Cleaning and hygiene products contribute as much as cars to air pollution, study finds

A study has found that half of the the air-polluting particles, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), in industrialized cities come from domestic cleaning and hygiene products, even as car-derived emissions decrease due to stricter government controls.

According to the journal Science, these particles could cause people respiratory problems and are a contributing cause of 29,000 premature deaths a year in the UK. Exposure to air pollution is the fifth ranking human health risk factor globally.

The research also concluded that in the US the amount of VOC’s emitted by consumer and industrial products were three times greater than previously believed, with the estimated quantum of vehicle pollution declining.

This means that the role of products like shampoo, deodorant paint, pesticides, perfumes and bleach in generating pollution, among others, has increased and the strategy to mitigate ozone formation and toxic chemical burdens now has to adapt.

Most governments only take into account car emissions and exempt pollution from chemicals from their regulations, which Science said may result in some countries falling short of their pollution targets.

One obstacle to the regulation of those emissions was the lack of available atmospheric measurements for oxygenated VOCs, which are quite common in household products.

Furthermore, while the compounds in gasoline are burned for fuel, according to researchers some consumer products, like perfume or deodorant, are "literally created to evaporate". They could be as bad as gasoline but we have no trouble having them nearby and breathing them in because they smell nice.

Jessica Gilman, a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has said we are mistakenly treating fuel differently than our household products.

"Fuel is stored in closed, hopefully airtight containers and its VOCs are burnt for energy.But volatile chemical products used in common solvents and personal care products are literally designed to evaporate. You wear perfume or use scented products so that you or your neighbour can enjoy the aroma. You don’t do this with gasoline," she said.

William Bloss, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Birmingham, told The Guardian there's still work to be done to completely understand the origin of all emissions but he said that in the UK it’s probable that emissions generated by vehicles were still greater than those of household products.