Air Pollution Control: Comparative Analysis of VOC Regulations Across Mainland China, the EU, and the US

Abstract

Air pollution, especially the rising ground-level ozone (O₃) levels, poses a critical global challenge to public health and environmental sustainability. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are key precursors to O₃ formation, are primarily emitted from various household chemical products. Given the lack of a thorough understanding of the current regulatory control on VOC emissions and the need to identify ways to curb these emissions, a comparative analysis was conducted on the VOC regulations across three major economies: Mainland China, the European Union (EU), and the United States. The analysis reveals distinct regulatory frameworks and approaches: (i) the United States exemplifies a robust control framework characterized by detailed product categorization, stringent VOC limits, and many control parameters; (ii) the EU adopts a relatively streamlined approach, primarily targeting certain types of architectural paints and relying on ecolabel for specific cleaning products; and (iii) Mainland China employs a broad regulatory approach, permitting a range of solvent-borne products with comparatively lenient VOC limits, while tightening penalty mechanisms and broadening the scope of regulated entities. Comparatively, the EU and Mainland China place less emphasis on governing consumer products such as air fresheners, while the United States and Mainland China implement the polluter-pays principle, including VOC taxes. In addition to forging international collaboration to enhance cross-border regulatory control of VOCs, future work is needed to explore establishing stricter emission standards, implementing comprehensive bans on specific high-VOC products, and providing financial incentives and technological upgrades for the transition to low-VOC alternatives.