Women tend to build less human capital through work experience than men who start in the same occupations, as seen in the tens of thousands of career trajectories McKinsey & Co. analyzed. Over a 30-year career, the gender pay gap averages out to approximately half a million dollars in lost earnings per woman. 

Additionally, one-third of that work experience pay gap is because women accumulate less time on the job than men. Women average 8.6 years at work for every ten years clocked by men because, on aggregate, they work fewer hours, take longer breaks between jobs, and occupy more part-time roles than men, McKinsey & Co. reported. 

The other two-thirds result from different career pathways that men and women pursue. Men and women averaged 2.6 role moves per decade of work and crossed comparable skill levels in each new role. However, women are more likely than men to switch to lower-paying occupations, typically ones involving less competitive pressures and fewer full-time requirements, according to McKinsey & Co. 

As women switch jobs, they are less likely to move into occupations projected to grow in demand, the research firm said, instead often moving into shrinking occupations. Should current occupational pathways persist, by 2030, more than three-quarters of working men would be in occupations projected to grow relative to today, compared with less than two-thirds of women. In turn, McKinsey & Co. projects the overall gender pay gap could remain at current levels. 

Scented chemical products, such as air fresheners, wax melts, floor cleaners, deodorants, and others, rapidly fill the air with nanoscale particles that are small enough to get deep into your lungs, Purdue University engineers have found over a series of studies. 

Nanoparticles form when fragrances interact with ozone, which enters buildings through ventilation systems, triggering chemical transformations that create new airborne pollutants. 

“A forest is a pristine environment, but if you’re using cleaning and aromatherapy products full of chemically manufactured scents to recreate a forest in your home, you’re actually creating a tremendous amount of indoor air pollution that you shouldn’t be breathing in,” said Nusrat Jung, an assistant professor in Purdue’s Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering. 

Nanoparticles can penetrate deep into the respiratory system and spread to other organs. Jung and fellow civil engineering professor Brandon Boor have been the first to study nanoscale airborne particle formation indoors and compare it to outdoor atmospheric processes. 

“To understand how airborne particles form indoors, you need to measure the smallest nanoparticles—down to a single nanometer,” said Boor, Purdue’s Dr. Margery E. Hoffman Associate Professor in Civil Engineering. “At this scale, we can observe the earliest stages of new particle formation, where fragrances react with ozone to form tiny molecular clusters. These clusters then rapidly evolve, growing and transforming in the air around us.” 

Even though it’s yet to be determined how breathing in volatile chemicals from these products impacts your health, the two have repeatedly found that when fragrances are released indoors, they quickly react with ozone to form nanoparticles. These newly formed nanoparticles are particularly concerning because they can reach very high concentrations, potentially posing risks to respiratory health. 

Jung and Boor believe these findings highlight the need for further research into indoor nanoparticle formation triggered by heavily scented chemical products. 

“Our research shows that fragranced products are not just passive sources of pleasant scents — they actively alter indoor air chemistry, leading to the formation of nanoparticles at concentrations that could have significant health implications,” Jung said. “These processes should be considered in the design and operation of buildings and their HVAC systems to reduce our exposures.”