Volatile organic compounds

Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs for short, are tiny things that can be found in the air around us. They come from different things like paint, gasoline, cleaning products, and even from the trees and plants outside!

Now, imagine you have a box of cookies. If we leave the box open, the sweet smell of cookies spreads all around the room. That's kind of what happens with VOCs. They are like little molecules that float around in the air and can move around pretty easily.

But why do we care about them?

Well, some VOCs can be harmful to humans and the environment. For example, they can cause problems with our breathing or damage the ozone layer which helps protect us from the sun's harmful rays. That's why it's important to be careful with things like paints and cleaning products - we don't want to breathe in too much of the harmful VOCs.

But don't worry! Lots of people work hard to make sure that the things we use have as little harmful VOCs as possible. We can also help by keeping rooms well-ventilated and not using too much of these products at once. So, while VOCs may be small, they can still have a big impact on our health and the world around us!