VOC Testing in Commercial Buildings 

 

At A Accredited Mold inspection Service, Inc. We have conducted indoor air quality testing and consultation in commercial buildings countless times.

Many of our tests in commercial buildings has been done in offices where workers complain of health issues that appear to be related to chemicals and odors.
Some common examples of actual conditions we have encountered during our inspections are as follows:

Overly Zealous Disinfectant And Air Freshener Use In A Broward County Office.

We have encountered a few cases where the excessive use of air fresheners, hand sanitizers, or other chemicals caused the levels of VOC chemicals in the office air to become problematic. In one case in Broward County almost every desk in a seven thousand square foot commercial buildings office space had either hand sanitizer, liquid air fresheners, or disinfectants sprays present.

VOC testing of the air confirmed that the levels of chemicals produced by such substances had cause the air to become quite contaminated.

Not sure why the workers were so chemically dependent but it caused VOC levels to become severely elevated.
I could not interview the workers about whey they had so many chemicals present because our air testing was being conducted at night. The client wanted the investigation done after hours so the employees would not be alarmed by the fact that air testing was being conducted.

Some thoughts as to what may have lead up to the situation.

I believe the workers may have become worried about germ induced illness and this fear may have prompted the use of excess amounts of had sanitizer and disinfectants. The use of excessive germicidal chemicals may help prevent the spread of cold and flu viruses.
Such practices however would not help with air quality related health, in fact it would only contributed to the problem by introducing more chemicals into the air.

Perhaps some workers were using air fresheners to mask the chemical odors from germicidal compounds. The more chemicals used the worse the situation became. The use of chemicals to cover up chemical induced odors is not a good idea. What started out as a cold and flu problem morphed into a separate indoor air problem overtime.

Chemical testing of the air using thermal desorption tubes confirmed that the levels of VOC’s from personal care products were severely elevated. I informed the building manager who was present to inform the workers to use less such compounds. I informed him that Excessive chemical use appeared to be releasing VOCs that caused health complaints.

Printing Inks Effecting Office Air Quality In Martin County

We have also done VOC testing in two different advertising and printing facilities where workers were complaining of typical VOC exposure type symptoms. Both cases were in the town of Stuart located in Martin County Florida.

The people complaining were not the print shop workers working with inks and solvents. In fact the workers using the chemicals in the back printing warehouse were not at all alarmed by the presence of chemicals. The people complaining were the nearby office workers in a different area. Sounds strange but this was actually a text book example of people working with chemicals not complaining but nearby office workers complaining of suspected indoor pollution exposure.

Why were the print shop workers who worked with large amounts of chemicals not complaining you may ask?

1. The print shop workers knew what they were smelling so were unalarmed by chemical odors.
2.  The printing area was populated by young workers in good health, and without allergies, asthma, or chemical sensitivity. Thus they were not sensitive to chemicals in the air. This is why they were allowed to work in such a polluted indoor environment.
3. On rare occasions some print shop area workers would feel a little effected, but if or when this occurred they understood what was happening and instead of becoming alarmed they would take corrective actions by using a respirator or they would go out for fresh air.

So the workers with the most exposure were not complaining about odors or reactions to chemical exposure. It was the office staff who were alarmed and who complained.

 

Using Smoke to Trace the Flow of Air and My Conclusions

I conducted some air flow testing with a small smoke producing device called a smoke pen. I found that much air from the back printing area was being sucked out of the back printing areas, and into the office workers areas. The air was flowing under a door with a missing door gasket.

As a result the elevated levels of chemicals in the office workers area caused alarm and complaints among the office staff who were not physically, or mentally prepared to deal with such unexpected fumes. In fact they were totally unaware that chemical levels would be so high in their work area. Testing confirmed elevated VOC levels in the office area air.

In my report I informed management that air pressure differential were causing chemical fumes to be sucked into unexpected areas of the commercial buildings. That this could be rectified with proper vent hood use. Proper vent hood use would not only stop air from flowing to the offices, it would also remove many of the indoor pollutants from the printing areas air. I also recommended that gaskets under the door between the source area and contaminate destination endpoint would also help. In such cases workers must follow all applicable government regulations such as OSHA regulations.

Marine Biology Lab Where Acids Diminished Air Quality and Caused Corrosion.

In a Boca Raton area marine biology lab the supervisor was complaining of air quality issues, and unusual amounts of corrosion on metal components in the lab. The workers were all intelligent scientist and students doing important work to protect the earths dwindling natural resources. However they could not figure out why metal in some areas of the lab was corroding at very alarming rates. Corrosion was quite severe. Our consultant knows from experience that several compounds such as acids, salts, and chlorine, in the air can cause accelerated rats of corrosion. Above is an image of a chlorine storage tank our consultant encounter while doing air quality testing in Key Largo. Note the chlorine gas induced corrosion on metal above the storage tank.

 

The Problem

Back to the research lab story. Our  consultant asked many questions about the chemicals being used in the lab and looked around and made a telling discovery. The lab staff were using strong acids stored in a plastic container. I Don’t remember what type of acid, nor what the acid was for. I think it was for sterilization. The corrosion was worse the closer one got to the acid containing vessel. Vent hood components on the roof were also severely corroded as well. The hood would extract the fumes from the lab then become rusted.

It came as a total surprise to the research scientist and grad students that the cause of corrosion was the acid they depended on for work. I informed them that the acid fumes in the air was all that were needed to cause the air quality problems and rust.

It was probably around that time that sulfur containing acidic gases from  Chinese Drywall was causing similar corrosion problems in homes copper pipes and wires.  I also informed them to cover the acid better and to use proper ventilation closer to the stored acid.

Chemical testing like mold testing has it’s limitations. Testing did not pick up acid as testing for VOC’s does not pick up acid. It took visual inspections, analytical thinking, and experience, to solve the riddle.

Even though these were grad students and scientists, it took a bit of convincing before they believed that acidic chemical fumes in the absence of liquid splashing could cause the corrosion they were experiencing.

Buildings Where Solvents Are Used to Clean Lenses and Sensitive Equipment.

In one commercial building were high quality optical lenses were being manufactured the occupants complained of health problems. Management requested indoor air testing in the building.  During the air test it was observed that the facility workers used large amounts of a solvent known as acetone to clean the lenses. Acetone is the active ingredient, and to my knowledge is often the only ingredient in nail polish remover. It is a potent chemical and acetone can cause serious health problems at high levels. The client was informed that the workers must use proper ventilation and protective gear. It seems that were not using much ventilation at all. In such cases workers must follow all applicable government regulations such as OSHA regulations.

VOC Testing In A Building Where Vitamins and Supplements Are Manufactured.

In multiple cases I have conducted indoor air quality testing in commercial buildings where health supplements, health foods, or vitamins were being manufactured. In such cases levels of VOC’s are sometimes high. A Photo Ionization Detector capable of detecting levels of VOC’s to the parts per billion can be used to pinpoint the source. The actual vitamins or other similar supplements were releasing high levels of VOC’s. The types of VOC’s were obviously not acetone, toluene, benzene, formaldehyde, or other scary compounds.  The compounds being released were more closely related to the less problematic aromatic compounds released by lemons and flowers and other natural producers of odors. In such a cases air dilution and ventilation, are recommended.

Inspection In A Massive Hospital’s Neo-Natal Ward.

Our  certified inspector once inspected a massive hospital building complex where unidentifiable odors were present in the neo natal intensive care unit. This is an area were sensitive newborn babies who were already sick were being exposed to an unknown chemical agent in the air. As you know children are more sensitive to air quality related health problems than adults. Their lungs and developing brains in particular can be quite sensitive.  Two previous testing firms could not locate the source of odors via air testing. Air testing for chemicals, mold, and allergens, can very often have limitations, that is why an interview, visual inspection, and experience are so important.

The clients all described the odor differently. They said the odor was like sewer gas, mold, dead fish, or dead seaweed washed up on the beach. Our inspector found the odor to be similar to antifreeze.

The Smelly Chemical Contaminate Is Located

Our mold and air quality investigator discovered that a antifreeze like chemical called Anclsteam was used to deter corrosion in the buildings pipes. The substance was stored in 55 gallon drums three hospital buildings away from the sick infants. This substance in the 55 gallon drums had the exact same antifreeze odor as was present in the neonatal area. The indoor air quality inspector had no doubt that the substance he smelled in the barrels was the same substance he smelled in the infant ward three buildings away.

How Did the Fumes Travel to a Location Three Buildings Away.

Steam pipes carried steam to be used in the laundry room and in the steam sterilization room. The massive network of pipes was carrying the substance from the engineering plant building to the infant ward three buildings away. The pipes were releasing the antifreeze/ anti corrosion type substance when steam was used to sterilize medical equipment, or when steam was released in the laundry area. The substance was lighter than air and the inspector used his nose and a ladder to trace the fumes from the gases release point in the steam sterilization autoclave room, and the laundry room to the infant neo natal ward down the hall. The fumes were like a lighter than air river of odor clinging to the high ceilings and flowing down the hall to the neo-natal care unit of the hospital.

 

The Likely Causative Defect

 

The Ancosteam was not supposed to be inside the steam pipes, it was suppose to be in the water pipes only. How did the Ancosteam, an antifreeze like substance, get from the water pipes where it was supposed to be and into the hospitals steam pipes you may ask? It likely did in the same way carbon monoxide enters some homes, via cracked heat exchangers. In Northern climates heat and furnace fumes including carbon monoxide travel inside heat exchanger coils where it is supposed to be.  If the coils crack then the fumes can and will leak out of the heat exchanger and enter the pipe that the heat exchanger is house inside. This condition often leads to homes air becoming contaminated with deadly carbon monoxide. The chemical Ancosteam was intentionally injected into water pipes and heat exchanger where it was supposed to be. It likely leaked out of  cracked heat exchanger pipes housed inside the buildings steam pipes. Now that the substance leaked from the heat exchangers the chemical was free to enter the steam pipes where the chemical was not supposed to be. The Ancosteam contaminated water and steam would spray out of nozzles in the steam sterilization room and laundry room steam area then float to the ceiling and down the hall to the infant intensive care ward.

I informed the building engineer to have the heat exchanger coils inspected and that they would very likely be found to be cracked and leaking. Such coils would need to be replaced to solve the indoor air problem in the massive commercial building.

Printers and Other Office Equipment Suspected of Contributing to Air Quality Problems in Commercial Buildings.

Printers are a common source of ozone and ultra fine particles in offices. Ultrafine particles and ozone can cause indoor air quality problems and health complaints. We have done inspections in Palm Beach and Broward County commercial buildings including a military contractors building in the Ft Lauderdale area, and a Town Hall building near Boynton Beach where we suspected such was occurring based on detecting ozone odors  near printers.

 

 

Call Us We Can Help

If your workers are complaining of air quality related health issues that appear to be related to time spent indoors don’t ignore them. Give us a call and let us try and help find the problem.

1-888-381-6651

If you are looking for a company to conduct VOC related IAQ testing in a commercial buildings look no further. We have the experience and tools to help you and your workers get back on track.

Call Us Today to Discuss How We Can Help.

We Quantify and Determine and Document the Presence or Absence of Air Quality Problems in Commercial Buildings and Homes.

 

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