Household Products Now Rival Cars As a Source of Air Pollution, Say Scientists (theguardian.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Household cleaners, paints and perfumes have become substantial sources of urban air pollution as strict controls on vehicles have reduced road traffic emissions, scientists say. Researchers in the US looked at levels of synthetic "volatile organic compounds", or VOCs, in roadside air in Los Angeles and found that as much came from industrial and household products refined from petroleum as from vehicle exhaust pipes. The compounds are an important contributor to air pollution because when they waft into the atmosphere, they react with other chemicals to produce harmful ozone or fine particulate matter known as PM2.5. Ground level ozone can trigger breathing problems by making the airways constrict, while fine airborne particles drive heart and lung disease. Writing in the journal Science, De Gouw and others report that the amount of VOCs emitted from household and industrial products is two to three times higher than official US estimates suggest. The result is surprising since only about 5% of raw oil is turned into chemicals for consumer products, with 95% ending up as fuel.

Comments

Re:Alternative headline.

[crunchygranola]

This is an accurate description of what has happened in California. The controls on auto emissions have been very effective and have transformed the natural "smog trap" situation is the Los Angeles basin. In 1968 there were 200 Stage 1 smog alerts and 50 Stage 2 alerts. Stage 2 alerts dropped to near zero in the early 1980s, Stage 1 alerts did the same by the late 1990s. There have been no Stage 2 alerts since 1988 or Stage 1 smog alerts since 2003. And remember this is despite a 50% increase in population.

For years now the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) has been focusing on VOC emissions from household products out of necessity. That is where most the remaining problem is, and is had not been subject nearly as much reduction over the years as vehicle and industrial emission. It is a nuisance for a science/craft hobbyist like myself since many common solvents have disappeared that were useful and superior to their replacements, but it is a price you must be willing to pay to live here. Its not a big price (that be the cost of housing).