The Road To Clean aiR - LA Differentiated

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Facts
What are VOCs?
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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemical
ingredients that have the ability to vaporize in
the air. They often have an odor and exist in solid,
liquid or gaseous forms. VOCs used in everyday
products—including paint thinners, household
cleaners and nail polish—pollute our air and
contribute to the formation of smog.
VOCs and our health
• Exposure to VOCs in any form can seriously
endanger our health, causing cancer, asthma,
headaches, dizziness, visual disorders,
memory impairment, nausea/vomiting,
reproductive harm and long-term damage to
the liver, kidneys and central nervous system.
• Incidences of asthma attacks have been
linked to exposure to chemicals found in
cleaning products.
VOCs and our environment
• Consumer products will be the second
largest source of VOC emissions in 2010
and the leading source by 2020, according
to estimates by the California Air
Resources Board.
• Many VOCs linger for hours after their
application and can result in indoor levels
1,000 times more than outdoor levels.
•
VOCs combine with other pollutants to create
ground-level ozone, a potent greenhouse gas
that harms human health and contributes to
smog and global warming.
VOCs in schools
•
•
According to the U.S. EPA, half of the
nation’s schools have poor indoor air quality.
Poor indoor air quality has been shown to
reduce students’ academic achievement and
test scores.
• VOCs: an environmental
justice issue
Teachers and custodians experience a higher
incidence of asthma compared to the general
workforce, according to the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health.
“
CCA and
concerned
consumers are
paving the way
for a wide variety
of consumer and
industrial products
to be regulated,
limiting the toxic
chemicals that
contaminate our air and harm workers
like me and consumers like you. ”
— Heriberta Sandoval, grocery
store janitor
•
Employees such as janitors and nail salon
technicians are on the front lines of exposure
to the hazardous emissions and other toxic
chemicals in these products.
• Many who work with VOC-laden products
are members of ethnic minority populations
that often have limited access to health care
services or proper information on the harmful
effects of these products.
• 8 out of 10 nail salon workers in California
are Vietnamese-Americans. A study of
these workers found that more than half
had experienced a health problem related to
high-level solvent exposure, such as difficulty
breathing, skin irritation or asthma.
•
The Coalition for Clean Air is calling for
requirements that manufacturers remove all
toxic chemicals from consumer products,
ensuring that the health and safety of workers
and consumers take precedence over profits.
Coalition for Clean Air
2009 Annual Report