A recent study indicates that scented chemical products may lead to indoor air pollution, with levels comparable to or even higher than those of automobile exhaust. This finding highlights the potential impact of everyday household items on indoor air quality, raising concerns about respiratory health.
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02-20, 2025Engineers at Purdue University in the United States constructed a miniature house, simulating all the characteristics of a typical residence, to monitor the impact of daily activities on indoor air quality. They discovered that scented chemical products, such as air fresheners, scented candles, floor cleaners, and deodorizers, interact with ozone to form nanoparticles, thus triggering new air pollutants.
These particles subsequently fill the air and are small enough to enter the lungs. Purdue University Assistant Professor Nusrat Jung stated, "A forest is a pristine environment, but if you use cleaning and fragrance products full of synthetic chemical scents to recreate a forest in your home, you're actually creating a lot of indoor air pollution that you shouldn't be inhaling."
While it is currently unclear what impact inhaling these chemicals has on human health, researchers believe it may pose a risk to respiratory health. Professor Jung pointed out, "Our research shows that fragrance products are not just passive sources of pleasant odors; they actively change the indoor air chemistry, leading to the formation of nanoparticles, the concentrations of which can have a significant impact on health." Studies suggest that the number of nanoparticles produced by fragrance products is comparable to or even exceeds the number produced by gas stoves and car engines.
It is not only fragrance products that generate these nanoparticles; cooking with gas stoves also produces them, which may result in people inhaling up to 100 times more particulate matter than automobile exhaust on a busy street. Researchers are utilizing their findings to investigate how a range of other daily household activities, such as hair care procedures, affect the air quality of homes. They hope this will improve the monitoring, control, and regulation of indoor air quality.
Brandon Boor, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue University, stated, "Indoor air quality is often overlooked when designing and managing the buildings where we live and work, but it directly affects our health every day. With data from the miniature house laboratory, we aim to bridge this gap, translating basic research into real-world solutions to create healthier indoor environments for everyone."
