Due to the way we live and work, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be found everywhere around us, most of the time. VOC is a classification given to certain chemicals that easily and quickly evaporate and develop into odorous gases and vapours that can significantly increase the accumulation of potentially hazardous substances in the air, especially when released indoors. Formaldehyde and terpenes are well known examples of VOCs. A lot of these VOCs, and others like them,

Plastic has been in use for many years across many different industries. We use it in pretty much everything that we produce, from cars to water pipes and houses to our mobile phones and even teabags. There are so many ways we can use plastic to make our lives easier. So, what's the problem? Well, there are a few answers to that question. First, there is just so much of it Globally we go through hundreds of thousands of plastic bags, bottles and other packaging every day. And

Eye related injuries are unfortunately a very common occurrence. Hundreds of people every day are rushed in to hospital to be treated for damage to their eyes, either through an injury they sustained at work or through a DIY job at home. There are even a few cases of serious damage caused by spending too much time working on digital devices. I often feel the tired eyes, blurry vision and headaches that come with Digital Eye Strain. Fortunately, there is a wide selection of pr

While it's true that governments around the world have already begun to take action against the use of arsenic, mercury and lead, it's also true that these toxic heavy metals have already seeped into the ground around us and worked their way into our food chains. The concerns All three of these heavy metals are highly toxic to human health and cause a very wide range of detrimental effects on our bodies, especially in young children. Some of these health problems only occur a

Hey guys. I've written a lot about potential risks around the workplace, but what does risk actually mean? It's important to understand that risk is not a hazard, even though (for some reason) they have become kind of synonymous. They do not mean the same thing! A hazard is something that may become a source of harm or have detrimental health effects on people. Risk is the probability of a person or persons being harmed or suffering those detrimental health effects. Here's an

Dust explosions can be particularly nasty beasts and they can happen anywhere there are flammable materials floating around in the air. Especially when that air is filled with oxygen; present on our planet in massive amounts and one of the main ingredients you need to make fire. You cannot create fire without an oxidant. What is a dust explosion? There are five fundamental requirements for a dust explosion to happen; Fuel, Oxidant, Dispersion, Ignition source, Confinement. Du

Our health, and the increasingly fragile health of our environment, has been at risk for a while now from an unexpected quarter. Most of the products we use around our homes or offices to clean or improve the smell of a dirty, dusty workplace are scented. And that's great. What's not great is that fact that we get these scented products through creating a synthetic chemicals. Chemicals like: Galaxolide (or 1,3,4,6,7,8-hexahydro-4,6,6,7,8,8,-hexamethyl-cyclopenta[g]benzopyran

We all know that air pollution is bad for us and our environment, but it's now been confirmed as the number one threat to human health across the globe. It's been linked directly to early brain development problems among other frighteningly severe detrimental health effects in humans. What's even more frightening is the fact that we usually don't really know what we're breathing in at any given time. Air pollution is a silent, invisible assassin slowly wearing us down before

Hello! Today I'm going to tell you about a group of chemicals that are formidable in the potential risks they pose to public health. Not only to us humans but often to the devastation of the environment too. It's no secret that chemicals are all around us. You and I are made up of chemicals, and so is the computer or smartphone you're reading this article on. In fact, everything on our planet, living or exanimate, is made up of different combinations of chemicals. They