Indoor Air Team’s Research Recognised as Outstanding

Posted on Thursday 8 January 2026

Research from the University of York indoor air team was recently recognised as exceptional by The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). The research paper “Does green mean clean? Volatile organic emissions from regular versus green cleaning products”, authored by Dr. Ellen Harding-Smith, was announced as one of the RSC’s Environmental Science Journals Top 10 Outstanding Papers of 2024. 

Ellen, together with the team from the Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, measured emissions from a variety of cleaning products, comparing brand-leading products with regular supermarket cleaners and those marketed as “eco” or “green”. A host of reactive and harmful gases were identified, and results were analysed to assess impacts on indoor air quality and health. This work, led by Dr. Terry Dillon (Chemistry) and Prof. Nicola Carslaw (Environment & Geography), is part of ongoing efforts to understand the impacts of occupant activities such as cleaning on the air in our homes, schools and workplaces. 

The paper is published in the journal Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts.