During a press conference on Tuesday,
, the director of the state's Department of Health, said that most of the
are in a group known as
, or VOCs. Many VOCs are human-made chemicals used in a variety of products and that can be emitted by paints, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and more, according to the EPA.
These compounds, Vanderhoff said, are "
a part of our everyday life."
"So if you go this afternoon on your way home to pump gas in your car ... if you're burning wood or natural gas in your home, you're being exposed," he said. "
And certainly if you are smoking or you live with someone who smokes, you are being exposed to actually fairly substantial levels of volatile organic compounds."