What is a VOC?

VOC stands for “Volatile Organic Compound.”

VOCs are organic chemicals, and they’ve been found in everything from cars to candles, paint to pesticides. In other words, they’re everywhere. They react with the atmosphere and humans and animals to form ground-level ozone or smog. VOCs can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat; they can cause headaches or dizziness. And that’s no good.

When we inhale VOCs, they are absorbed into our bloodstream through the lungs and distributed throughout the body. VOCs don’t like to be in a solid-state, so they evaporate into a gas. VOCs are derived from petroleum, natural gas, and crude oil, producing greenhouse gases.

Whether natural or synthetic, organic compounds are volatile and can be vaporized and emitted as a gas. A typical example of this is the gas emitted from pine trees, which gives forests their distinct smell. And there are also synthetically produced VOCs created by various chemical reactions and intended for use in (and then emitted into the air by) household and industrial products.