The hazards of VOCs and its existence scenarios, what are the solutions?

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic compounds with high vapor pressure at room temperature. They are common and exist in a variety of environments and products, not limited to house mold, upholstered furniture, crafts, dry cleaning clothes and cleaning supplies. VOCs are responsible for perfume and fragrance odors and pollutants. Some VOCs are harmful to human health or cause damage to the environment, such as "new car smell", newly renovated new houses, etc.
For example, in new homes, the exposure of a large number of new materials (building materials, surface coverings, accessories, such as glues, paints, and sealants) to the indoor air will lead to particularly high levels of VOC gas emissions in new homes. This gas release has a multi-exponential decay trend, but it is visible for at least two years, where the decay time of the most volatile compounds may only take a few days, and the decay time of the least volatile compounds may take several years or decades.
New homes are usually ventilated or baked for several months after decoration. New furniture, consumer products, and redecoration of indoor surfaces in the home all lead to an increase in the total volatile organic compound (TVOC) gas composition, requiring improved ventilation.
Indoor volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions have obvious seasonal changes, and the emission rate will be more advantageous in the summer. This is mainly because the rate at which volatile organic compound (VOC) species diffuse through materials to surfaces increases with increasing temperature. This leads to generally higher indoor total volatile organic compound (TVOC) concentrations in the summer.
Since VOC gas can cause damage to human health and the environment, in addition to letting it evaporate freely, we can also use VOC decomposition catalysts to accelerate its volatilization rate. It mainly reduces the activation energy of VOCs oxidation reaction, allowing VOCs to oxidize with oxygen at a lower temperature to produce harmless substances such as carbon dioxide and water.
When the exhaust gas containing VOCs passes through the catalyst surface, the active sites on the catalyst surface will adsorb VOCs molecules to form intermediate products. Under the action of the catalyst, these adsorbed VOCs molecules are activated, the chemical bonds gradually weaken and break, and new intermediate products are formed. These intermediate products further react with oxygen to eventually produce harmless substances such as carbon dioxide and water, and desorb from the catalyst surface.
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author: Hazel
date:2025-06-11