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We all want good and healthy indoor air quality in our homes. Indoor air quality is affected by many factors that can change through time. Building materials, the outdoor environment, the products we bring into our homes, our hobbies and past times, and even the occupants themselves add contaminants to our indoor environments.
An incomplete list of the types of contaminants that may be present in a home includes:
- Microbial contaminants such as fungus (mold) and bacteria
- Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
- High airborne particulate levels
- Animal allergens (cat, dog and rodent)
- Dust mite allergens
- Cockroach allergens
- Pollens
- Formaldehyde
- Tobacco Smoke
- Lead
- Asbestos
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We may choose to live with some of these contaminant sources (pets and lead-based paint) and are exposed to others, such as VOCs, because they are so ubiquitous in the products that we buy. It is possible to have good indoor air quality even with some of these contaminants present (in small quantities) if we have adequate ventilation. Good house keeping practices also help reduce the amount of contaminants in our homes.
It would be prohibitively expensive to test for all possible contaminants during a single visit to a residence. EHSI/Healthy Buildings initially conducts a preliminary indoor air quality investigation to determine the contaminants that could be reduced and/or the conditions that could be changed to improve the air quality in your residence. In most cases the information obtained during the preliminary indoor air quality investigation will provide sufficient information upon which EHSI/Healthy Buildings can make recommendations for improvement. EHSI/Healthy Buildings provides preliminary indoor air quality reports that give you as much pertinent information as possible based on time and budget limitations.
Occasionally, the preliminary indoor air quality assessment indicates that additional testing may be necessary to determine or confirm the cause(s) of concern. Information obtained during the preliminary indoor air quality assessment will help to identify the specific types of follow-up testing necessary to address the concerns. For instance, reported information, high relative humidity and observations may suggest the presence of elevated levels of dust mites which have allergens that can affect many people. If this was the case, EHSI/Healthy Buildings would recommend that testing for dust mite allergens is conducted to verify the presence or absence of dust mites. If testing shows elevated levels of dust mites are present EHSI/Healthy Buildings will provide recommendations to assist in eliminating them.
Preliminary IAQ assessments include:
- A visual walk-through assessment of the residence to determine the presence, or potential presence, of air contaminants, or other factor(s) that could impact the air quality.
Identification and assessment of accessible heating, ventilating and air condition (HVAC) equipment is part of this activity.
- Use of hand-held, direct read instruments to measure temperature, relative humidity, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, fine airborne particulates, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and combustible gases.
- Use of penetrating and non-penetrating moisture meters to determine the moisture content of building materials in areas suspected of being impacted by moisture.
- Collection of total airborne particulates for the laboratory identification of airborne fungal particulates as well as total airborne particulates.
- An evaluation and interpretation of the collected measurements and laboratory analytical results.
- A compilation of recommendations that could eliminate or sufficiently reduce the problem(s) or contaminant(s) in order to achieve and maintain safe and healthy indoor air quality.
- Preparation of an Indoor Air Quality report.
Please call us for more information about Preliminary and follow-up IAQ Assessments.
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