Can high VOC gloss paint fumes cause health issues ?

Sorry for the long message. Just some questions on behalf of my elderly parents who both seem to have raspy throat and cough problems right now which are at the 2 week mark. A month ago a painter did 4 of their doors inside their bungalow, and the skirting boards, with high gloss white paint, multiple coats, which is high VOC. All from Dulux. White spirit was also used. The doors were left open when drying but no extra windows were open as it was so cold. I would open the window a slight creek for them but they would always close it. Being a bungalow they slept on the same floor as the painted doors. Also for 3 days they had to put up with paint dust everywhere over things as it couldn't be cleaned up in case it got in the air and stuck to the paint. I think the painter messed up and tried to remove the old paint indoors with a machine (they wanted to remove old paint before adding the new one), as the paint dust went in every single room in the bungalow. I would wipe my finger over the microwave, kettle, mirrors, and tables and they would all have a white layer over them, sadly also over the TVs and hi-fi. I did see them taking the doors outside though, so perhaps they only made the mistake on the first door, or maybe it is from the skirting board.

I am presuming my parents bed was covered in dust too, maybe, they are of the old school where they don't seem to think of health and safety, they just cope with whatever and don't think. Also they cleaned up the dust themselves, so god knows if they protected their faces with the dust being kicked up by the vacuum. If I had known they were going to do it I would have come over with my Hepa vacuum and done it for them, I don't even know if their vacuum is suitable for paint dust. Also today I just leant against the wall and found the back of my top covered in white paint dust, seems they didn't clean the walls, you can't see it with your eyes on the wall (perhaps because the walls are cream/white too), only when it is on your top. I brushed off my t-shirt and then wiped it again over walls and a lot of it had a load of the white paint dust come off on to the shirt. Is it safe to still be attached to the walls ? How best to clean wallpaper walls ?

Anyway, they had no problems for 10 days after the paint had dried and the majority of dust cleaned, but now they are constantly coughing, especially at night, and my mother has a raspy voice and feels a bit fatigued and fed up. Their sleeping is totally messed up from the coughing. I finally managed to talk one of my parents in to going to the docs on this coming Friday. They think it is just a virus that they passed to each other, which it probably is, but 2 weeks is a long time and it just made me think back to the fumes and dust. I wondered the likely chance this has caused this ? They say they can breathe ok and they don't smoke or have asthma. As I say, it had been 10 days since the paint dried and the dust (minus walls) was cleared before they started to have cough problems, does that make it unlikely ? Regarding lead, the house is from the 1960's and older paint was stripped off, but I have no idea if it was lead based or not as it may have been removed a long time ago and then re-painted.

Thanks for any advice, sorry for the long message

 

Son, thanks I probably over worry though a lot of the time. They constantly tell me to shut up (in a stern but polite way of course, ha) when I tell them to wash their hands with colds so they don't pass it on to each other, and so on. If I have a cold I always wear a mask when I visit them and open doors with my elbows so I don't leave them any germs, ha, or I just don't visit unless really needed.