Health Risks Associated with VOC's and are Alternative Compounds Essay

Health Risks Associated with VOC's and are Alternative Compounds Readily Avaialable in Residential Building Use - Essay Example ompounds are gasoline, formaldehyde, benzene, and solvents such as toluene, xylene and tetra-chloroethylene, which is the main solvent used in drycleaning.(www.toxtown.nlm.nih.gov). Volatile Organic Compounds used in building materials are frequent indoor air pollutants. According to Meininghaus et al (2000), certain materials that are present indoors can function as buffers which may reduce the peak concentrations but prolong the presence of the compounds in the air. A two flow system was used in this study to allow direct observation of mass flow across materials. The results in this study showed that diffusion through materials can reduce the room air concentrations, which can affect ventilation requirements. However, VOC levels in indoor air is an important issue of indoor air pollution because most humans spend an average amount of 90% of their time indoors.(Klepeis et al, 2001). Studies show that concentrations of VOCs are typically higher indoors than outdoors and building characteristics can influence the relevant levels.(Wallace, 2001). VOCs are an important category of indoor and outdoor pollutant, although they do not last as long outside because they are easily broken down by microorganisms and sunlight. However, die to their ubiquitous nature, VOCs from indoor sources such as chloroform, p-dichlorobenzene, d-limonene, ÃŽ ±- and ÃŽ ²-pinene are associated with long term health risks.(Pratt et al 2000; Woodruf et al 1998). While the cumulative risks that accrue from long term exposure to multiple VOCs remains indeterminate, the Eleventh Report on Carcinogens which is published by the National Toxicology program identifies damages to the liver, kidneys and the central system in the long term (www.toxtown.nlm.nih.gov). Studies have also shown that several types of cancers as well as cardiovascular and neurological diseases have been reported as adverse health effects of exposure to VOC, either through inhalation or through the presence of VOC’s in