VOCs or Volatile Organic Compounds form a broad heterogeneous category of chemical compounds, some of which pose a health hazard and can also lead to greenhouse effect, ozone layer depletion and acidification of the globe atmosphere. Others pose marketing problems of odours, fogging, discolourations, staining...
Some VOCs are well known or intuitively suspected such as solvents used for paints, varnishes, cleaning and degreasing, adhesives, processing of unsaturated polyesters etc., for example chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other halogenated fluorocarbons, perfluorinated carbons, hydrofluorocarbons, Freons, halogenated gases; toluene, xylene, styrene, naphthalene, ethanol, trichloroethylene and other solvents...
Plastics and rubbers are involved at three steps:
1. Emission of VOCs during processing as far as temperatures are higher.
2. Emission of VOCs during the service life as far as temperatures are higher.
3. Permeation through polymers of VOCs coming from organic stored or carried products.