What Are Bio-Pollutants?

What are bio-pollutants? The term sounds ominous doesn't it? Well it can be.
Bio-pollutants are things like mold, e-coli, salmonella, and other such bacteria, viruses and fungi. They all can affect our health if absorbed by our bodies.
These organisms are in the air, on surfaces and can be transmitted by contact of any kind.
Some of the ways to avoid these are being careful to clean surfaces when preparing food, making sure trash and garbage does not overflow, use green cleaning supplies, use air purifiers, use proper air filtration, and last but not least common sense.
Next time  we'll cover Gasses.

Are Odors Just Bad Smells?

What are odors? Why is it a concern for IAQ? First of all odors are an indication of something else going on. For instance: musty odors could signal mold growth and off gassing. Rotting odors could signal bacteria growth. Odors signal something beneficial or harmful in our indoor environment. Odors can signal VOC off gassing which is harmful to the occupants. Odors can signal mycotoxins as small organisms digest their food source of dust, skin cells etc. All of which cause our bodies to have to react to the invaders in our breathing passages. Odors are to be taken seriously, not just a bother.
Closely related are the bio-pollutants which we will cover next time.

7 Facets of IAQ

What are the 7 facets affecting indoor air quality? Particulates, odors, bio-pollutants, gases, temperature, humidity, and comfort. What does this mean? We are going to break it down over the next couple of posts.
 Particulates--particles of matter floating in the air that we breathe. What are these particles?
Some of it includes dirt, small insect parts, smoke (if fireplace is present or smoker in home), pollens, and what we all refer to as "dust". What is dust in our indoor environment? Scientists tell us over 80% of dust floating around in homes is dead skin cells from humans and pets. On those dead skin cells are dust mites eating the cells and digesting them. What happens after digestion? Well you know what it is and we wind up breathing it. Since our homes are more energy efficient we are kind of living in a bubble as far as air is concerned. Our pets put off 5 times as many skin cells as we do--resulting in--pet dust mite--well "stuff" that we breathe-politely called dander. Great huh? Next time we'll discuss odors and why it is a concern.

Hurricane Sandy-Recovery & Illnesses

The thing that flooding brings to a community is the mixture of all the wrong things together to the breathing environment and the drinking water. The bacteria from sewage and the mold that starts to propagate makes the area affected quite contaminated. See this story from Hurricane Sandy   http://alturl.com/aghnj
 But what about the rest of us?  What goes on in our environment? Look around you right now, see the dust on the table, the cobweb in the corner, the little black bug looking things by a closet. Look at your HVAC filter, see any dust? What is living on that dust right now? Is your home energy tight? Or does it "breathe?"
Do you know our pets put off 5 times the amount of dead skin cells that we do? Are they indoors? Can we clean it up? Does it cost much? How much is indoor health worth?
 I think it's time to take a serious look at things affecting us indoors, and look for solutions. We also need to think in terms of how much is it saving us in health care to have a solution, instead of what does the solution cost.

Airborne Pathogens Discussed in New Video

We have come across a new video discussing some of the airborne pathogens we could wind up breathing. Our indoor environments contribute to illnesses everyday. I am in the process of obtaining my IAQ Mold Inspector Certification. I have learned more detail of what I already knew and it can be alarming how many things in our indoor air can cause illness.I am going to start a new series for a couple of months discussing the things we breathe.
http://www.prlog.org/12020731

What is indoor air pollution?

What is indoor air pollution? There are several factors: particles, bio-pollutants, odors, temperature, humidity, gases, and discomfort.
Watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z6Y-I-LJsU

We'll discuss these in more detail.

Is Your Furnace Leaking Carbon Monoxide?

Heating season has started and furnaces are firing up all over the country. If you use natural gas or propane fuel you may want to make sure the furnace is not leaking  CO (carbon monoxide). The most common way this happens is by a fracture or hole in the heat exchanger. However it can occur from unbalance in the air pressure on even a new installation. Make sure the negative pressure side of the furnace (return air side) is sealed properly. It can actually suck combustion gases into the air flow. Check that all penetrations into the return air side of the furnace cabinet are sealed (i.e; electrical, low voltage wires etc.)
 Have an HVAC professional check for CO in the air flow and check gas pressure, proper combustion etc.
For more info contact us @ rick@rlenvirocare.com   or 417-942-2451