You are here:
Understanding the implications of volatile chemical product usage on public health
Citation:
Pye, H. Understanding the implications of volatile chemical product usage on public health. AE BOSC, Virtual, NORTH CAROLINA, February 17, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
Volatile chemical products, including paints, personal care products, adhesives, and coatings, have implications for health with exposure occurring on multiple scales.
Description:
We find 139 kg/person/yr of total product is used in the US of which 30 kg/person/year is organic compounds. Of that 30 kg/person/year of organics, about 30% evaporates. The evaporation of about 30% of the organic product content results in a per capita VOC emission rate of 9.7 kg/person/year. These emissions go on to produce about 9 ppb of max. daily 8 hr average O3 and 1-2 ug/m3 of SOA in Pasadena, CA summer. We are particularly interested in better representing the SOA from VCPs because of new calculations that indicate SOA is associated with 3.5x higher per capita cardiorespiratory mortality than PM2.5 in the US.