JenniferSpartzResearchExercise15-16DormIAQ

Research Exercise 15-16 Review of Dorm IAQ Data The Indoor Air Quality Association has only been around for 13 years. During this time, the indoor air quality community has been largely dominated by engineers and a focus on biological contaminants. It was believed that 99% of the time, the problems were due to mold or HVAC complications. The monitoring of these problems has been mostly through walkthroughs as more in depth testing has been considered expensive and was considered to produce incomplete results. Recently, however, it has become increasingly clear that TVOC may also be a large contributor to air quality problems which cannot be tested with just a walkthrough. The test used for this study was Home Air Check developed by Prism Analytical Technologies, Inc (PATI). The test is capable of “seeing” 1000 chemicals, however, only 500 of those are actually noted unless significantly higher levels of other chemicals are spotted. The design of the test is to search for the “fingerprint” of known contributors, instead of the individual chemicals. This is done in order to give the average home owner an idea of what substances in the house are contributing to poor indoor air quality (IAQ) and what small things can be done to better that quality. The test itself is run for three hours to pull through enough air to achieve a sufficient amount of air to analyze. Based on the percent composition of the air, specific compounds can be classified as either primary or secondary sources. Primary sources tend to be above 20%, however, it depends on the compound breakdown of each category. Secondary sources are generally above 5 or 10%. Home Air Check was run in three living spaces at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. For the sorority house, the data state that the total volatile organic compound (TVOC) levels in the living room are 2000 ng/L and the mold volatile organic compound (MVOC) concentration is 5 ng/L. The largest contributors to the TVOC concentration include alcohol products and personal care products as the primary sources of pollutant with secondary sources as odorants/fragrances and paints/varnishes. The alcohol products made up 42.3% of the TVOC. Personal care products in the sorority house made up 47.2% of the TVOC. The odorants and paints/varnishes each made up significant amounts yet not as high as the other two sources classifying them both as secondary sources. For the room in Quad, the concentrations of TVOC and MVOC are 1900 ng/L and 6 ng/L respectively. The largest sources of pollutants are paints/varnishes, hydrocarbon solvents, and personal care products. Other sources of contaminants come from alcohol and odorants/fragrances. Paints and varnishes contributed to 31.7% of the VOCs. Hydrocarbon solvents added another 32% to the TVOC. 35.4% of the TVOC were due to personal care products. The smaller yet still prominent contributors were alcohol and odorants/fragrances. Finally, the room in Barton has a TVOC level of 760 ng/L and had less than 3 ng/L of MVOC. The contributors to these lower levels of VOCs were alcohol products and to a lesser extent, gasoline, paints/varnishes, and personal care products. Alcohol was the largest contributor of TVOC in this last dorm room with 36.9% of TVOC. All three of the other contributors (gasoline, paints/varnishes, and personal care products) were significant enough to have an impact on the room, but were not as prominent. To attempt to understand the meaning behind these values, it must be understood that the US Green Building Council (USGBC) encourages homes and other living spaces to have concentrations of TVOC around 500 ng/L. From the information given by PATI, the average home tested by Home Air Check has been about 1400 ng/L, with chemical sensitivity starting at about 2500 ng/L, and only about 16% of homes tested actually achieve the USGBC’s suggested concentration for TVOC. When comparing the tested values to this information, the TVOC level of the room in Barton seems appropriate, and with small changes, could easily reach the USGBC’s expectation for toxin levels. The other two rooms however, have significantly higher TVOC levels that may be harder to clean up. Since both rooms are mainly occupied by females, it makes sense that there would be high levels of personal care products. The alcohol products found in the sorority could possibly have been coming from hand sanitizers or hand wipes that are becoming more commonly used. Small corrections in the storage of cleaning supplies may also help to lower the TVOC level in both of the rooms. The mold counts are also something to consider. Home Air Check tests for MVOC which occur while mold is perspiring rather than the more common mold spore which is always present. The chemicals are said to be a better predictor of actual mold growth and there is now speculation on whether the mold spore itself id creating health problems or if it is the off-gassing chemicals. While not stated in the reports as being a problem (level for concern at about 30 ng/L or above), after talking with a PATI representative, it became clear that at any level over 3 ng/L there will be at least some mold growth; however, the mold present may just not be producing MVOC. Due to this realization, it is clear that both the sorority and the dorm in Quad also have a small problem with mold; however these problems are not likely to produce significant health issues.