The Nose Knows- Understanding VOCs with Dr. Delphine Farmer

Turns out that Spring Cleaning can be pretty powerful- it can help or harm us. I often struggle to understand volatile organic compounds or VOCs. Plenty of products are marketed as "low VOC"- is that better?

To learn more about how these chemicals interact in our homes, I interviewed Dr. Delphine Farmer , a Professor of Chemistry at Colorado State University. She is an atmospheric chemist who studies the air we breathe both indoors and outdoors. Her work has included projects such as the House Observations of Microbial and Environmental Chemistry (HOMEChem) study, which was a collaborative field investigation designed to probe how everyday activities influence the emissions, chemical transformations and removal of gasses and particles in indoor air. She has also studied how wildfire smoke and VOCs interact with our homes in the CASA study. We discuss VOCs, how we cook, clean, and ventilate our homes. She provides great tips for ensuring a health home environment- all in time for that Spring Cleaning!

To Do:

- Think through the simple steps mentioned by Professor Farmer to keep your home air clean. Consider wiping down surfaces with soap and water after a wildfire event or other big pollution event.

- To learn more about NO2 and gas appliances, listen to the episode “The Fire Inside” with Dr. Laura Paulin. 

- For more on ionizing technology and other things marketed as air cleaners, listen to the episode “Clearing the Air about Ionizers, Hydrogen Peroxide & More- the 4 D's of Safer Air with Ken Martinez"

- To learn more about cleaning agents and their risk to health, you can listen to "Cleaning Agents, Chronic Bronchitis, and Latino Lung Health" with Alejandro Diaz

- Finally, consider a donation to the American Lung Association, which works to educate about the importance of healthy indoor air.

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