How to Get Rid of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Your Home
These products can cause a significant increase in indoor VOC concentrations when in use. However, in some cases, they can still off-gas fumes even when they are stored in sealed containers. To help reduce the VOCs you bring into your home, try to buy as little as possible when it comes to high-VOC products like paint, adhesives, caulks and solvents.
If you have some of these products left over between uses, store them in a shed or detached garage if possible. This can help decrease the VOCs that leak into your home. Also, try to keep unused chemicals from sitting in your garage or house. Instead, when you are finished with a project, dispose of any leftover materials according to your local hazardous waste disposal guidelines.
Another way to remove VOCs at the source is to choose low- or no-VOC options when shopping for household items. To learn more about the VOC content of different products, you can search for them in the Consumer Product Information Database (CPID).
Do air purifiers work on VOCs?
While source control is the best way to lower the presence of VOCs in your home, it is virtually impossible to rid your home of all VOCs. Increasing the ventilation in your home by opening windows and doors can have a significant positive impact on air quality, especially during high-VOC activities such as painting or laying down a new carpet. However, it may not always be the best way to reduce VOC concentrations in your home.
For example, opening your windows during high-pollen days may bring allergens into your home that were not there before. Plus, precipitation and extreme outdoor temperatures may sometimes make it impractical to keep windows open. Though helpful, increasing ventilation is often only a temporary solution.
Air purifiers, on the other hand, can be used all day and night. In fact, it is recommended that you keep your air purifier on twenty-four-seven. Air purifiers work best when they can continuously turn over the air in a room, removing contaminants as they increase air circulation. However, not all air purifiers are equipped to capture airborne VOCs. In fact, there are only two types of air purification technologies that can handle VOCs: carbon filters and Photo Electrochemical Oxidation (PECO).
Carbon filters and VOCs
Air purifiers with carbon filters are designed to remove gaseous pollutants from indoor air. These filters use a process called adsorption to capture VOCs and other harmful gases. As air passes through the filter, gaseous pollutants stick to the outside of the carbon particles in the adsorption area. Typically, the carbon in the adsorption bed has a lattice structure with many tiny open holes that increase the surface area that VOCs can stick to.
As the filter removes more pollutants from the air, the available surface area on the adsorption bed decreases. When the filter becomes saturated with pollutants, it is no longer effective at removing them from the air. Furthermore, the air passing through the filter may dislodge some of the trapped pollutants and reintroduce them into the air. To help avoid this, you should change your carbon filters regularly according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
(Note: VOCs are not the only type of pollutant that can be found in indoor air. While carbon filters may trap gaseous pollutants, their lattice structure makes them ineffective against other types of pollution, including dust, allergens, and mold spores).
PECO technology and VOCs
PECO air purification technology uses a light-activated catalyst to destroy VOCs at the molecular level. When organic compounds in the air (such as VOCs) pass through the PECO filter, they come into contact with the catalyst and cause it to create powerful chemicals called hydroxyl radicals. These hydroxyl radicals then react with VOCs in the air to destroy them at the molecular level. Because PECO technology destroys VOCs instead of merely trapping them, there is no chance of them breaking free from the filter and being released back into the air.
The ability of PECO technology to remove VOCs from the air has been proven in laboratory settings on multiple occasions. Recently, F008 a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL), performed an independent lab test Air and found that it effectively removed the VOCs formaldehyde, toluene and limonene from the air.
Unlike carbon filters, Xiluo devices can handle more than just gaseous pollutants. The above laboratory tests also verified their ability to remove particle pollution from the air, including smoke, dust and pollen.
With the wide range of products that can contribute to VOC concentrations in your home, it may seem like VOCs are an unavoidable part of life. While that may be partly true, it is still possible to keep them from building up to harmful levels in your home. By removing sources of toxic air pollutants and taking steps to protect your indoor air quality, you can reduce household VOC exposure for you and your loved ones.
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