BOULDER, Colo. — Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, global spending on household cleaning products has surged by nearly $50 billion. As people prioritize cleanliness, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder are launching a new study to explore the implications of that increased product usage on human health.
For the next eight weeks, CU Boulder associate professor Marina Vance's home will act as a research laboratory.
“Even though I've always wanted to be a scientist, I never imagined tying together my personal life to science to this extent,” she said.
In a unique twist, Vance's family will temporarily relocate to a camper while her kitchen and garage become makeshift labs filled with chemistry equipment designed to examine the interplay between common cleaning substances and air pollutants.
“This work is personal for me in many ways, but the weirdest way is that we're using my house,” Vance said.
The research team, composed of around 20 members from CU Boulder and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), aims to investigate how commonly used cleaning products react with pollutants like ozone and wildfire smoke in a real home environment.
While many cleaning products release volatile organic compounds (VOC) and other gases, the reactions these substances may have with environmental pollutants remain largely unknown.
“Indoor chemistry is very complex, and indoor air pollutants can include things like particles or gases, volatile organic compounds,” Vance said. “The health effects of these vary tremendously. They could be carcinogenic and can lead to respiratory irritation and other health issues ranging from discomfort to more serious consequences.”
The research will focus particularly on high-ozone days, commonly experienced during Colorado summers. One experiment will involve using a standard cleaning product to wipe surfaces before exposing the environment to ozone to observe what chemical reactions occur.
The goal is to see if the use of cleaning products during high pollution days could lead to the formation of hazardous compounds in indoor air.
The study's findings could provide valuable insights for consumers and inform safer cleaning practices.
“The goal is not to scare people. We want to generate knowledge and information, and people can do with that whatever they want, but we want to generate that knowledge,” Vance said.
As researchers navigate the practicalities of producing science from within a home, they hope to shed light on how everyday cleaning practices affect indoor air quality and ultimately public health.
Denver7 plans to follow up with Vance when the study concludes in eight weeks to see what she discovered.
