The Indoor Environmental Standards Organization has been waiting for approval of their new standard for Evaluation of HVAC Interior Surfaces to Determine the Presence of Fire-Related Particulate as a Result of a Fire in a Structure.  Whew!

On February 15, 2012, the American National Standards Institute let them know that the standard was approved.

Let’s go back a bit.  What they have done is set a new standard for how to tell if fire residue is present in ventilation systems.  That’s better!

What is fire residue?

The particles that the new standard measures as residue are:

• Char–The primary indicator of residue, char is defined as “the solid material that remains after light gases (e.g. coal gas) and tar coal tar have been driven out or released from a carbonaceous material during the initial stage of combustion.” (Wikipedia)
• Soot–The secondary indicator, soot, “refers to impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon…but is commonly extended to include…fuel particles such as coal, cenospheres, charred wood, petroleum coke, and so on.

They are measuring particles left by the burning of both gases and solid fuels.
The standard uses a control sample and compares it to samples taken from the interior of HVAC systems, but does not determine what has been burned or what the specific particles are.

Why is it important?
When there has been a fire in a structure, it is essential to know the extent of damage and what restoration is needed for that structure to be safe to live or work in.  Most fire damage is easy to see and make decisions about.  However, if the ventilation system in a structure is contaminated with particles that are not removed, it can cause further damage to not only the building but the people inside for years into the future.  It is extremely important to know whether or not those interior surfaces need to be cleaned and, if so, to have a reputable professional take care of the problem before it becomes worse.

AirTek offers both Residential and Commercial Air Duct Cleaning services, as well as Kitchen Exhaust Hood and Dryer Vent cleaning, all of which help to prevent fires before they start.  If you have had a fire, we can also take care of making sure that your HVAC systemis clean and safe for you, your family and your employees.

As they say, prevention is worth a pound of cure, but when you need the cure, we are here!

The new standard will be available as a PDF next month and I will put a link here on the AirTek blog when it is released.

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for AirTek Indoor Air Solutions and our affiliate Alliance Environmental Group.  She welcomes your comments!  For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!  For updates on environmental services like mold remediation, lead removal and pest control including bed bugs, Like us at Alliance Environmental  on Facebook or follow Alliance on Twitter!

As we continue on through National Care About Your Indoor Air Month, we received an alert from the American Lung Association about a new publication, “Should I Worry?”

This is a great resource for information on the health dangers of Asbestos, Fuel Burning Appliances, Household Products, Lead, Mercury, Mold, Pesticides, Smoke and Radon, and whether you need to worry about any of them.  Links are to our blog posts about these hazards.

Worry is a pretty strong word, but it never hurts to think about your indoor environment. Most of us assume that our indoor air is cleaner than the outdoor air, but that is usually not the case at all.

AirTek encourages you to read the whole thing, but here are some questions asked in this informative publication to help you decide whether you need to spend more time thinking about your indoor air:

• Did you know asbestos was used in some home heating systems?
• Did you know that anything that burns could produce harmful gases and particles?
• Are your household products potentially hazardous?
• Do you need to worry about lead in your home?
• Do you need to worry about mercury in your home?
• Do you have problems with excess moisture and mold in your home?
• Did you know that both pests and pesticides can be hazardous to your health?
• Did you know that second hand smoke from tobacco is harmful to your family’s health?
• Do you need to worry about radon gas in your home?

Each of these questions is followed by a checklist to guide you through the process of figuring out whether you need to be concerned about these issues.

When you have completed the checklist, read on about the hazards to which you might be exposed.  If you find that you need some help in remediating these problems in California, AirTek has highly-trained teams ready to take care of your project quickly and professionally.

Our Environmental Services Division, Alliance Environmental Group, offers pest control, mold eradication, lead removal, and asbestos abatement, among their many services. At AirTek, we take care of removing contaminants from heating systems, air ducts in residential and commercial buildings, and other services to keep your indoor air clean and healthy.

We Care About Your Indoor Air!  We hope you do, too!

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for AirTek Indoor Air Solutions and our affiliate Alliance Environmental Group.  She welcomes your comments!  For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!  For updates on environmental services like mold remediation, lead removal and pest control including bed bugs, Like us at Alliance Environmental  on Facebook or follow Alliance on Twitter!

We’ve written quite a bit on the AirTek blog about indoor air quality and how unhealthy indoor air can affect you and your family:

• The dangers of Radon gas
• Sick Building Syndrome
• Toxic chemicals in a baby nursery

But it’s not only humans who are impacted by indoor air pollution, pets are as well.

Almost 40% of American households own a cat, over 46% own a dog and the total pets owned by Americans tops 377 million!  We think about what kind of food we buy them, how clean their water is, and how much exercise our pets are getting, but are we thinking about the air they breathe?

Love is in th air by tomatokisses

On our Twitter feed (I hope you are following us @AirTekCA), we retweet Spare the Air Alerts, which are no-burn days in Northern California to protect people from wood smoke on bad air days, but we should also be thinking about cats, dogs and horses. Pets cannot complain to us about breathing difficulties, but as many as 10 percent of cats are treated for asthma.  Veterinarians caution us to keep our pets indoors on Spare the Air days.  You can keep an eye on the air quality in Southern California on our Twitter feed as well!

The things we can do to improve the air for ourselves and our families will also help our pets stay healthy and live longer.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have man’s best friend around for a few more years?

If you need help getting your indoor air clean enough for humans and non-humans alike, by cleaning your air ducts, dryer vents, kitchen exhausts or maintaining your HVAC systems anywhere in California, please contact AirTek!

And a very Happy Valentine’s Day to all!
Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for AirTek Indoor Air Solutions and our affiliate Alliance Environmental Group.  She welcomes your comments!  For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!  For updates on environmental services like mold remediation, lead removal and pest control including bed bugs, Like us at Alliance Environmental  on Facebook or follow Alliance on Twitter!

Our own Carlos Sanguinetti of the San Diego Office of AirTek is putting together a charity dinner in support of one of our favorite causes, the Ronald McDonald House of San Diego!

On March 10, we are putting on a dinner and silent auction to benefit this amazing cause!

It will be held at the Ronald McDonald House across from Rady Children’s Hospital and will include a cocktail reception, tour of the facility, as well as dinner catered by Chef Michael Ruffner, owner of Urban Eats Gourmet Food Truck and former chef at the Hotel del Coronado.  My mouth is watering already!  I will tempt you with the menu next week…

I’m sure you’ve heard of Ronald McDonald House, but do you really know what they do?

Ronald McDonald Houses all over the world provide a home-away-from-home for families of children being treated for serious, often life-threatening illness or injury at local children’s hospitals.  The Ronald McDonald House of San Diego serves families of children being treated at Rady Children’s Hospital.

Many families travel far from home to get treatment for their seriously ill or injured children. The treatment may last a day, a month, or even longer. It’s a long time to be away from home, or to divide a family. Ronald McDonald Houses offer families a way to stay together, in proximity to the treatment hospital, and be comfortable, safe and cared for during their stay.

Your attendance on March 10th, along with the assistance of our event sponsors, will not only help to raise funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities, but will also provide you with the opportunity to experience some of San Diego’s finest local businesses through our beverages, meal service, and silent auction.  More information on that is coming, too!

Why is Carlos so passionate about Ronald McDonald House?

In June of 2009, Carlos was diagnosed with testicular cancer.  He has since made a full recovery, but this life experience caused both Carlos and Matt to reevaluate their contributions to the community. They both shared the same vision of helping others in need. Carlos had heard good things about Ronald McDonald House Charities and in September of 2009 Carlos and his wife Shana organized our first volunteer event on behalf of the organization – we had the pleasure of serving dinner to the deserving families staying at RMHC. It was an incredibly rewarding opportunity and everyone involved had a great experience. The upcoming dinner on March 10 will be the eighth dinner organized by Carlos and Matt, and the second to be catered by professional chef, Michael Ruffner.  We want it to be the most successful ever!

How can you help?

Attend the event!  Tickets can be purchased HERE!  Let us know you ‘re coming on the event’s Facebook Page!

If you cannot attend, you can still donate HERE!  You can also donate items to our Silent Auction!  We are looking for:

• Vacation and travel – vacation homes, resort/hotel stays, golf or spa packages, airline tickets, cruise tickets, winery/brewery private tours, etc.
• Sports and recreation – golf or tennis packages or equipment, tickets to Chargers or Padres games, fitness club memberships, personal trainer sessions, etc.
• Entertainment – Museum or theme park memberships or tickets, movie tickets, restaurant gift certificates, kids birthday party packages, etc.
• Retail – donations and gift certificates from local and major retailers; electronics such as iPads, laptops, digital cameras; bottles of wine to be used in the “wine bottle grab;” etc.
• Services – maid service, teeth whitening, chiropractor services, accounting/tax services, etc.

Contact Matt Teeter at matt.j.teeter (at) gmail (dot) com if you have any items you would like to donate or any other goods or services that could help with the event!

I will finish this post with a slideshow I made last year when I was a Web Design intern at the Ronald McDonald House of Los Angeles.  Everyone I met when I worked there was incredibly nice, incredibly committed and so fulfilled by their mission and that energy can be felt as soon as you walk in the door of the facility.  I encourage you to do what you can to support Carlos, Matt and the Ronald McDonald House of San Diego!

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for AirTek Indoor Air Solutions and our affiliate Alliance Environmental Group.  She welcomes your comments!  For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!  For updates on environmental services like mold remediation, lead removal and pest control including bed bugs, Like us at Alliance Environmental  on Facebook or follow Alliance on Twitter!

It was reported last week in the New York Daily News that there has been an outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas.

Legionnaires’ was first identified and named after the bacteria ran through an American Legion convention being held in Philadelphia, PA in 1976.  The epidemic got a lot of press at the time, since it occurred within days of the Bicentennial and in a population of US veterans.  This outbreak sickened 221 and caused the deaths of 34.

What is Legionnaires’ Disease?

Legionellosis or Legion Fever is a potentially fatal bacterial infection that causes a high fever and pneumonia.  It incubates over a period of between 2 and 10 days. Not everyone who is exposed to the Legionella bacterium gets sick, but of those who do the mortality rate can be as high as 30%.  If it is contracted in the hospital the death rate can go up to 50%!

Where are Legionella bacteria found?

The bacterium is found in almost all natural water sources and is not thought to be a threat from them. However it does breed in warm water, like that found in the air conditioning systems of large buildings, hot tubs, hot water tanks, plumbing systems and indoor ornamental fountains.

Hotels are at risk, as are hospitals, cruise ships and prison facilities.

How do you catch Legionnaires’ Disease?

Legionnaires’ does not pass from person to person, but if the water system of a building is breeding the bacteria, it is easy to be exposed.  Any water vapor or condensation can put infectious molecules into the air where they stay until someone inhales them.  Ice machines, air conditioners, steam rooms, showers, misters, anywhere there is water that is connected to the water supply of the building can produce disease causing water vapor.

People at higher risk for contracting Legionnaires’ are: those over 50, smokers and those with chronic lung disease, but anyone can come down with this or it’s milder cousin, Pontiac Fever.

How Do You Prevent Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreaks?

Since Legionella is present everywhere, the most important factor in prevention of disease is proper cleaning, disinfection and maintenance.  The Luxor Hotel has a testing schedule and, in fact, had tested for Legionella earlier in the year with a negative result.  They also treat their water systems preventatively on a maintenance schedule.

AirTek is proud to offer services which prevent the outbreak of deadly Legionnaires’ Disease all over California for any commercial building or facility.  We can clean, disinfect and maintain any commercial or residential HVAC system, ensuring fewer allergies and a healthier indoor environment for you, your family, your employees and your guests.

Contact AirTek for an estimate of your project and if you have any questions or need more information about Legionnaires’ Disease and how to make your indoor air cleaner and safer!

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for AirTek Indoor Air Solutions and our affiliate Alliance Environmental Group.  She welcomes your comments!  For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!  For updates on environmental services like mold remediation, lead removal and pest control including bed bugs, Like us at Alliance Environmental  on Facebook or follow Alliance on Twitter!

Okay, I admit it.  I spend a good deal of time trolling the internet for indoor air stories.

Some of those stories turn into blog posts, some don’t.

There are times when the stories are fun and interesting, but just not long enough to turn into a whole post and I’ve found a lot of those lately so you get a bullet post about indoor air issues you’ve (or at least I’ve) never heard of!

• Feline Asthma–Allergens and other particles can exacerbate asthma symptoms in humans, but did you know cats can suffer, too?  One in a hundred cats suffers from feline asthma and it can kill! Cats can be allergic to pollen, air fresheners, smoke, hair spray and cat-litter dust. You can help your asthmatic cat by stopping the use of sprays, changing to a non-clay litter and not using your fireplace, as well as improving the ventilation of your home, changing the air filters and keeping your ventilation system clean.

• Alzheimers and Air Pollution–A study looking at the brains of children and young adults shows exposure to air pollution causes changes similar to those seen in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. These changes are a surprise since they are not normally seen in the young. The brains examined were from people who lived in very highly polluted Mexico City and compared to those from people who lived in rural areas.

• Do you like New Carpet Smell?–New carpets off-gas chemicals and other contaminants that have trouble escaping from office buildings and homes.  If you can smell it, the levels are too high for good health.  Open windows if you can or use fans to move the air through the ventilation system faster.

• Can Light or Darkness Clean Your Air?–Scientists are studying a combination of different metals and exposure to light or darkness as a way of cleaning the indoor air in windowless or poorly ventilated rooms with great success!  The best photocatalyst (light) is chromium, while even better results have come from cobalt (dark) catalysts, with a reduction in air pollution in as little as 10 minutes!

February is National Care About Your Indoor Air Month!  We will be talking all this month about ways you can improve your indoor air at home, at work and at your business and why it is important.  These are only a few news items we have found so far–and it’s only Groundhog Day!

If your home or business needs cleaner indoor air, maintenance on your kitchen exhaust hoods, dryer vents or entire ventilation systems in California, please contact AirTek! We offer these services and many more!

We Care About Your Indoor Air and we hope that you do, too!

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for AirTek Indoor Air Solutions and our affiliate Alliance Environmental Group.  She welcomes your comments!  For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!  For updates on environmental services like mold remediation, lead removal and pest control including bed bugs, Like us at Alliance Environmental  on Facebook or follow Alliance on Twitter!

Did you test your home for Radon?

Radon is a naturally occurring, colorless, odorless gas that emanates from the decay of radioactive minerals in the soil under your house.  Radon can be found anywhere.  Here is a map of California’s radon levels by region:

So you see, wherever you live, Radon can live there, too!

Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in smokers and the first cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.  Lung cancer kills over 150,000 Americans every year and lung cancer is the most common form of cancer as well.

Radon gas can enter your home through cracks in your foundation and stays there because the air pressure inside is less than it is outside, keeping contaminants from escaping naturally.

The California Department of Health is offering $7 Radon Test Kits for any California residents.  Click HERE to order!

What if you find Radon in your home?  A contractor will put in a system to collect the Radon and pipe it up to the roof, where it can escape into the outdoor air.  If you are building a new home in a Radon area, there are safe building practices to prevent Radon from being a problem for you.

At AirTek, we are concerned about your indoor environnment, your health and your indoor air.  If you need any of our services, including kitchen exhaust hood cleaning, dryer vent cleaning, and duct cleaning for residential and commercial buildings, please contact AirTek!  We hope that the information we have posted about Radon this month has raised your awareness and helped to make you take action against Radon!

Previous posts about Radon:

RADON: #2 Cause of Lung Cancer

VIDEO: Radon Gas 

Happy February!

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for AirTek Indoor Air Solutions and our affiliate Alliance Environmental Group.  She welcomes your comments!  For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!  For updates on environmental services like mold remediation, lead removal and pest control including bed bugs, Like us at Alliance Environmental  on Facebook or follow Alliance on Twitter!

Photo by GuruAnt via Flickr Creative commons

We talk a lot here on the AirTek blog about indoor air pollution and the chemicals and other contaminants that enter homes and offices, only to stay there and build up in amounts dangerous enough to affect your health.

But the most vulnerable to the pollutants in our indoor air are infants and children.

Infants breathe much faster than older children and adults and so have the highest potential exposure to contaminants in their environment.  They also have the most rapidly developing nervous systems and so are more at risk for lifelong damage by dangerous substances like lead dust.

If you’ve ever decorated a baby nursery for an imminent arrival, you know the pride in a bright, beautiful room full of new furniture, happy colors and perfectly clean surfaces. But some of those things can actually be more of a danger to your new baby than dirt or germs.

“Good Morning America” decided to carry out an experiment based on this premise. They put together a baby nursery with brand-new crib, changing table, rocker, and other decorations, waited seven days and then tested the air. Their results were shocking!

300 chemicals were found in the nursery air.  Only two of those chemicals were found in the outside air at the house. The rocker was giving off 7 times the California recommended limit of formaldehyde.  The paint on the walls off-gassed 5 times the recommended limit of volatile organic compounds.

The worst offender was the crib mattress, which exuded over 100 different chemical compounds.  Now, I know many babies don’t sleep well, but is that what you want them breathing when they do?

GMA recommends some ways of reducing the level of indoor air pollution in your baby’s nursery and I concur:

Buy products certified to have low emissions.  You can also look for a “Green Label Plus” on carpeting.

Unscented if possible.  If a product offers an unscented version, make that your choice.

Choose solid wood.  More expensive, solid wood does not give off the gases of pressed wood products.

Unbox outside.  When your beautiful new furniture is delivered, unwrap it outside and leave it out there for a week or so to let the gases dissipate before you bring it into the nursery.

Paint early and with the windows open.  You want to let the volatile organic compounds in paint come out and proceed to the outdoors before bringing any furniture, carpets or other textiles in.  Anything porous can absorb the chemicals and keep them in your environment.

Hand-me-downs.   You know that crib your sister-in-law offered?  In terms of air pollution, it is a much better choice than a new crib unless it has been recently refinished.

Of course we all want our babies to come home to a beautiful room that suits our taste and lifestyle, but as lovely as it is to look at, consider the invisible but very real dangers that come with redecorating.

AirTek is committed to cleaner indoor air in the homes, offices and workplaces of California.  If you need help cleaning contaminants out of your indoor air or maintaining proper ventilation in your building, please contact us!

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for AirTek Indoor Air Solutions and our affiliate Alliance Environmental Group.  She welcomes your comments!  For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!  For updates on environmental services like mold remediation, lead removal and pest control including bed bugs, Like us at Alliance Environmental  on Facebook or follow Alliance on Twitter!

Guest Post By Jim Gates, CAFS

The relationship between indoor air quality and sleep is a complex one. While we are sleeping at night, our body is recharging and restoring itself, providing us with energy to face the next day. Good, solid sleep is necessary to this process and poor air quality in an indoor sleeping area can disrupt sleep in a number of different ways.

Overcoming Three Indoor Air Quality Problems that Impact Sleep

1. Sleep Interruptions

Poor indoor air quality can cause interruptions in your sleeping patterns. Breathing in contaminants, animal dander, dust, and other air pollutants in large quantities while you are sleeping can result in restlessness and lack of sufficient oxygen in the blood, causing you to wake up feeling tired, cranky, and listless.

You can eliminate many of these air pollutants from the sleeping area by frequently changing bedding and pillows, not allowing pets to sleep in your bed, and installing a high quality air filter in your home’s heating and cooling system.

2. Symptom Aggravation

Individuals with breathing difficulties, asthma, or allergies can find it very difficult to get a good night’s sleep in an area with poor air quality. Poor air quality can aggravate the symptoms of these conditions and make sleeping in the area an unpleasant experience.

The deep breathing that occurs during sleep causes the body to inhale many irritating particles that agitate the respiratory system and cause coughing, sneezing, inflammation of the sinuses, and other sleep disturbing effects. Using a high quality air conditioner filter that is capable of removing small particulate, pollen, animal dander, and dust from the indoor air will help reduce the effects of these pollutants on the body.

3. Health Problems

Breathing poor quality air while sleeping can result in a number of unpleasant reactions upon waking in the morning. Some individuals awake with a stuffy feeling in their nose or sinus cavities, a headache, or a scratchy throat due to the contaminants breathed in during the night. Restlessness while sleeping can cause lethargy, confusion, and a feeling of tiredness when the person awakes the next morning.

Making sure that your bedroom has adequate ventilation and air circulation can reduce the number of contaminants and air pollutants concentrated in the sleeping area.

What You Can Expect as a Result of Improving Air Quality

Improving the air quality in the sleeping area of your home can have numerous positive effects on your health, comfort, and overall well-being. Examples include:

• Getting a good night’s sleep will help you awake feeling rested, strong, and alert and give you more energy to get through your day.
• Your body will be able to eliminate more of the everyday toxins you encounter from your body.
• Many chronic symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, or morning sinus discomfort, can be reduced or eliminated.

By making a commitment to improving the air quality in the bedrooms of your home, you are making a decision that will have a positive impact on the health of you and your family.

About the Author
Jim Gates, CAFS, is the brand manager for Quality Filters, Inc. (http://qualityfilters.com), a leading manufacturer and distributor of high quality home and commercial air filters. The company’s products are available online at BuyFilters.com (http://buyfilters.com).

Great thanks to Jim Gates for our guest post today!  Look for Jim’s next post in February!

(Okay, it was a good excuse to take a picture of my dogs.)

Wendy Stackhouse is the Online Community Manager for AirTek Indoor Air Solutions and our affiliate Alliance Environmental Group.  She welcomes your comments!  For more news and tips or to ask questions of our experts, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!  For updates on environmental services like mold remediation, lead removal and pest control including bed bugs, Like us at Alliance Environmental  on Facebook or follow Alliance on Twitter!