Metrology for VOC indicators in air pollution and climate change

Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs are organic compounds or chemicals that contain carbon and easily become vapours or gases. They are found in many products commonly used every day.

Some VOCs are dangerous to human health whilst others cause harm to the environment by influencing the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere, contributing to the production of other air pollutants as well as to greenhouse gases and ozone, and by being also involved in the formation of secondary organic aerosols. These VOCs are regulated by European legislation.

This project improved the measurement infrastructure for key VOCs in air by providing traceable and comparable reference gas standards and by validating new sensor-based measurement systems in support of the air monitoring networks and the EU regulations.