available in Phoenix!  Stores such as Natural Territory (http://www.naturalterritory.com) and AKA Green (http://www.akagreen.com) carry everything from healthy bedding to no VOC paint. 

We owe it to ourselves - and more importantly our health - to become educated and conscious consumers.  As consumer demand for healthier building materials, furnishings, and other products grow; prices will continue to balance out to meet the consumer demand.  It is the way our economy works.  Not to mention the fact that spending a little bit more money up front could potentially save you thousands of dollars in healthcare costs down the road...  Just say NO to VOCs.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world," - Mahatma Gandhi