A comfortable temperature and relative humidity, good ventilation, and a lack of unpleasant odors comes to mind for many people when discussing indoor air quality (IAQ). Equally important is understanding and controlling airborne pollutants found indoors to help reduce the risk of health concerns.
Americans, on average, spend approximately 90% of their time indoors. The concentrations of some pollutants can be 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor concentrations according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To focus attention on this, and the overall importance of IAQ in homes, schools, businesses and other built environments, October is recognized as National Indoor Air Quality Awareness Month.
Indoor pollutants could be the result of many things, including cleanliness issues, lack of ventilation, dampness, construction activities taking place inside the building, smoking, cooking, indoor activities, new building materials and furnishing, how many people are in the building, and so much more. Some of the more common IAQ pollutants include mold, pollen, particulate matter, animal dander, Legionella and other bacteria, radon, formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, lead, asbestos, carbon monoxide and combustion gases, and tobacco and marijuana smoke to name just a few.
“EPA states that the health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or possibly, years later as can be the case with exposure to substances like asbestos,” said Harry Pena, President of Zimmetry Environmental. “These health effects could include everything from irritation of the eyes, nose and throat; headaches, dizziness and fatigue; and respiratory diseases, heart disease and even cancer. These pollutants can even come from a combination of outdoor and indoor sources so it takes an experienced IAQ professional to be able to assess potential issues and to come up with real solutions to optimize indoor environmental conditions.”
To help in these efforts in Puerto Rico and across the Caribbean, Zimmetry's IAQ and industrial hygiene professionals provide air testing, monitoring and consulting services to identify and mitigate exposure risks to biological, chemical and radiological concerns. Zimmetry also recently sponsored an educational video about National Indoor Air Quality Awareness Month that can be seen at: https://youtu.be/RbLmbmixmOU
To learn more about Zimmetry's indoor air quality, environmental and building science testing, compliance and consulting services, please visit www.zimmetry.com, call (787) 995.0005 or email info@zimmetry.com .
About Zimmetry Environmental
Since 2002, Zimmetry Environmental has been providing environmental consulting services to building owners and managers, architects, engineers, EHS professionals and Fortune 500 companies. The company is based in Puerto Rico and provides services across the Caribbean and Central America. The professionals at Zimmetry offer environmental compliance, indoor air quality, asbestos, lead-based paint, Phase I ESAs and general environmental consulting services.
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