Study finds domestic work pollutes more than cars and trucks

According to researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder, cooking, cleaning and other common household activities generate significant average levels of volatile chemicals and particulates in the home, leading to levels of quality of indoor air similar to those of a heavily polluted city. in the USA.

In addition, chemicals found in the air and from a home do not stay there: volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from products such as shampoos, perfumes and cleaning solutions. Finally, they escape from the outside and contribute to the formation of fine particles and ozone, which is a source of global atmospheric pollution even more important than cars and trucks.

The previously unexplored relationship between households and air quality is at the center of the debate at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, DC, in the United States, where researchers from the Cooperative Environmental Research Institute of the University of Colorado (CU), Boulder, United States, and the Department of Engineering University mechanics present their results during a roundtable.

"Houses have never been considered a major source of outdoor air pollution and it's time to start exploring them," said researcher Marina Vance, badistant professor of mechanical engineering at CU Boulder. "We wanted to know: how do basic activities change, like cooking and cleaning the chemistry of a house?"

In 2018, Vance co-directed the collaborative field campaign HOMEChem, which used sensors and advanced cameras to monitor the indoor air quality of a prefabricated 111 square meter home located on campus. the University of Texas at Austin. Over the course of a month, Vance and her colleagues conducted various daily housework activities, including preparing a Thanksgiving dinner in Texas in the height of summer.

Although the results of the HOMEChem experiment are still pending, Vance points out that it is obvious that homes must be well ventilated during cooking and cleaning because even basic tasks such as boiling water Water over a fire can contribute to high levels of air pollutants. gaseous and suspended particles with negative effects on health.

To his team's surprise, the indoor concentrations measured were high enough for his sensitive instruments to be recalibrated almost immediately. "Even the simple fact of toasting toast particle levels much higher than expected," says Vance. We had to adjust several instruments. "

Interior and exterior experts collaborate to paint a more complete picture of air quality, said Joost de Gouw, visiting professor at the Institute for Cooperative Research in Environmental Sciences. (CIRES) from CU Boulder. Last year, Gouw and his colleagues published the findings in the journal "Science," showing that automobile regulations had reduced emissions from transportation in recent decades, while the relative importance of contaminants Household chemicals had increased.

"Many traditional sources, such as fossil fuel burning vehicles, have become much cleaner than before," recognizes De Gouw. Ozone and fine particles are controlled by the EPA [la Agencia de Protección Ambiental estadounidense]but data on toxins in the air, such as formaldehyde and benzene, and on compounds such as alcohols and ketones originating in the home are very rare. "

"Originally, there was a skepticism about whether these products were contributing significantly to air pollution, but not anymore," Gouw said. In the future, we will need to refocus research efforts on these sources and give them the same attention we gave to fossil fuels. The picture we have in our minds about the atmosphere must now include a house. "

Source: DPA

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