Paints, pesticides, and other consumer products now add as much to air pollution as cars | Science | AAAS

Cars are no longer the top contributor to urban air pollution. That’s
the conclusion of a new study presented here at the annual meeting of
AAAS, which publishes Science, that finds pesticides,
paints, adhesives, and other consumer and industrial products add about
as much to air pollution as transportation does. For the new work,
researchers examined volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs react with
air to create ozone and, separately, produce fine particulate matter,
which contributes to haze. Both of these air pollutants are health
hazards and contribute to respiratory diseases, particularly in urban
areas where emissions tend to be highest. Emissions from cars and other
automobiles have long been considered the major contributor to these
kinds of air pollutants. But the new work, which examined the chemical
productions statistics from industrial and government agencies, found
pesticides, coatings, inks, adhesives, and personal care products such
as perfumes produce more than double the emissions of cars.
That means U.S. inventories underestimate VOC emissions from these
products by as much as a factor of three while overestimating car VOC
emissions by 40%, researchers also report today in Science.
Because most people use the products that make VOCs indoors, the
researchers also compared emissions from residential and commercial
buildings to outdoor measurements in Los Angeles, California. They found
the concentration of emission compounds indoors was seven times higher
than in ambient air. That means air pollution is increasingly from
consumer and industrial products rather than from the transportation
sector. These products are used indoors where people spend most of their
time, which means their use poses a health risk that requires updated
regulations, the researchers say.

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