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Pandemic products and volatile chemical emissions

The recent pandemic (COVID-19) has seen a sweeping and surging use of products intended to clean and disinfect, such as air sprays, hand sanitizers, and surface cleaners, many of which contain fragrance. However, exposure to fragranced cleaning products has been associated with adverse effects on hu...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Steinemann, Anne, Nematollahi, Neda, Rismanchi, Behzad, Goodman, Nigel, Kolev, Spas D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Netherlands 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7452613/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32874372
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00912-9
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author Steinemann, Anne
Nematollahi, Neda
Rismanchi, Behzad
Goodman, Nigel
Kolev, Spas D.
author_facet Steinemann, Anne
Nematollahi, Neda
Rismanchi, Behzad
Goodman, Nigel
Kolev, Spas D.
author_sort Steinemann, Anne
collection PubMed
description The recent pandemic (COVID-19) has seen a sweeping and surging use of products intended to clean and disinfect, such as air sprays, hand sanitizers, and surface cleaners, many of which contain fragrance. However, exposure to fragranced cleaning products has been associated with adverse effects on human health. Products can emit a range of volatile chemicals, including some classified as hazardous, but relatively few ingredients are disclosed to the public. Thus, relatively little is known about the specific emissions from these products. This study investigates the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from “pandemic products” that are being used frequently and extensively in society. In addition, among these emissions, this study identifies potentially hazardous compounds, compares so-called green and regular versions of products, and examines whether ingredients are disclosed to the public. Using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, 26 commonly used pandemic products, including 13 regular and 13 so-called green versions, were analyzed for their volatile emissions. Product types included hand sanitizers, air disinfectants, multipurpose cleaners, and handwashing soap. All products were fragranced. The analyses found the products collectively emitted 399 VOCs with 127 VOCs classified as potentially hazardous. All products emitted potentially hazardous compounds. Comparing regular products and green products, no significant difference was found in the emissions of the most prevalent compounds. Further, among the 399 compounds emitted, only 4% of all VOCs and 11% of potentially hazardous VOCs were disclosed on any product label or safety data sheet. This study reveals that pandemic products can generate volatile emissions that could pose risks to health, that could be unrecognized, and that could be reduced, such as by using fragrance-free versions of products. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11869-020-00912-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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spelling pubmed-74526132020-08-28 Pandemic products and volatile chemical emissions Steinemann, Anne Nematollahi, Neda Rismanchi, Behzad Goodman, Nigel Kolev, Spas D. Air Qual Atmos Health Article The recent pandemic (COVID-19) has seen a sweeping and surging use of products intended to clean and disinfect, such as air sprays, hand sanitizers, and surface cleaners, many of which contain fragrance. However, exposure to fragranced cleaning products has been associated with adverse effects on human health. Products can emit a range of volatile chemicals, including some classified as hazardous, but relatively few ingredients are disclosed to the public. Thus, relatively little is known about the specific emissions from these products. This study investigates the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from “pandemic products” that are being used frequently and extensively in society. In addition, among these emissions, this study identifies potentially hazardous compounds, compares so-called green and regular versions of products, and examines whether ingredients are disclosed to the public. Using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, 26 commonly used pandemic products, including 13 regular and 13 so-called green versions, were analyzed for their volatile emissions. Product types included hand sanitizers, air disinfectants, multipurpose cleaners, and handwashing soap. All products were fragranced. The analyses found the products collectively emitted 399 VOCs with 127 VOCs classified as potentially hazardous. All products emitted potentially hazardous compounds. Comparing regular products and green products, no significant difference was found in the emissions of the most prevalent compounds. Further, among the 399 compounds emitted, only 4% of all VOCs and 11% of potentially hazardous VOCs were disclosed on any product label or safety data sheet. This study reveals that pandemic products can generate volatile emissions that could pose risks to health, that could be unrecognized, and that could be reduced, such as by using fragrance-free versions of products. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11869-020-00912-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Springer Netherlands 2020-08-27 2021 /pmc/articles/PMC7452613/ /pubmed/32874372 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00912-9 Text en © Springer Nature B.V. 2020 This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Article
Steinemann, Anne
Nematollahi, Neda
Rismanchi, Behzad
Goodman, Nigel
Kolev, Spas D.
Pandemic products and volatile chemical emissions
title Pandemic products and volatile chemical emissions
title_full Pandemic products and volatile chemical emissions
title_fullStr Pandemic products and volatile chemical emissions
title_full_unstemmed Pandemic products and volatile chemical emissions
title_short Pandemic products and volatile chemical emissions
title_sort pandemic products and volatile chemical emissions
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7452613/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32874372
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00912-9
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