Can indoor VOCs from paint and furniture affect your unborn baby's brain?

What's actually in it

Indoor air contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that off-gas from fresh paint, new furniture, carpeting, flooring, and building materials. Common VOCs include formaldehyde, toluene, xylene, and benzene. These chemicals are highest in newly built or recently renovated homes.

Pregnant women breathe these compounds in all day. The chemicals cross the placenta and reach the developing baby's brain during the most critical period of neural wiring.

What the research says

A 2026 study in J Hazard Mater exposed pregnant mice to indoor VOCs and examined the offspring. The pups showed impaired synaptic plasticity and reduced cognitive function. The researchers traced the damage to disrupted retinol (vitamin A) metabolism in the developing brain.

Retinol is essential for forming new synapses, the connections between brain cells that underlie learning and memory. When VOCs interfere with retinol processing, fewer connections form and the ones that do form don't work as well.

The effects lasted into adulthood, suggesting permanent changes to brain architecture. If you're pregnant or planning to be, avoid freshly painted rooms and new furniture off-gassing. Airing out new items outside before bringing them in, and keeping windows open during and after renovations, helps reduce exposure.