Indoor air quality is easy to overlook until something in your home starts to feel a little off. One common source of indoor air pollution is Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), gases released by many everyday products, building materials, furnishings, and household chemicals.
While low levels of VOCs are common in most homes, higher concentrations can contribute to symptoms such as headaches, irritation, unpleasant odors, and other health concerns. In this article, we’ll explain what VOCs are, where they come from, when it may be worth taking a closer look, and how to reduce VOCs with practical steps that can help create healthier indoor air.
What Are VOCs?
Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, are organic chemicals that can easily evaporate into the air at room temperature. They’re released by many common household products and materials, including solvents, aerosol sprays, paint, cleaning products, glues and adhesives, furniture, flooring, insulation, and other building materials.
One VOC you may have heard of is formaldehyde, which can be found in certain pressed-wood products, furnishings, and building materials. Examples of VOCs include benzene and formaldehyde. At elevated levels, VOCs such as formaldehyde can contribute to eye, nose, and throat irritation and may affect respiratory comfort.
Common Sources of VOCs in the Home
VOCs can come from everyday products and activities, and concentrations of some VOCs are often higher indoors than outdoors. These are some common sources of airborne chemicals:
- Paint and craft supplies: Paint, varnishes, solvents, markers, aerosol products, and dry-cleaning materials can release VOC emissions as they dry.
- Furniture and building materials: New furniture, used furniture, carpet, solid wood and composite wood products, flooring, and materials used in new construction may contribute to indoor VOCs.
- Cleaning and personal-care products: A cleaner, unused chemicals, cosmetics, air fresheners, and other products stored in containers can affect the air inside a home.
- Combustion sources: Smoking, fuel-burning appliances, vehicle exhaust, and fuel or automotive products in attached garages can introduce VOCs and other pollutants into living spaces.
How Mold Can Be a Hidden Source of VOCs
Not all VOCs come from products like paint, furniture, or cleaning supplies. As mold grows, it can also release microbial volatile organic compounds (mVOCs) into the air, contributing to VOC exposure in some indoor environments.
Because mold often grows in hidden areas such as behind walls, under flooring, or around moisture-damaged materials, it isn’t always immediately visible. mVOCs are one of the contributors to the familiar musty or earthy odor often associated with mold growth.
If you notice a persistent musty smell in your home, it may be worth investigating further. Professional mold testing can help determine whether hidden mold is present and provide more information about the types of mold found in the environment.
VOC Testing and Indoor Air Quality Testing: What We Can and Can’t Tell You
If you’re concerned about VOCs, chemical odors, off-gassing, or unusual indoor air quality, the first thing to understand is that there are different levels of testing.
At Advanced Clean Air Solutions, we can perform an on-site indoor air quality assessment that provides valuable screening information about VOCs and formaldehyde, along with testing for airborne mold spores, particulate matter, and other particles in the air. Taken together, these results can provide a much broader picture of what is happening in your indoor environment.
However, our testing is not the same as specialized laboratory chemical analysis. We believe it’s important for clients to understand that distinction before scheduling.
What Our VOC and Formaldehyde Testing Can Tell You
Our professional instruments can screen for total VOC levels and measure formaldehyde in your home. We can take readings in areas of concern, including rooms near new materials or HVAC vents, and compare them with other areas of the home and, when useful, outdoor air. These comparisons can help identify differences in VOC levels rather than relying on a single reading.
This can help answer questions such as:
- Are VOC readings noticeably higher in one room or area?
- Is formaldehyde detected at an elevated level?
- Do readings differ between an area with a new material or unusual odor and an unaffected part of the home?
- Is there a pattern that suggests further investigation may be worthwhile?
This type of testing is particularly useful as a screening tool. If you’re trying to understand how to reduce VOCs, it gives you another piece of information to consider alongside the history of the property, recent renovations or installations, odors, moisture conditions, and our other indoor air testing.
What Our VOC Testing Cannot Tell You
A general total VOC (TVOC) reading cannot identify every individual chemical in your air or definitively tell you which product is responsible for off-gassing. TVOCs include a very large number of different compounds, and no single field instrument measures all of them equally.
For example, if you are concerned about spray foam insulation off-gassing, our equipment cannot specifically test for compounds such as isocyanates (including MDI) or TCPP flame retardants. Determining whether particular chemicals like these are present and measuring their individual concentrations requires specialized sampling methods and laboratory analysis that we do not currently offer.
So, while our TVOC screening can provide an important data point, we cannot use it to say, “This exact chemical is coming from this exact material at this concentration.”
In some cases, particularly when there is a concern about a newly installed building product, we recommend contacting the manufacturer or installer to ask about product-specific testing or warranty inspection options.
Looking Beyond VOCs: Getting a Broader Picture of Your Indoor Air
One of the advantages of an Advanced Clean Air Solutions assessment is that we don’t have to look at VOCs in isolation.
A musty or unusual odor, for example, doesn’t necessarily mean that a building material is off-gassing. Mold can also release microbial volatile organic compounds (mVOCs) as it grows, and hidden moisture or mold may be another piece of the puzzle.
That’s why our indoor air quality testing can also evaluate airborne mold spores and particulate matter, giving you a much more complete picture of the air you’re breathing.
Mold Air Testing: 90+ Mold and Fungal Spore Types
Our mold air samples can be analyzed for more than 90 mold and fungal spore types and categories, including many commonly associated with indoor moisture problems.
These can include:
Aspergillus/Penicillium, Stachybotrys, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Alternaria-like spores, Fusarium, Scopulariopsis, Wallemia, Ulocladium, Curvularia, Epicoccum, Paecilomyces, Basidiospores, Ascospores, and many more.
Particulate Matter and Other Airborne Particles
Our indoor air quality evaluation can also provide information about particulate matter and other airborne particles, including particle sizes and a variety of materials that may be present in the air.
Some of these include: pollen, animal skin fragments, human skin fragments, insect parts, carbon particles, and other airborne particulates.
These findings can be especially helpful when someone knows that the air in their home doesn’t feel right, but there isn’t one obvious explanation.
Putting the Pieces Together
Indoor air quality concerns are rarely explained by just one factor. VOCs, formaldehyde, mold spores, particulate matter, moisture, recent construction, new furnishings, and even outdoor air conditions can all influence what you’re experiencing inside your home.
That’s why we believe in looking at the whole picture, rather than relying on a single meter reading or test result.
At Advanced Clean Air Solutions, we test, report, and explain. By combining VOC and formaldehyde screening with mold and particulate testing and considering what is happening in and around the property we can help you better understand your indoor environment and determine whether the findings suggest a problem that can be addressed, a need for further investigation, or more specialized testing.
Outdoor air can provide useful context, too. If you’re experiencing irritation, headaches, odors, or other concerns, it can be helpful to know whether local conditions may also be contributing. The EPA’s AirNow website allows you to enter your ZIP code and view current levels of ozone and particulate pollution, along with easy-to-understand health guidance.
You can check your local outdoor air quality at https://www.airnow.gov/
If you’re concerned about VOCs, off-gassing, mold, unusual odors, or your home’s overall air quality, contact Advanced Clean Air Solutions. We can help you understand what our testing can evaluate and whether an indoor air quality assessment is the right next step.
How to Reduce VOCs in Your Home
If you’re asking how to reduce VOCs in your home, there are several practical ways to support healthier indoor air:
Improve Ventilation:
When outdoor conditions allow, open windows, use exhaust fans, and make sure HVAC vents are unobstructed to help move indoor pollutants out and bring fresh air in. Ventilate rooms when outdoor air is suitable, while considering local pollution.
Choose Lower-VOC Products:
When selecting paint, flooring, furniture, cleaning products, or other household materials, look for options labeled low-VOC options, zero-VOC, or formaldehyde-free. These options can be a practical starting point when you’re learning how to reduce VOCs.
Consider a Multi-Stage Air Purifier:
Because VOCs, mold spores, odors, and airborne particles behave differently, no single type of filtration addresses everything.
At Advanced Clean Air Solutions, we offer an ActivePure air scrubber that combines several complementary technologies, including:
- HEPA filtration to capture fine airborne particles such as dust, pollen, and mold spores.
- Activated charcoal/carbon filtration to help reduce VOCs, chemical odors, smoke, and other gaseous pollutants.
- Ionization to help address airborne particles.
- PCO Technology provides an additional layer of air and surface purification that reduces mold, bacteria, viruses, and other contaminants.
Together, these technologies provide broader indoor air quality support than a basic HEPA filter alone.