An overview of health hazards of volatile organic compounds regulated as indoor air pollutants
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Wen-Tien Tsai
Abstract
Indoor air quality (IAQ) standards and guidelines for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been stipulated by various national and international agencies. The main purpose of this paper is to establish an overview of indoor VOCs regarding their impacts on human health. Herein, 13 VOCs were designated as indoor air pollutants (IAPs) in the IAQ standards and guidelines. They were further grouped into four types: nonchlorinated aromatic compounds, chlorinated aromatic compounds, chlorinated aliphatic compounds and aldehydes. For this purpose, the present study discusses the criteria for designating VOCs, and summarizes their main sources in indoor environments. Because the occupational exposure limit (OEL) in workplaces has often used as a preliminary basis for establishing acceptable health-based IAQ guidelines in buildings and residences, this paper thus reviews the OEL values, especially in the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH)-threshold limit value (TLV). In addition, this paper also reviews the information about the classification of carcinogenicity in human by the international agencies for these VOCs. It shows that human tissues, including kidney, liver, leukemia, nasal cavity, paranasal sinus, liver and bile duct, could be more involved in the development of cancers or tumors when people are exposed to these VOCs through inhalation route in buildings over a long period of time.
Research funding: Authors state no funding involved.
Conflict of interest: Authors state no conflict of interest.
Informed consent: Informed consent is not applicable.
Ethical approval: The conducted research is not related to either human or animal use.
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©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Climate change, extreme rainfall events, drinking water and enteric disease
- Review Articles
- The roles of radio-functional natural chemicals for the development of cancer radiation therapy
- The “Moscow signal” epidemiological study, 40 years on
- Sources of lead exposure in various countries
- Exposure to environmental toxicants and young children’s cognitive and social development
- Lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol: an overview on pretreatment, hydrolysis and fermentation processes
- Environmental pharmacology: source, impact and solution
- Mini Reviews
- An overview of health hazards of volatile organic compounds regulated as indoor air pollutants
- Microalgae to biofuels production: a review on cultivation, application and renewable energy
- Letter to the Editor
- Authors’ Reply to Drießen’s Letter to the Editor on “A novel database of bio-effects from non-ionizing radiation”
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Climate change, extreme rainfall events, drinking water and enteric disease
- Review Articles
- The roles of radio-functional natural chemicals for the development of cancer radiation therapy
- The “Moscow signal” epidemiological study, 40 years on
- Sources of lead exposure in various countries
- Exposure to environmental toxicants and young children’s cognitive and social development
- Lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol: an overview on pretreatment, hydrolysis and fermentation processes
- Environmental pharmacology: source, impact and solution
- Mini Reviews
- An overview of health hazards of volatile organic compounds regulated as indoor air pollutants
- Microalgae to biofuels production: a review on cultivation, application and renewable energy
- Letter to the Editor
- Authors’ Reply to Drießen’s Letter to the Editor on “A novel database of bio-effects from non-ionizing radiation”
