• Volatile organic compounds are compounds that have a high vapor pressure and low water solubility. Many VOCs are human-made chemicals that are used and produced in the manufacture of paints, pharmaceuticals, and refrigerants.

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• VOCs typically are industrial solvents, such as trichloroethylene; fuel oxygenates, such as methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE); or by-products produced by chlorination in water treatment, such as chloroform. VOCs are often components of petroleum fuels, hydraulic fluids, paint thinners, and dry cleaning agents. VOCs are common ground-water contaminants.

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• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short & long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. 

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• VOCs are organic chemicals that easily vaporize at low, or what we think of as 'room', temperatures. They are called 'organic' because they contain the element carbon in their molecular structures. VOCs may be found in water. But since many VOCs have no color, smell or taste, they are difficult to readily detect in drinking water.

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• A very prevalent water pollution problem pertains to contamination by volatile organic compounds that offer potentially very important health risks.  Many of these VOCs are only partially miscible with water but in general they all present certain solubility.