Transcription:
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

Melanie Cole (Host): There's no handbook for your child's health, but we do have a podcast featuring world-class clinical and research physicians covering everything from your child's allergies to zinc levels. Welcome to Kids Health Cast by Weill Cornell Medicine. I'm Melanie Cole. And joining me today is Dr. Kalliope Tsirilakis. She's the Director of Pediatric Pulmonary and Asthma at New York Presbyterian Queens, and she's an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College Cornell University. She is here today to tell us about volatile organic compounds or VOCs and other irritants that can trigger asthma in our children.

Dr. Tsirilakis, thank you so much for joining us. I'd like you to start by just telling us parents what are volatile organic compounds or VOCs. What are these?

Dr Kalliope Tsirilakis: So, VOCs are chemicals and irritants that are released by different types of chemicals that we find in our homes and in the environment, as well as by newly generated plastics and different kinds of materials that are usually manmade.

Melanie Cole (Host): So, where do we find these? I mean obviously, you just said plastics. So, we're all thinking right now of our Tupperware and our water bottles and, you know, all these different things. But some of them have these little messages or labels on them, saying that these don't have those in them. Tell us about where they're found and give us some examples of both indoor and outdoor VOCs.

Dr Kalliope Tsirilakis: The most common VOCs that we find that can really trigger asthma symptoms indoors are things from new furnitures. So, those offing smells that come from latex mattresses and from foam mattresses, from other kinds of furniture. And oftentimes, the cleaning supplies that are used to clean those new furniture items, furniture polishes, paints in particular. And then, other things that you can oftentimes find in garages. So, things like gasoline, paints, paint removers, all different kinds of chemicals that can be used in the household setting can oftentimes release these VOCs and these chemical compounds into the air that are very irritating to the airways

And then outdoors, you also are exposed to many of these VOCs in the environment from emissions from cars or the gas station. So, the different kinds of benzene compounds from gasoline and from different kinds of pollution can also be loaded with VOCs and they can be very irritating to the airways, both for patients with asthma and even for patients without asthma. This is what differentiates VOCs from something like an allergen, which you need to be sensitized to an allergen. VOCs, you do not need to be sensitized to. And at increasing doses of inhalation of a VOC, everybody will eventually react to that VOC and their airways will become more irritated by those VOCs.

Melanie Cole (Host): I think every parent just smelled that smell of new furniture when you said that. I just felt that and could smell it really when you described it. So, how do they interact with our respiratory systems, Dr. Tsirilakis? You said that, while they will be triggering for someone with asthma, all of us will feel some irritation if we're around them long enough. Tell us why.

Dr Kalliope Tsirilakis: Because they act as irritants. So when these inhalants go into the respiratory system, they irritate the airways and they make the little muscles that surround the airways very twitchy. And they can cause significant amounts of inflammation as well, which is irritation in the lungs. So, all of those can result in symptoms of coughing or chest tightness or difficulty breathing, even in patients without asthma, but especially in patients with asthma who have more sensitive airways to begin with, then it can absolutely trigger an asthma attack or an asthma exacerbation.

Melanie Cole (Host): Wow. It's not something that we really think about, and yet it has such an effect on our respiratory systems and the environment. So specifically for people with asthma and allergic disorders, how detrimental are these, and as a physician, do you see that these are really contributing to someone with asthma's triggers and attacks?

Dr Kalliope Tsirilakis: Absolutely. And it is very important that asthma patients are aware of what is in their environment and that they are trying to avoid anything that can be triggering their asthma. Whether it is something like VOCs or other irritants in the air, like smoke, or whether that's smoke from cigarette smoke or from wood-burning stoves or fireplaces, all of those can generate these similar types of irritants and it's really important that they try to avoid those irritants as best as possible and keep them contained so that they are not making their asthma worse.

Melanie Cole (Host): Well, that's why we're doing this podcast, to learn about these VOCs and figure out how we can reduce their effect on us. So, I'd like you to speak about some of the things we hear about air treatment devices, their impact on indoor air and VOCs. Do they work? I'd like you to just tell us about some of the things we might try.

Dr Kalliope Tsirilakis: So, the most effective way to control VOCs in the air and then in the environment is actually good ventilation. So the most important thing you can do is opening up the windows, opening up the doors, and making sure that wherever you have these things stored, or let's say it's brand new furniture, that you open up the windows and that you ventilate that space very, very well for at least a few days until that offing smell has gone away and until most of the VOCs have dissipated or lessened in the air.

The other things that you need to do is you need to make sure that any compounds that can release these VOCs, like gasoline or paint or paint thinners, or any of those organic compounds are stored in airtight containers that they are stored in a garage that is separate ideally from the household itself, or that at least has a closed door, and that you are protecting the house from that garage and that storage area where those VOCs and those organic compounds are being stored.

As far as the air purifiers and other types of devices that have been created to supposedly clear the air, they are not always effective at removing these VOCs and many of these irritants from the air. Some of the VOCs can be filtered out with air filtration systems. But the most effective way is to really allow for adequate ventilation in the space where you have these VOCs being stored.

Melanie Cole (Host): Can you please speak a little bit about a recent news story about gas stove bans and the impact on pediatric asthma? Was this really a thing?

Dr Kalliope Tsirilakis: Yes. So gas stoves, so something like space heaters that are gas stoves, they can absolutely generate significant VOCs that increase the amount of those VOCs in the air, in the ambient air, so that patients with asthma can really trigger those asthma exacerbations when they are around those space heaters, the gas stoves, wood burning fireplaces, any of these types of devices that can generate those fumes and the VOCs really can increase the chances of a patient developing asthma as well as having asthma exacerbations.

Melanie Cole (Host): So what do we do about it? Before we wrap up this podcast, I'd like you to speak to parents about recognizing these and, Dr. Tsirilakis, other irritants. If we have children that have asthma or any type of allergic disorders, why is this so important for us to know about, and you've mentioned ventilation and a few things that we can try, but I'd like you to really offer the parents your advice. If they're sitting there with you, what do you tell them about these irritants and trying to identify these triggers so that we can reduce them for our kids?

Dr Kalliope Tsirilakis: So, the most important advice that I would give any parent of a child who has asthma or any patient with asthma is that they need to partner with their doctor and with their physician to try to identify what their triggers potentially can be. VOCs and other irritants are one of the long list of possibilities for triggers for asthma exacerbations amongst allergens and mold spores and viral illnesses. But these are very much preventable as far as the VOCs and other irritants. So if you know that a patient is being exposed to VOCs and irritants, trying to control the exposure to those things is incredibly important. So, for instance, if a family is painting their apartment, a child with asthma should not be living in that apartment when they are painting the apartment. The child should try to go and stay at a family member's house for a few days until the paint smell has left the apartment.

In addition, there have been the creation in recent years of different kinds of compounds. For instance, there is low VOC paint that can be used when painting apartments and painting households, which is always a good idea for patients who have more sensitive airways like our asthma patients.

Other types of triggers such as tobacco smoke, other kinds of inhalants, even vaping, inhalants or any kind of fumes, heavy chlorine smells or ammonia smells, so cleaning supplies, all of these irritants can really trigger those asthma attacks. And it's important to talk with your doctor about what other things you have noticed can be triggering your child's asthma so that you can best avoid them amongst them as well, the VOCs and these other irritants.

Melanie Cole (Host): What an educational episode this was, Dr. Tsirilakis. Thank you for telling us about it. It's not something that we really knew about or thought about and so interesting. And now, we can kind of look around our houses and try and take those steps to help prevent some of this respiratory distress. Thank you so much.

And Weill Cornell Medicine continues to see our patients in person as well as through video visits. And you can be confident of the safety of your appointments at Weill Cornell Medicine. That concludes today's episode of Kids Health Cast. We'd like to invite our audience to download, subscribe, rate, and review Kids Health Cast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast.

For more health tips, go to weillcornell.org and search podcasts. And don't forget to check out our back to. Lots of interesting podcasts there. I'm Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.

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