Airborne VOCs

What is the Definition of an Airborne VOC?

A common example of a VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) that might be found in the home is an aerosol, or any product that is designed to be sprayed at high pressure in the form of tiny particles that remain suspended in the air. This includes many cleaning chemicals, hair spray, various types of primer, and fuels such as gasoline and kerosene, as well as other household, beauty, or hobby products. Some fabrics (commonly found in new rugs) also contribute to indoor airborne VOCs when they out-gas, or leak out chemicals in gaseous form, over time.

What is the negative side to having VOCs in the air inside your home?

The result of having so many types of consumer products in convenient aerosol cans is that we end up polluting our own indoor environments and contaminating the air that we breathe. As an average American, you spend as much as 90% of your time indoors – that puts a lot of weight on the importance of purifying that air, since “the harmful components in many household and personal care products can cause dizziness, nausea, allergic reactions, and eye, skin, and respiratory tract irritation; some can cause cancer.”¹

Some rug and upholstery cleaners may contain chemicals which, when inhaled excessively, can cause anemia, liver damage, convulsions, and possible coma. VOCs can also get trapped by the plush fibers of carpeting in your home, only to be reintroduced back into the air at a later date along with other allergens caught alongside.

Air fresheners, marketed as a benign method for “freshening” the air in your home, emit a constant stream of VOCs that, when combined with others already in the air, accumulate over time to a level of contamination that is actually unhealthy to breathe. This may cause severe allergic reactions in some and minor reactions in others such as frequent headaches, nausea, or fatigue. You might not even realize that these symptoms and the products you purchase to make your home “cleaner” are so intricately related.

Not all airborne VOCs are toxic, especially in low quantities. However, “concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors.”² At these levels, it is wise to be aware of the potential health risks.

What can you do to decrease the amount of VOCs in your home?

At Pyramid Air, “Certified” means that our HEPA filter air purifiers are individually tested to perform at 99.97% efficiency at 0.3 microns and higher. Our filters have UVGI systems to help destroy airborne bacteria and diseases that might otherwise be too small to be caught in the filter, and unlike any other similar product on the market today, the UV lamps in all of our units are installed on the intake (dirty side) of the primary filter to help destroy airborne pathogens but also prevent bacteria and mold growth on the HEPA filters.

Some companies will claim that their air filtration devices eliminate airborne VOCs and odors by using UV. However, in order for a UV lamp to remove odors, it must create ozone. The US Environmental Protection has warned against exposure to ozone, as it can cause chest pains, throat pains, sinus trouble, or even lung damage. The EPA makes the same claims about ozone's effectiveness against bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms.

Pyramid Air Solutions (PAS) Air purifying systems do not produce unsafe levels of ozone. They decrease the levels of contaminants in your home without introducing harmful radiation.

¹ Information from the American Lung Association. For more information on VOCs, click here.

² Information from the Environmental Protection Agency. For more information on sources of indoor air pollutions, especially VOCs, click here.