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Is Going to Work Making You Sick?
Is Going to Work Making You Sick?
Commercial Indoor Air Quality
American adults spend an average of 90 percent of their time indoors, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which lists poor indoor air quality as the fourth largest environmental threat to health in the country.
Indoor environments are often contaminated with pollutants sourced from allergens from outside air or indoor materials, chemicals such as radon, and moisture such as mold. The LEED rating system dedicates an entire section of its guidelines to "Indoor Environmental Quality," which encompasses several aspects related to indoor air quality or IAQ. And a number of health conditions are a result of poor IAQ in commercial buildings.
Sick Building Syndrome, or SBS, is the name given to the condition in which individuals suffer from health problems or symptoms associated with the building in which they work or live. Typically, the problems are more acute when the person is inside the building and subside when they leave. Common symptoms include headaches, fatigue, coughing, dizziness and nausea. People with asthma are especially prone to SBS. According to the National Academy of Sciences, more than 20 million people in the U.S suffer from asthma, which accounts for nearly 2 million emergency room visits a year. Other contaminants such as tobacco smoke and radon are leading causes of lung cancer.
If IAQ is not maintained up to federal standards, companies may face costly litigation from employees suffering from SBS and have to contend with diminished worker productivity.
Employee complaints about indoor environments are becoming more common due to increased awareness of the risks associated with poor IAQ. The number of lawsuits related to IAQ are mounting as well.
The suits cover a variety of complaints, many of them related to exposure to substances ranging from mold to toxic paint. In a closely watched case, J.J. Acquisition Corp. v. Pacific Gulf Properties filed in September 2000, a group of employees at a California newspaper company sued their building management company for $10 million. The workers claimed the company failed to prevent or eliminate severe mold growth which they said caused them to suffer from lung and sinus infections.
In terms of productivity, the EPA estimates that poor indoor air costs the U.S. tens of billions of dollars each year in lost productivity and medical expenses.
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HEPA Only Half the Solution
I loved reading Alexis' article, "Is Going to Work Making You Sick" as indoor air quality is one of our favorite topics at AllerAir... and I thought the article made some very good points.
Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is a very serious problem... with one of the most common contributors being mold.
The IAQ experts in the article suggest air purifiers with HEPA filters, but I would suggest that this is only half of the solution.
Yes, HEPA is effective at removing 99.97% of particles, and even traps mold spores. But this is only Step 1. Step 2 is to sterilize the mold spores to prevent them from reproducing, and this can only be done with ultraviolet (UV) technology. But Step 3 is perhaps the most important step. Mold gives off Mycotoxins, which are what cause people to become very sick. To adsorb these Mycotoxin gases, only an air purifier with a deep bed of carbon will be effective. Carbon is one of the most effective ways to adsorb dangerous chemicals and gases-- and odors as well. Mold smells bad. No HEPA filter will be able to remove the nasty smells associated with mold.
Don't get me wrong. HEPA is great. It's just not the solution to all IAQ problems. In fact, we feel that if you're going to invest in an air purifier, you should cover all your bases. Why just remove particles, when you can remove particles, chemicals, gases, odors, bacteria and viruses with an air purifier that combines a true HEPA filter, with a UV light and a deep bed of activated carbon. It just makes sense.
And a combination HEPA-UV-Carbon air purifier is certainly what we would suggest for a business worried about SBS.
janice@allerair.com
A Natural Solution to Air Quality
Air filters/purifiers are an effective way to clean the air but there's another way that's quite, energy efficient and nice to look at... plants. Check out this chart that guides you to which plants filter which types of toxins:
http://greenupgrader.com/1408/plants-for-health-improve-your-indoor-air-quality/
Other Contributors
Another big contributor to sickness in the workplace is sick people, especially if you are already susceptible to dust, pollen, mold, etc. And in the current economic climate, we see more and more employees sick at work because there is no one else there to pickup the slack. Staffs are reduced to minimum operating levels, people are working harder and longer. Stress. Combined with the many things mentioned in this article, it is a recipe for disaster. In addition to the indoor air quality, companies should sponsor "sanitation" parties. Everyone steps away from work for 30 minutes and helps to clean up, wiping down phones and keyboards, dusting off monitors and cleaning things often missed by your office cleaning staff. Plus, everyone is interacting so it improves moral, for at least a day or two.
thegreendecoder@me.com
SBS - it's real
Also, what isn't mentioned in the article are the building occupants. They can add to the "toxic soup" by using synthetically scented products. As in hair products, perfumes, body lotions, laundry detergent, fabric softeners, dryer sheets. Think these aren't a problem? Just google the toxic effects of any of them and educate yourself.
SBS is real - Living Proof, and our offices' solution
I came across this article the very day I spoke with my boss about the unhealthy indoor air at our office. We have been through two wildfires this year and have little air circulation in our office. Increased instances of headaches, allergies, sneezing became part of our daily routine. Our landlord was completely unresponsive to our concerns so we have opted to install a CorrectFilter.
Having an effective air filter will not only increase energy efficiency, but will ensure a safe work environment. The CorrectFilter package comes with a lifetime guaranteed, custom made aluminum frame and a year supply of filter pads - treated with an anti-microbial spray that eliminates pollutants on contact, to protect the filter from becoming a breeding ground for captured toxins. The pads can be recycled which is even better. They also offer two odor inserts - Carbon and Zeolite. Perhaps best of all, CorrectFilters has an automatic reminder system that will contact us when it is time to change our filter. Clean worry-free air? Yes please! We could not be happier, or healthier!!
CorrectFilters is on the web at www.correctfilters.com.
Jen
is it really all about air?
i dont think its just about the air that matters, the pressures matter...
tho the air can be pretty bad most of the time, making us all stress out even worse....
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