RE : NIOSH Blasts Air Quality at Interior Department

June 7, 2007

Hi - This is HUGE...The cavalier attitude when 'remediators' come in to

" remediate " a building must change. Failure to contain aspergillus fumigatus in

the repair process caused exacerbation in my illness and new exposure to the

children in my classroom. Mold needs to be approached as asbestos is now. No

one in a school would knowingly touch asbestos because the education level of

its danger is now at an appropriate level and warnings as a result of collective

bargaining agreements for its removal as well as activism have changed this

scene forever. So, too, must it happen with mold removal and remediation.

Containment or lack thereof, is key to making sure you don't have airborne

spores flying through a building. Dust is a vehicle of transport for the spores

so the process of remediation which is dust-laden by its nature becomes a

potential lethal experience for the occupants.

I participated in this teleconference. What I found disturbing was the too

'warm and fuzzy' banter among some of the players. Friendly and cooperative is

great, however, as a group, my personal impression was that their " arms were not

quite around the problem, " save for those from industry, who stand to reap

enormous profit for their efforts. Indoor air quality, or lack thereof, may

prove as great a risk factor for disease as sedentary lifestyle, heredity or

risk-taking behavior/long term illegal drug use.

Mold in my classroom was one thing. Its removal by dangerous means was quite

another.

For those who are in political capacities in the federal administration, who

have not taken this issue seriously, the party is over. And, I hope they

realize it. Negative air pressure or separation of or cordoning off the

contamination for safe removal must become the enforced gold-standard in this

country. Those charged with supervision of its removal must treat its removal

as seriously as if it was in their OWN homes and destoying the health and well

being of their families and dwellings.

tigerpaw2c <tigerpaw2c@...> a écrit :

May, 31 2007

NIOSH Blasts Air Quality at Interior Department

By Josh Cable

http://www.occupationalhazards.com/News/Article/66797/NIOSH_Blasts_Ai

r_Quality_at_Interior_Department_.aspx

Industrial hygienists from the National Institute for Occupational

Safety and Health (NIOSH) determined that indoor air quality

problems at the Department of the Interior's Washington, D.C.,

headquarters stem from the Interior Department's failure to

establish negative air pressurization between areas of the building

that are being renovated and adjacent occupied office areas.

The NIOSH industrial hygienists, who in August conducted a health

hazard evaluation of the Main Interior Building (MIB) of the

Interior Department's National Business Center, also found " numerous

unplanned air pathways where air pollutants generated in the

renovation area can migrate to adjacent occupied areas of the

building " ; workers dry-sweeping construction debris rather than

using wet methods or vacuuming to suppress dust; and no evidence

that the contractor in charge of renovation has implemented an

effective indoor environmental quality (IEQ) plan for the renovation

project.

" Unless appropriate control measures are implemented (and evaluated

for effectiveness after implementation), construction contaminants

such as dusts, fumes and chemical odors are likely to continue to

affect the occupied areas of the MIB, " NIOSH Senior Industrial

Hygienist Esswein wrote in a May 24 report summarizing the

NIOSH findings. " ... Occupant complaints of odors and irritant

health symptoms are likely associated with exposures to construction-

generated dusts and vapors due to a lack of appropriate and

effective IEQ controls for renovation and construction in an

occupied building. "

The Department of the Interior 5 years ago began a project to

modernize all six wings of the MIB at its Washington, D.C.,

headquarters, which was built in the late 1930s. Although workers

are removed from each wing under renovation, adjacent wings of the

MIB have remained occupied during the renovation project.

Since the project began, Esswein noted, some employees have

complained of " unpleasant odors and unusual dustiness, eye and upper

respiratory irritation and asthma and allergy aggravation. " Prior to

this latest evaluation, NIOSH had conducted two health hazard

evaluations of the MIB modernization project – one prompted by a

confidential employee request – to look into IEQ concerns.

Positive Pressurization NIOSH's " Most Significant Finding "

The NIOSH report offers 10 recommendations to resolve the IEQ

problems in the MIB. At the top of NIOSH's list is keeping

demolition and construction areas under negative pressure " for the

duration of the construction and renovation project and, depending

on finishes and furnishings installed, for some time after

renovation has ended. "

" Maintaining a construction area under negative pressure is a

standard and recommended practice when construction and renovation

activities take place in occupied buildings, " Esswein

wrote. " Negative pressure is recommended to ensure (to the greatest

degree possible) that air contaminants such as vapors and dusts that

are generated inside the construction zone are not transported into

the adjacent office work areas. "

Esswein reported that NIOSH's " most significant finding was that the

modernization area was intentionally operating under positive

pressure with respect to the adjacent occupied office areas. " He

noted that high-volume air handling units were used to supply

conditioned air to the renovation area – a practice that, to his

understanding, was not put in place to make workers more comfortable

but rather to " prevent temperature fluctuations that might affect

the structure of the building. "

For the MIB modernization project, NIOSH recommends maintaining

negative pressurization of at least 0.01 to 0.02 inches of water

gauge in the renovation areas.

" Because 4,000 cfm of conditioned corridor air is being supplied to

each wing of the modernization area, at least 4,400 cfm exhaust air

(roughly 10 percent more air than is currently being supplied) needs

to be exhausted for the construction areas to be maintained under

negative pressure. "

In other recommendations for the MIB modernization project, NIOSH

calls on the Department of Interior, its contractor and others

involved in the project to:

Implement an effective building IEQ plan that is consistent with the

Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association

(SMACNA) " IAQ Guidelines for Occupied Buildings Under Construction. "

Designate individuals knowledgeable in the practice of IEQ to ensure

that the SMACNA guidelines are implemented effectively.

Improve communication of IEQ issues.

Make sure that barricade walls installed in " communicated doorways "

between the renovation area and the occupied area extend around the

complete perimeter of the opening – with no gaps at the floor – and

are inspected daily.

Use high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)-filtered vacuum cleaners

to vacuum floor or surface dusts generated during demolition and

construction. " In the rare occasions " when sweeping is required, a

light water misting or dust coagulants should be used to suppress

dust.

" Hallway return air grilles for the HVAC systems serving the

construction area should be protected from dusts generated during

the work process using two layers of polyethylene sheeting, each

taped and sealed separately around the perimeter of the duct

opening. "

Of these recommendations, Esswein made it a point to mention that

maintaining negative pressure in construction areas is " a

fundamental and necessary aspect of proper IEQ when joint office

occupancy and renovation activities are underway. "

" A Very Sick Headquarters Building "

At a May 22 all-employee meeting that focused on safety and health

issues, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne said that

modernizing the MIB " poses special challenges. "

" This historic building is more than 70 years old and is undergoing

a major, multi-year modernization to refurbish the structure, remove

or safely seal the asbestos and bring the building up to code, "

Kempthorne said.

Kempthorne added that those who work in the MIB " see each day the

precautions that we are taking. "

" Work areas are sealed off. Negative air pressure in the work area

ensures asbestos and other potentially dangerous substances do not

leak around the edges. Monitors on each floor – devices that look a

bit like miniature microphones – ensure that if there is any

accidental release we will know about it immediately, " Kempthorne

said.

Earlier in his remarks, Kempthorne said: " I want to emphasize that

there is nothing more important to me personally and to the

department's mission than ensuring that your workplace is healthy

and safe. "

Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental

Responsibility – an advocacy group that has been critical of the

safety and health conditions at the Interior Department's

headquarters – blasted Kempthorne's comments as hypocritical.

" Secretary Kempthorne should either retract his recent statement on

employee health or clean house of managers at his National Business

Center who are badly misleading him as to the actual conditions

inside his own headquarters, " Ruch said. " After 3 years of denial,

Interior should finally admit that it has a very sick headquarters

building and take appropriate steps to protect its workers who have

been exposed too long to noxious fumes. "

Ruch noted that the Interior Office of Inspector General currently

is " surveying and interviewing thousands of employees as part of an

investigation into persistent health and safety problems plaguing

the department. "

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