Volatile Organic Compounds in Home Furnishings

Buying new furniture is exciting, whether you are decorating a new home, or finally investing in a high-quality, comfortable mattress.

Unfortunately, toxins will be arriving with your new couch or mattress. Most likely, toxins are in your existing furniture as well.

Furniture manufacturers use a wide array of glues, glosses, and fabrics, which can include flame retardants, polishes, laminates, and other seemingly “harmless” furniture features. When you buy furniture, you buy the potent chemicals used to make it.

While we may all like the smell of new furniture, those scents come from a class of chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These compounds behave as toxic gases that pollute the air in your home and vehicle, causing all kinds of nasty side effects when inhaled.

These side effects can include eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, and nausea, along with liver, kidney, and central nervous system damage. Some are even known to cause cancer.

You can minimize your exposure to these chemicals from your furniture. But first, let’s take a deeper dive into the hidden toxins in furniture, so you know what you’re dealing with.

These are the most common chemicals to be aware of, although the list is not completely inclusive. The group, Environmental Science and Technology, has found over 30 mattresses alone. This doesn’t include sofas, vehicle furniture, and so on.

Toxins in furniture

1. Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)
   Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), is a category of toxic flame retardants, used to minimize the chance of fire spreading should your couch or mattress catch on fire. The EPA states that it accumulates in the environment, in breast milk, and “biomagnifies” in the food chain. It remains persistent in its environment. And it has been known to have adverse reproductive, developmental, and neurological effects.
2. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
   Perfluorooctanoic acid is used in carpets, leathers, and upholstering to make them waterproof and stain-resistant. Since 2015, the EPA has attempted to regulate PFOA due to its environmental accumulation, but it’s still used nationwide.
   The half-life for PFOA in the human body is 3.8 years which causes: liver toxicity, kidney toxicity, developmental effects (survival, body weight changes, reduced ossification, altered puberty, and retarded mammary gland development), and cancer.
3. Trichloroethylene
   Trichloroethylene is a VOC used as a solvent in dry cleaning and metal degreasing. Still, organizations in the U.S. use around 250 million pounds per year in manufacturing.
   Side effects include: adverse effects on developing fetuses, light-headedness, drowsiness, headaches, and effects in the liver, kidneys, immune system and central nervous system.
4. Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers
   Polybrominated diphenyl ethers are additional flame retardants classified in a cluster, since they contain more than a few chemical combinations. They leach out of foams, plastics, and fabrics and pollute the air, while also accumulating in the environment. The main safety concern with these involves adverse neurobehavioral effects.
5. Phthalates
   Phthalates are a class of chemicals used in nearly every consumer product, from plastics to tablecloths. In home furnishings, they can be found in floor tiles, furniture upholstery, carpet backings, and packaging. They are considered major endocrine disruptors that interfere with natural hormone regulation and production. They can affect development in children, resulting in changes in male hormone production, altered sexual differentiation, and changes to reproductive organs.
6. Perchloroethylene
   Perchloroethylene is commonly used for dry cleaning fabrics and metal degreasing. Side effects include kidney dysfunction, neurological effects, and behavioral changes, impairment of coordination, dizziness, headaches, sleepiness, and unconsciousness. Long-term exposure has been associated with several types of cancer including bladder cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.
7. Formaldehyde
   Formaldehyde is a colorless chemical with a strong odor that is commonly found in pressed-wood products, glues, adhesives, plywood, fabrics, and product coatings. The National Cancer Institute states that side effects from short-term exposure include: watery eyes; burning sensations in the eyes, nose, and throat; coughing; wheezing; nausea; and skin irritation. Long-term exposure may lead to cancer, since formaldehyde is also classified as a human carcinogen by several agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
8. Acetaldehyde
   Acetaldehyde is a chemical used in the production of perfumes, polyester resins, dyes, rubber production, and in tanning agent production. It is classified as a probable human carcinogen based on inadequate human cancer studies and animal studies that have shown nasal tumors in rats and laryngeal tumors in hamsters. Short-term side effects include irritation of the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract.
9. Benzene
   While the chemical benzene is commonly associated with vehicle exhaust and coal emissions, it is also found in detergents and dyes, which could be used on your furniture. It is used as a solvent for waxes, resins, and plastics used in furniture manufacture.
   Side effects include drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, irritation of eyes, skin, and respiratory tracts, blood disorders including reduced numbers of red blood cells and aplastic anemia, adverse reproductive effects on developing fetuses, and increased leukemia incidence. In fact, the EPA has classified benzene as a known human carcinogen for all routes of exposure.
10. Vinyl Acetate
    Vinyl Acetate is a chemical used in the production of polyvinyl, adhesives, paints, films, and lacquers. Most of its effects involve the respiratory system and include coughing and inflammation. While the EPA hasn’t classified it as a carcinogen, it states that studies have found, “an increased incidence of nasal cavity tumors … observed in rats exposed by inhalation.”

Eliminating toxins in furniture

1. Charcoal Filters
   Charcoal has been used in the past to help remove dangerous gases during warfare due to its highly absorbent nature. Purchasing a charcoal filter for your home may help remove some of the VOCs lingering in the air in your home environment. Just be sure to change the filters frequently.
2. Ventilation and “Off-Gassing”
   After purchasing new furniture, it would be wise to let it “off-gas” or “air out” outside or in a garage with lots of ventilation. By doing this, you allow the chemicals that evaporate from the furniture the quickest to be released outside your home. While this will be no means get rid of all of the VOCs, it can help with the initial off-gassing of other VOCs.
3. Air Purifiers and PCO Cleaners
   Investing in a great air filter, like this one or this one, can go a long way in removing dangerous chemicals hanging around in the air from your furniture. PCO cleaners in particular use UV light to change gas-based pollutants into harmless products. However, they do not remove particles like an air purifier.
4. Baking Soda
   Many VOCs are acidic in nature. Because of this, using alkaline baking soda as a deodorizer and to trap harmful gases may provide some relief.
   To do this, simply sprinkle baking soda over furniture or carpets and use the brush attachment on your vacuum to work it into the fabric. Let the baking soda sit for as long as possible, then vacuum it up. Take this a step further and air out your home afterward.
   In addition, keep your home well-ventilated, especially with the delivery of new furniture. You may not be able to remove all the chemicals from your home environment, but these techniques work well at minimizing their exposure to you and your family.