Why Indoor Chemistry Matters Webinar: Volatile Organic Compounds and Large Surface Reservoirs

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—produced by cooking, household cleaners, some building materials, and smoke—build up on indoor surfaces over time and affect indoor air quality. People are exposed to these contaminants through inhalation, skin contact, and dust ingestion, which can lead to short-term and long-term health effects. Please join the National Academies for a webinar on October 30 from 1-2:30pm ET to discuss a recent experiment (featured in a newly published PNAS article) that explores to what extent VOCs are absorbed by typical surfaces within a home, from walls to furniture, to better understand how families can limit VOC exposure. During the webinar, Glenn Morrison (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) will moderate a discussion with paper authors Jonathan Abbatt (University of Toronto), Manabu Shiraiwa (University of California, Irvine), and Delphine Farmer (Colorado State University) to discuss the implications of their research, including how wildfires contribute to indoor contamination.