Jerry Martin, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, says: "We're talking hundreds of different kinds of products, stuff everyone uses. It's almost one secret area of emissions that you don't hear about and no one talks about."
The common household air pollutants include detergents, cleaning compounds, glues, polishes, floor finishes, cosmetics, perfume, antiperspirants, rubbing alcohol, room fresheners, car wax, paint and lawn care products.
Consumer products send out almost two times the amount of hydrocarbons -- a precursor to ozone -- that all SUVs and light trucks in California emit.
Across the Southland, household chemicals account for nearly three times more smog-forming compounds than all factories in the area produce, and five times more than gasoline stations.
As other polluters make deep cuts in emissions, the proportion of fumes from consumer products is increasing. By 2020, emissions are projected to grow by 15%, overtaking cars and trucks as the region's biggest contributor to smog, the AQMD says. This projected growth is linked to projected population growth.
Polluting products come in sprays and gels, foam and aerosol, and rely on chemicals to propel them out of a container or as a medium to carry an active ingredient, which may also pollute. About 90% of the contents of an aerosol can of deodorant, for example, are chemical propellants that contribute to smog.
Household items contain fluorocarbons, ethanol, butane, acetone, phenols and xylene. They evaporate quickly, and when the sun shines, combine with other pollutants to form ozone, a component of smog that can cause headaches, chest pain and loss of lung function.
Even before the chemicals emit into the environment from our homes and businesses, they contribute to indoor air pollution, which is quite dangerous to our health since the chemicals are closer to us.
"They are the same solvents that are used in industry to degrease and do other things," said Kaye Kilburn, professor of internal medicine at USC's Keck School of Medicine. "When they evaporate, they are transported directly to the brain, where they can be as intoxicating as ether or chloroform. These are palpably dangerous to health."
Air Pollution Sources in the Southland (in tons of
hydrocarbons emitted daily)
* 178 -- cars and light trucks
* 108 -- consumer products
* 48 -- industrial paints and coatings
* 43 -- off-road equipment
* 36 -- recreational boats
* 28 -- commercial paints and coatings
* 22 -- petroleum marketing
Source: South Coast Air Quality Management District