Pandemic products and volatile chemical emissions

Area of Science:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Public Health
• Consumer Product Safety

Background:

• Increased use of cleaning and disinfecting products during the COVID-19 pandemic, many containing fragrances.
• Known associations between fragranced product exposure and adverse human health effects.
• Limited public knowledge of specific chemical emissions due to undisclosed ingredients.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from frequently used pandemic cleaning products.
• Identify potentially hazardous compounds among emissions.
• Compare emissions from 'green' versus regular product versions and assess ingredient disclosure.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 26 common fragranced pandemic products (13 regular, 13 'green') using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.
• Product categories included hand sanitizers, air disinfectants, multipurpose cleaners, and handwashing soaps.
• Evaluation of volatile emissions, identification of hazardous compounds, and comparison of product types.

Main Results:

• Products collectively emitted 399 VOCs, with 127 classified as potentially hazardous; all tested products emitted hazardous compounds.
• No significant difference in prevalent compound emissions between regular and 'green' products.
• Only 4% of total VOCs and 11% of hazardous VOCs were disclosed on product labels or safety data sheets.

Conclusions:

• Pandemic cleaning products can release volatile emissions posing unrecognized health risks.
• Potential risks can be reduced, for example, by opting for fragrance-free alternatives.
• Current ingredient disclosure practices are insufficient for assessing product safety.