Indoor surfaces can absorb and hold harmful chemical compounds, posing a health hazard to people and animals for up to a year, according to new research.
A team from the University of California, Irvine and the University of Toronto used “typical building materials” to create a structure replicating a home environment. Then, they injected contaminants into it and used instruments to track the movement and persistence of volatile organic compounds.
VOCs are present in cooking, spray cleaning, personal care and other consumer products, UC Irvine says, adding that some VOCs can result from insecticides, wildfire smoke and cigarette smoke. Health concerns come about when the compounds “off gas” from surfaces and are inhaled or when contaminated surfaces are touched.
The researchers determined that potentially hazardous VOCs were discovered in large reservoirs of porous surfaces, including concrete, wood and paint.
“Our modeling found that surfaces inside homes have a much greater size to absorb and hold chemicals than previously realized,” said study co-author Manabu Shiraiwa, a chemistry professor at UC Irvine. “We can think of these surfaces as massive chemical sponges that soak up VOCs.”
Shiraiwa and his colleagues say their findings suggest that regular ventilation alone may be insufficient to effectively remove many indoor contaminants from porous surfaces. “Physical cleaning activities such as vacuuming, mopping and dusting are necessary,” they add.
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
