Indoor Environmental Quality Podcast indoorenvironmentalqualitypodcast

Good to be back recording after a very long break. I've been meaning to record, especially to share stories from hurricane recovery projects, but it's been crazy busy. 
Hurricane Laura, then Hurricane Delta, then floods in southwest Louisiana, all in the August 2020 - May 2021 timespan.
all this on along with COVID.
then Hurricane Ida hit last year, adding to the chaos. so the gap between recordings grew - days turned to weeks, then months, and now 18 months. 
this is a short episode, mainly to get back recording, and also to let you know we'll have some information coming up about storm preparedness and response. 
we've been working on gathering information that can help everyone prepare in advance and also know what to do after the storm's gone. 
leave us comments and suggestions on what questions you'd like answered.

Welcome to the Indoor Environmental Quality podcast. Thank you for joining me for this episode.
 
Sorry it’s been so long between episodes! We've had quarantine, working from home, adjusting to new normal - whatever you want to call it. I've wanted to do a follow up on COVID-19, but it's been tough to sort out the information and give recommendations on PPE, air conditioning, how to clean and disinfect buildings, all that. And the information keeps changing. More on that in another episode.
 
But recent events got me motivated to record this episode.
 
In this episode we're going to talk about disaster recovery. As I’m recording, Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana on August 27, 2020, and if you’ve seen the news, the storm devastated the region.
 
I’m about 2 hours east of Lake Charles. I’ve worked in that region of the state for more than 30 years. I have a ton of friends there, so I’m ready to get there and help however I can.
 
Storm recovery is hard and stressful enough, and it's natural to want to clean up, fix the damage, and get back to normal as fast as we can.
 
But sometimes it's not that simple. Besides the obvious - water damage and mold, there can be other hazards we have to deal with. Sometimes we're so fixated on the water damage or mold that we don't stop to consider other environmental and safety hazards.
 
In this episode we'll go over some common environmental and safety hazards you're likely to encounter during recovery, and some tips on how to avoid problems:
 
Tip #1: Contact your insurance company and engage professional/licensed electricians, contractors, and consultants before initiating work. Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint. 
 
Tip #2: Be Safe - your safety is by far the most important consideration.
 
Electricity - if needed, disconnect from power company. Have a licensed electrician look at your system before energizing. Check main disconnect and electrical panel (water there is a bad thing!). Also check appliances for water damage before restoring power. Beware of down wires near your home or business.
Gas - check for leaks or bad connections (sometimes structures and piping move during storms or floods).
Check the structure - don't go in unless you're certain it's safe.
Animals - watch out for animals where you least expect. You never know when you'll run into a scared dog or a snake.
Stay hydrated and wear respiratory protection (check with your physician to be sure you’re capable of wearing a respirator). Also consider wearing a hard hat and eye protection. 
 
Tip #3: Get the building and all the materials in it dry.
 
Place dehumidifiers & fans in the building. Your air conditioner is better than nothing (but only marginally so).
If no power in the building, open the windows and doors.
Remove wet gypsum board, insulation, and carpet (see Tip #4 below first)! 
Tip #4: Beware of other environmental issues.
When you're gutting the building, demolition could disturb materials that contain asbestos, lead, mercury, and PCB. Also watch out for stored chemicals like gasoline, motor oil, and pesticides. 
Tip #5: Clean, Disinfect, & Dry.
Get the cleaned up areas white glove clean—no debris or dust or mold should remain. Bleach kills mold & disinfects, but there are other options. Soap (Borax) and water are effective and there is a positive residual effect). Distilled White Vinegar is effective, and you can get it almost anywhere.
Commercial products like Foster's, Microban or Shockwave are pretty good but may be hard to get unless you know a contractor.
No matter what you use, read the Safety Data Sheets and instructions—protect yourself.
Get the building dry and keep it dry. 
 
Tip #6: Salvageable items.
Use a baby pool, bath tub, or bucket as wash stations. Wash dishes and utensils. Launder clothes (you’ll be able to save some of your clothes). Get them dry and keep them dry.
Appliances can sometimes be salvaged—if you dry them and clean them befor

Here are the ready.gov and OSHA.gov websites referred to in this episode. Great information on coronavirus pandemic preparation, as well as good information for employers who are wondering how the coronavirus can present worker protection and OSHA problems.
It's good to be prepared and to have equipment that will protect you and your employees. But there are limitations for N-95 masks and respirators. And there are things employers must do (like training and medical evaluations) before handing out gloves, N-95 masks, or other respirators.
Ready.gov Pandemic Website
OSHA Covid-19 (coronavirus) information
The Ready.gov website gives information that's useful in case of any pandemic, not just coronavirus. Good information on how to prepare and how to help friends and family.
The OSHA website has great information on relevant OSHA standards, particularly when it comes to eye and face protection, masks and respirators, gloves, training, and reporting requirements.
If you’d like more information, email me. Or visit our website www.wynnwhite.com or you can find me on Twitter and Instagram: @chriswhitepe

Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to Episode 7 of the Indoor Environmental Quality Podcast. I’m Chris White, a project manager with Wynn White Consulting Engineers in Baton Rouge.
Major League Baseball teams have started Spring Training, so my favorite time of year is here.
Today we’re going to talk about how mold and major league baseball are related. Yes, really.
If you visit our blog, you’ll see that I have two recurring themes when I write about mold problems. The first is, ironically, recurrence.
Mold problems often return if we only clean up the mold and don’t correct what caused the original problem.
The second recurring theme is that most of our mold related work occurs between Major League Baseball (MLB) Opening Day and the end of the World Series.
Soon we’ll resume Daylight Savings Time, which means longer days, and running our air conditioners wide open until sometime mid-November. And we’ll start seeing some mold problems.
Remember that mold problems go hand in hand with moisture issues. If you don’t find the moisture source and correct the problem, you may get to play a mold remediation double header.
The late, great Mr. Cub Ernie Banks was known for saying, “Let’s play two!”, but that’s baseball. No one wants to repeat mold remediation. That involves more aggravation, time, and money.
I’m glad when baseball season comes back – but building owners don’t want mold to return.
And once temperatures start rising, lowering the thermostat only exacerbates moisture and mold problems (not to mention increasing your energy bills!).
We see many problems related to the times of year when it’s hot outside and we’re getting more of those afternoon thunderstorms that show up, dump a ton of rain, then leave us with an environment that feels like a steamroom.
Most of our buildings are under negative air pressure with respect to outside. So that means we make outside air come into our buildings. On the surface that’s not a bad thing – we need fresh air to have a good indoor environment.
But we run into problems in hot-humid climates like ours when hot, moist air comes into our buildings and runs into a cold surface. Condensation can occur, and with that water damage and mold – unless we’re super careful. And this isn’t limited to just hot-humid climates.
Common problems are ductwork condensation – this can lead to moldy sheetrock or ceiling tiles.
But if we fix that window leak or building pressurization, we can correct the cause of the moisture problem and only have to clean up mold once.
Now would be a good time to look at how you manage mold and moisture issues- instead of letting those problems manage you. I know it seems early – but it may be a good idea for you to have your own Spring Training.
When the weather goes from hot to cold, many of these problems “go away” until next year. Then they come back.
A good question to start: what recurring problems have you had at your home or business? Are they tied to certain climate patterns or time of year?
Make sure you’re taking a proactive approach to your mold and moisture problems. Developing and implementing a Proactive Moisture Management Plan is a good idea.
Maybe you’ll avoid the problems altogether and you’ll have more time to listen, watch, or even go to more baseball games!
If I can help you solve a mold problem, or if you are a Cubs fan like me and want to talk baseball, send me an email at cwhite@wynnwhite.com, or visit our website or you can find me on Twitter and Instagram: @chriswhitepe.
I hope you have a great Spring and Summer. I hope you get to enjoy baseball season. For me, I’m looking forward to watching as much LSU baseball and Chicago Cubs as I can.
Please leave us a review and comments on iTunes or whatever podcast player you use.
Thanks for listening.

Welcome to the Indoor Environmental Quality podcast. Thank you for joining me for this episode. I'm Chris White, a project manager with Wynn White Consulting Engineers in Baton Rouge. 
Today we’re going to talk about smells. Sometimes indoor environmental quality problems aren’t very straightforward or conventional. 
Workplace smells and fragrances are a great example. You might laugh at the idea that smells or fragrances can be a headache (you see what I did there?), but I’ve seen it firsthand, both personally and professionally.
First, a quick story: when I was 13 I took a trip to Arkansas with a friend’s family. It was a great trip, driving the whole time through the hills and valleys (to me, they seemed like mountains!) in a brand new Pontiac. What wasn’t so great was the bit of motion sickness that was exacerbated by the new car smell. And those memories have stayed with me - whenever I smell “new car smell”, I get a little queasy, and sometimes develop a headache.
“But EVERYONE loves new car smell!” - I hear that sometimes when talking about why I’m not a big fan of new car smell. But for others, that smell is a source of joy - pride even, because it represents a new set of wheels. And to be clear, I have nothing against cars, especially new cars. But that smell sets me off.
It turns out that wonderful new car smell isn’t so great - the smell is off gassing adhesives and other materials from the car’s manufacturing process. And some of those off gassing chemicals aren’t so good for us. But since many people love that smell, they can endure the exposure (or at least seem to) with great pleasure. I mean, who doesn’t get at least a little excited when driving a new car? 
On to our indoor environments - offices, classrooms, meeting spaces. Are adverse effects from indoor smells, odors, fragrances, (whatever you call them) a big deal?
Here's another story: in 2016 we had an epic flood event in the Baton Rouge area. We got something like 30" of rain in about a three day period. Impressive considering we get about 60" of rain per year. We had flooding all across our region: homes, businesses, schools, you name it. 
A lot of people were able to clean out their buildings and move back in and work on restoration. Others, like schools, had to abandon buildings and bring in temporary buildings (or "T buildings"). We had one unfortunate client that leased brand new buildings from a manufacturer. We're talking about 3 schools, each with hundreds of kids, relocating to T buildings. 
And as is the case with some prefab buildings, there were indoor air quality issues. All 3 schools had complaints.
Now, when you mention prefab buildings, modular buildings, whatever you want to call them, and indoor air quality, I immediately think of formaldehyde. Remember the Katrina trailers? 
In this case, there was a noticeable ammonia smell in random places in the buildings. 
Strangely enough, I don't find low amounts of ammonia to be offensive, mainly because it reminds me of the smell of the blueprint machine in my grandfather's engineering office.  
After a good bit of analysis, we found the ammonia's source. It was the "wood" roof deck above the suspended ceiling. I say wood using air quotes because it's not real wood, more like a modified OSB. The ammonia wasn't in high enough concentrations to be harmful, but it was noticeable, and there were complaints ranging from headaches to burning eyes.
The ammonia source off-gassed at a high rate because of our hot climate.
Indoor environmental factors affect most people differently. That’s why some people don’t mind co-worker’s cologne or perfume, while a small percentage may experience problems related to that one particular thing. And these problems range from discomfort, uneasiness, nausea, headache, and asthma like symptoms to serious side effects. 
Or some problems can be associated with potentially harmful contaminants like ammonia.
So from the standp

Today we’re going to talk about a tragic cleaning accident that happened in a Massachusetts restaurant. 
Here's a link to the story:
https://www.wcvb.com/article/buffalo-wild-wings-worker-burlington-dead-after-chemical-incident/29731182
I don't know all the details, but based on what I've read so far, the exposure appears to be as a result of overuse of sodium hypochlorite. Basically, a massive exposure to chlorine. When I first saw the story, I immediately thought someone may have mixed ammonia and bleach together. That can also cause harmful or fatal chemical exposures.
If you've ever worked with chlorine or a lot of bleach, you can probably see how this would happen.
This is somewhat similar to a potentially deadly restaurant cleanup I encountered almost 10 years ago. For more of the story, check out the episode audio.
Illnesses and deaths resulting from exposures like this are tragic, and most sadly of all, largely avoidable. We need to spread the word on how to avoid these accidents.
Here are some tips on dealing with sodium hypochlorite from the Chlorine Institute:
https://www.chlorineinstitute.org/stewardship/sodium-hypochlorite/
If you’ve had these problems, what did you do? I’d like to get your feedback so I can share it with others (and if you send in your story I will leave out identities and specific details).
If you have suggestions for a show topic, please contact us.
You can find me, Chris White, on Twitter and Instagram @chriswhitepe
Please leave us a review at iTunes or on your favorite podcast player. To contact us or to learn more about Wynn White Consulting Engineers, visit our website: www.wynnwhite.com
 
If you have suggestions for a show topic, please contact us.
You can find me, Chris White, on Twitter and Instagram @chriswhitepe