Personal product VOCs drive urban ozone

Abstract

Personal care products like deodorant and lotion contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that add fragrance or texture and can be emitted into the air. Research now suggests that these emissions have significant implications for air quality in densely populated areas. In the summer of 2018, volatile chemical products played as big a role in driving ozone pollution levels in New York City as did VOCs produced by burning fossil fuels ( Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2021, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2026653118 ). Ground-level ozone is a respiratory irritant and results from nitrogen oxides—primarily from vehicle tailpipes—reacting with VOCs in the presence of sunlight. Historically, most of those VOCs, such as benzene, have come from fossil fuel combustion. VOCs such as pinene and limonene emitted by forests in the summer can also drive ozone chemistry. Decades of regulation have reduced vehicle emissions and have led to better air quality, says Matthew Coggon ,