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

Posted by BeauHD on from the volatile-organic-compounds dept.

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.

5 of 85 comments (clear)

  1. Anything to ignore the elephant in the room by katz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Livestock pollutes far more. We can take direct action against it by not buying products made from animals and their secretions.

  2. Keep it up and I'll avoid /. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Who wrote this rubbish? Household = Industrial????? Fucking liar. Bait and switch is NOT the way this site will thrive.

  3. I wanna use hairspray! by stooo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I hear where they don't want me to use hairspray. They want me to use the pump!
    Because the other one – which I really like better than going "bing, bing, bing," and then it comes out in big globs, right?
    And it's stuck in your hair and you say, "Oh my God, I gotta take a shower again! My hair's all screwed up!" Right?'

    I wanna use hairspray!

    --
    aaaaaaa
  4. Alternate interpretation may be. . . by Salgak1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    . . . that car exhausts have gotten so clean, that outgassing from household and industrial products is now noticeable, instead of being noise in the metrics. . .

  5. Alternative headline. by BenFenner · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Alternative headline:
    Automobile emissions drop to the levels of household products.