VOC injection into a house reveals large surface reservoir sizes
14 comments
·October 12, 2025gwking
I have never seen the word “partition” used in this way before. Hard to search for examples because unrelated computer graphics articles about surface partitioning dominate. I did find this:
Partitioning is the distribution of a solute, S, between two immiscible solvents (such as aqueous and organic phases). It is an equilibrium condition that is described by the following equation:
S(aq) ⇄ S(org)
Interesting to think that a surface can play a role comparable to a solvent. I wonder what a chemist would have to say about it.
pbhjpbhj
In the UK a non-structural wall is called a partition wall -- they're usually plasterboard (I think that is called sheetrock in USA) over wooden studs whilst ordinarily walls are plaster on brick/stone.
I wonder which partitions more VOCs/SOCs, partition or structural walls.
Polizeiposaune
A more generic term is drywall or gypsum board. It generally is covered by a skim coat of plaster and is then painted.
"Sheetrock" is a particular brand of drywall. For instance, see https://www.lowes.com/pl/drywall/sheetrock-brand/4294864808-...
PaulHoule
More generally partition (as a verb) means "to divide into parts" which is used for numerous purposes such as
-- to divide a country into parts (e.g. separate Pakistan and Bangladesh from India)
-- to divide a physical space with walls
-- to divide a population of molecules between molecules floating in the air and molecules stuck on walls
jagraff
Interesting, it seems that the actual surface material of walls and/or furniture makes a large difference in how long VOCs stick around, due to differences in surface area at the microscopic scale.
I have a couple HEPA filters in my house that hopefully keep particulate exposure down. Does this mean that I have to run them longer? That I need more of them continuously running to keep exposure to VOCs low?
throwway120385
This kinda makes sense. Water vapor diffuses out through the building materials so why wouldn't VOCs diffuse into those materials?
What you're looking for are not HEPA filters but organic vapor filtering. If you were shopping for a respirator it would be easy but organic vapor extractors I think are a lot more expensive than HEPA filters. I looked in to it when I was doing a couple of oil based coatings for a home renovation project.
bflesch
Thats why ecological buildings use lime and clay for plastering indoor walls. They can absorb a lot of things (water, fumes) and thereby regulate air quality and humidity.
lxgr
Do they absorb VOCs forever, though, or do they actually make it harder to vent them out once absorbed by a surface with a large capacity?
lm28469
> HEPA filters
They won't do anything against VOCs, you need activated charcoal filters
null
anarticle
Does this mean the Germans are right with Lüften!? I habitually have done this as an American in the morning for my office, something about morning fresh air after the night seems right?
DoneWithAllThat
As with so many headlines like this, it should read (title), claims a single unreplicated study.
Reminds me about this recent Reddit thread where somebody ran an Ozone generator in a house for hours to get rid of smells, and in exchange ended up with a much worse situation: https://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/comments/q949go/holy_shit...
VOCs getting absorbed by surfaces was the most plausible theory in the comments there as well. Interesting to see more evidence for it.