"Volatile Organic compounds"

Just a quick introductory note: the are chemicals called Volatile Organic Compounds and they are what we humans "smell" in almost everything. They are chemicals that have interesting structures and "melt" into the air very easily... and so many of them are suspected to cause cancer.

auto-products -- gold old fashioned Quaker State 10w-30 motor oil. Every engine on this planet earth uses it or a near cousin to it. Every day thousands of gallons of it are drained into the ground, thrown away in the trash, or burned in bulk burners. This waste oil usually has a nigh amount of gasoline or diesel residue. It poisons soil. It fouls and contaminates ground water. Burning it releases all manner of benzenes and Volatile Organic Compoounds into the air. It is painfully easy to recycle but people use and abuse this material with abandon.

inside homes -- air fresheners. Fabreze, Glade, Airwick are all names we recognize. People are obsessed with spraying all manner of perfumes in the home but they are unconscious to the organic chemistry involved. All these products in spray and solid form are "Volatile organic compounds" with means they are usually chemicals with interesting chemical bonding arrangements. These chemicals have a way of working their way into the body where they are incorporated into organs, and cells and cause cancer -- thats right, VOCs are typically carcinogenics.

pesticides -- Decon, VetKem, Ortho insecticides almost all brands use chemicals called pyrethins. This material is actually natural and comes from the chrysanthemum flow (and almost all production comes from the country of Kenya.) Pyrethins kill bugs by acting on the nerve systems... they are what makes the bugs lay on their backs and twitch as they die. They are a potent nerve toxin and would probably be very poisonous to people if they were misused. But they breakdown easily in the environment. They are non-selective which means they are extremely toxic to honey bees which make modern agriculture possible.

landscape-yard -- defoliants and herbicides all come from a plant growth hormone called triiodobenzoic acid which was discovered in 1943. Basically it causes plant to "kick into overdrive" when the plant is young so it consumes its own sugars faster than it make it. The plant (undesirable weeds) grow themselves to death by burnout. This is not a problem. During the Vietnam War triiodobenzoic acid was used as "agent Orange" to defoliate whole forests by spraying from airplanes. The problem was that the triiodobenzoic acid was contaminated with another chemical called dioxins which cause severe birth defects. This material was in many, many products in use all over the world but no one had ever been exposed to the high concentrations of it before Viet Nam. It was the horrible documented cases of severe birth defects that called peoples attention to the dioxins. Dioxin contamination is found in soil and water all over the world even today from the heavy usage of 50 years ago.

personal care -- perfumes. Perfumes, like air fresheners, are full of Volatile organic compounds. Womens and men apply these pretty colored beautifully smelling materials directly to their skin with no consideration whatsoever that they are painting themselves with carcinogens. home maintenance -- oven cleaners, degreasers, gunk removers, stain remover are all mixtures of distillates of petroleum... thats right, the Volatile Organic compounds again! Benzenes, Alkenes, ethers! Everything you could imagine going into the air but also going down the drain to contaminate the ground water supply of your local community. How many times do we have to say that VOCs are carcinogens?

arts and crafts -- almost all paint now is some form of microscopic acrylics and plastics in a glue but for hundreds of years they were chemical salts of heavy metals in a glue or resin. Chrome, Cadmium, Lead, uranium, copper were the dominant metals used in paint chemistry. Children's
paint sets were judged high quality by the extensive array of colors they contained. people painted as a hobby or as a job. people washed the paints down the drain. The water is polluted with heavy metals. Heavy metals cause organ and nerve damage in mammals, fish, amphibians...

pet care -- every animal is plagued by insects. these insects carry disease as viruses, bacteria, and ever microscopic organisms. The way to keep your pet or your livestock safe and healthy is to treat them with insecticides. What is the seed of almost all insecticides? Pyrethins!! What was it? A Neuro-Toxin!! It is a matter of risks and benefits. clearly pyrethins when used in the correct and safe manner are a beneficial material keeping insect borne diseases in check.

home office -- freon dusters. For years in the United states and Europe you could buy cans of "air" to blow away dust from electronic devices and computer equipment. These were cans of Freon R12 which was the same material in car air conditioner systems. This material, in the presence of UV radiation in the upper atmosphere knocks the third oxygen atom off of the Ozone molecule with almost no input energy. No on wants to believe that their little can of dusting agent caused the whole in the Ozone layer but how else did the Freon get there?