There is growing interest in the scientific community to learn more about VOCs due to the concern about their impact on human health (Sexton et al., 2004; Viegi et al., 2004; Carpenter and Sly,
2011). In the present study, volatile organic compounds were monitored in hairdressing salons in order to assess the indoor air quality of these environments as well as the level of exposure to VOCs of the people working in or frequenting them. The study conducted a one-week monitoring campaign with diffusive sam- plers in 12 hairdressing salons to identify the most abundant VOCs and their main emission sources (objects or activities). In addition, information about the main characteristics of the work environ- ments and the types of activities carried out was obtained with questionnaires. Specific information about the products being used was obtained from the product labels which were collected. The impact of the work activities and the products used on the levels of pollution inside the hairdressing salons was then investigated. Finally, two integrated indicators based on health risk assessment were introduced in order to assess the criticality level of the investigated environments and rank them accordingly. The first was the IAQ Total Hazard Ratio Indicator (THRI) which concerns non-cancer risk. The second was the IAQ Cancer Risk Indicator (CRI) which was designed using available unit risk estimates (UREs) that established the dosage corresponding to a specific level of cancer risk.