What is the story behind the Pine Beetle?
VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS “VOC” stands for Volatile Organic Compound. Organic compound refers to anything that contains carbon – living or not. Volatile is the term used to describe the compounds that evaporate readily at room temperature. This volatility, in itself, isn’t a problem but many VOCs are toxic and in turn cause health and air quality issues when they are released into the atmosphere. Part of the confusion surrounding VOCs is that they were initially regulated to control smog. Some VOCs (but not all) react with chlorine and nitrous oxides to form smog creating compounds and in turn, governments (particularly in California) banned them. This led to a public perception that all VOCs are bad (not true) and that products that are free of VOCs are safe (also not true). For example, ammonia and acetone have not been labeled as VOCs in the US because they don’t contribute to smog but are actually very toxic. Incredibly, they have also made their way into the “zero-VOC” formulatio
