1)
BETTER INDOOR AIR: ANOTHER GOAL OF THE 90s
While
air conditioning has now been around for decades, the concerns
over deteriorating indoor air and overall indoor environmental
quality hit the mainstream head on in the ‘90s. …
INVESTIGATIONS, LAWSUITS INCREASE - In 1980, requests to
evaluate indoor office environments made up only 8% of
investigations made by the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health. By 1992, that figure had grown to 75%. …
Lawsuits regarding Sick Building Syndrome were few and far
between prior to 1990. However, that began to change after 1993
when a federal judge awarded five employees of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency compensation for health-related
problems encountered from working in a federal facility in
Washington DC. That decision prompted the Building Owners and
Mangers Association vice resident of government and industry
affairs to proclaim: “The floodgates have opened.” In truth,
the “poster child” for sick buildings was found in Polk
County, FL, where a new courthouse building opened to almost
immediate complaints from workers. They experienced headaches,
nausea, and fatigue. Many of the workers had to be relocated and
eventually, the courthouse was practically reconstructed at a
cost of $35 million -- greater that its original construction
cost. … NEW PRODUCTS TO IMPROVE IAQ - But not all was gloom
and doom in the 90s. The rise of problems brought with it a
number of solutions in the last decade. Many new products
surfaced, some designed to “clean the air” – electrostatic
air cleansers, media air cleansers, and ultraviolet lamps for
induct use. As always, contractors play a crucial role in how
air filtration impacts IAQ. Improper installation, ... or
inattention to change out schedules can negate the best …
strategies. The News, April 2001
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2)
AIR CONDITIONING, REFRIGERATION & HEALTH
...The
need for devoting more attention to the problem of preventing
infection from airborne bacteria in the design of hospitals and
their air-handling systems, as well as the need for more
information on the subject, was emphasized at the recent spring
conferences held here by the Building Research Institute. (The
News, May 16, 1960). A review of some recent research on the
problem was presented at an air cleaning and purification
symposium by Dr. V.W. Green of the University of Minnesota. …
Green suggested remediation of the problem through careful
system design incorporating dilution, germicides, UV irradiation
and electronic air cleaners. The News April 2001.
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3)
THE ANTIBIOTICS CRISIS
From
the filthy, louse-ridden cells of Russia’s overcrowded prisons
has emerged a serial killer that is as devious as it is
dangerous. Its name is Myco-bacterium tuberculosis, and it
sallies forth on spumes of sputum each time an infected inmate
coughs or sneezes. As many as 10% of Russia’s million
prisoners suffer active TB; in a least 1 case out of 5, the
bacillus is a multidrug-resistant strain. Now M. tuberculosis in
virulent forms is stalking ordinary citizen in Russian cities
and towns, and soon, if it hasn’t done so already, it will
hitch a ride on an airplane, a bus or train and escape in the
rest of the world. … What makes the situation so desperate,
experts agree, is that new and more effective drugs are not, in
themselves, enough. Time Magazine Jan 15, 2001.
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4)
WHAT IS SICK BUILDING SYNDROME?
Sick
building syndrome is the condition of a building in which more
that 20% of the occupants are suffering from adverse health
effects, but with no clinically diagnosable disease present.
These symptoms include; eye, nose, and throat irritation; a dry
cough, dry or itch skin; dizziness and nausea; complaints may be
localized in a particular room or zone, or may be widespread
throughout the building. Sick Building Syndrome is a condition
of the building; not of the occupants. … The World Health
Organization estimates that over 30% of all new and remodeled
buildings suffer from Sick Building Syndrome. In addition to
calling indoor air pollution one of the top five environmental
issues, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated
that indoor air pollution costs Americans tens of billions of
dollars a year in direct medical expenses and low productivity.
… Studies have shown that a building that has air-conditioning
is more likely to have poor indoor air quality that in one that
is naturally ventilated. Occupational and Environmental Medicine
1999:56:397-402.
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5)
UV LIGHTS … FIGHT “SICK BUILDING” SYNDROME
New
York, May 26 (Reuters Health) – The installation of
ultraviolet (UV) lights in office building air-conditioning
systems may help to fight the symptoms of “sick building”
syndrome, including headache, fatigue and difficulty
concentrating, say Canadian researchers. “This technology,
which is safe and (of) relatively low cost, could be installed
in existing buildings throughout North America,” suggest a
team of researchers led by Dr. Dick Menzies of McGill University
in Montreal. Their findings are published in the June Issue of
the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Experts
believe that a large percentage of “sick building” symptoms
may be caused by bacteria and fungi circulating within the
closed environments of modern office buildings. UV light is a
known germicide. Menzies and colleagues theorized that UV light
devices installed within office air-conditioning systems might
reduce microbe populations.
To
test this theory, they installed germicidal UV light systems in
the air systems of a large office building. The researchers then
compared indoor air quality and worker health during alternating
weeks in which these UV lights were either turned on or off.
They reported “the average number of work-related symptoms was
about 20% lower with germicidal UV lights on than off.”
Furthermore, they say, “When germicidal UV lights were on, no
work was missed due to illnesses… attributed to indoor air
quality, whereas when the germicidal UV lights were off, a total
of 15 hours were missed.” Workers reported significant
reductions in symptoms such as headache, difficulties in
concentration, and eye irritation during periods when the UV
lights were turned on. Testing revealed that use of UV
technology “resulted in virtual elimination of all bacterial
and fungal growth on surfaces within the (air-conditioning)
system,” according to the authors. … The Canadian research
team believes “it is feasible to install and operate these
germicidal UV lights in existing ventilation systems without
detection or adverse effects among workers.” Occupational and
Environmental Medicine 1999; 56:397-402.
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6)
THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
With
the most recent generation of UVC technology, “enlightened”
facilities can cut coil cleaning and energy costs while
attacking other building ills as well. … UVC energy – a
relatively new tool for IAQ control in HVAC systems – is
proving to offer advantages beyond the enhancement of air
quality. … UVC may be considered as a new type of cost-saving
maintenance tool; one that can bring back and/or maintain
air-conditioning cooling coils to “like new” condition –
not just a product that makes biologically sick buildings well.
GENRAL IAQ CONTROL – UVC devices are widely used to control
mold and mildew in HVAC systems. They also reduce the spread of
cold and flu viruses and other airborne-transmitted diseases,
and they fight unpleasant odors. They also provide a recognized
control strategy for reducing the development of Legionella or
the spread of tuberculosis I health care fac8ilities, shelters,
prisons, etc.
The reduction in absenteeism also promises to be significant.
Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have
estimated that U.S. companies could save up to $58 billion a
year by preventing so-called “Sick Building Syndrome” and an
additional $200 billion by improving worker productivity through
better indoor air. They also found that the financial benefits
are many times greater that the costs of making he necessary
improvements to achieve them. … CONCLUSION – Though UVC is
an old, well-established technology; its successful use in hvac
systems is relatively recent. Still, in jut a short time, new,
high-output “UVC for HVAC” devices have demonstrated an
impressive ability to keep coils, drain pans, and other areas
clean for improved IAQ, reduced energy and simplified HVAC
system maintenance. As a result, some industry experts predict
that use of UVC in hvacr applications will shortly be as common
as air filters. Until then, hvacr system designers and operators
can enjoy the many benefits of UVC technology now … Engineered
Systems Magazine, copyright 2000.
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7)
PLANT CLOSES DUE TO DISEASE (Cleveland)
A
Ford Motor Co. plant sent home 2,500 workers and said it would
likely remain closed through the weekend after three workers
contacted Legionnaires’ disease. Workers were told Wednesday
night to leave the plant in Brook Park, adjacent to Cleveland.
Two Legionnaires’ disease victims who worked at the plant were
hospitalized, and the third was at home Thursday after
previously being diagnosed, Ford spokesman Ed Miller Said. The
plant hasn’t been confirmed as the source of the disease, but
Cuyahoga County Health Commissioner Timothy Hogan said the
source could be a plant-cooling tower. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the Ohio Department of Health were
investigating Thursday. AP
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8)
SCIENTIST SAYS GERMS CAUSE HEART DISEASE, MENTAL ILLNESS -
Amherst, Mass
Paul
W. Ewald’s best thinking started with an attack of diarrhea on
a field trip to Kansas. A zoologist, he was studying the social
habits of sparrows. But during the ordeal 24 years ago, he had
time to ponder other things: Was his personal predicament simply
the havoc of a germ bent on spreading itself around? Or was his
body trying to flush away the germ? Was this the evolutionary
adaptation of an invader or the evolved human defense against
it? Healthy again, he checked the medical literature. “I
realized that virtually all considerations of evolutionary
processes in the medical literature were incorrect,” he said.
Ewald set out to fix it. … Ewald applied the insights of 19th
century evolutionary thinker Charles Darwin to help pioneer a
perspective on disease now known as Darwinian, or evolutionary
medicine. Ewald has concluded that mainstream medicine, fixated
on genes and lifestyle, is overlooking the chief cause of the
most enduring, widespread and harmful illnesses of mankind.
Heart disease? He suspects germs. Cancer? He suspects germs.
Mental illness? Also germs.
… For example, peptic ulcers, long tied to stress and
overachieving personalities, are now widely blamed on the
Helicobacter pylori bacterium and often treated with
antibiotics. Cervical cancer has been traced to the human
papilloma virus, which also causes genital warts. … Ewald
portrays disease as primitive warfare. Viruses, bacteria and
other microscopic creatures penetrate the body’s defenses.
Once inside, they feast on humans, multiply, and then go looking
for new bodies to overrun.
Over time, humans evolve new defenses or invent protections like
antibiotics and vaccines. However germs, which can breed new
generations every half hour or less, evolve rapidly to defeat
the latest defenses. Ewald argues that new antibiotics are bound
to lose ground to fast-evolving germs. … In one of his central
insights, he said genetic diseases cannot evolve and wage battle
like germs, because human genetic mutations are too rare. If a
genetic disease is both harmful and common, it should kill off
the humans who carry it and fail to replenish itself quickly
enough through mutations to persist over many successive human
generations. Therefore, Ewald reasoned, widespread ailments like
heart disease, cancer and many mental illnesses should stem
mainly from evolving germs, not bad genes. …AP Jan 2001.
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9)
A RAY OF LIGHT FOR BLOOD SUPPLY REVOLUTIONARY PROCESS KILL HIV,
OTHER DISEASES
A
venture that began in a scientist’s garage in Berkeley, CA,
appears to be on the verge of revolutionizing blood donations by
using a beam of light to quickly kill viral bugs, including the
AIDS virus. The process, known as Helinx, uses ultraviolet light
to fire a genetic “bullet” that kills any virus, bacterium
or parasite by attacking the DNA or RNA, the strands of genetic
code at the heart of the cell. Successful tests in hundred of
patients across the nation are raising hopes that the nation’s
blood supply could soon be rid of the killer viruses and,
perhaps more important, bugs linked to similar but yet unknown
diseases.
For third world nations where AIDS is more common and blood
testing more primitive, the technology promises a quick and
inexpensive method for stopping the spread of the lethal
disease. The process rids donated blood of everything that is
DNA-driven, from malaria to hepatitis. … The process is
promising partly because it’s simple. … Impact beyond the
blood supply. … The company has high hopes for the method as a
cancer treatment. The technique is being tested in trials
designed to create a vaccine against the Epstein-Barr virus. By
exposing the coronary artery tissue to the compound and then the
light, the arteries may stay open after an angioplasty. When you can turn off DNA with the touch of a light switch,
… “the mountain is endless.” USA TODAY Newspaper stories
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10)
TESTIMONIAL ON THE ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT
Fred
Roser, President, Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning
Association of Kentucky … In an Enhance-It American-Lights® Roll-Out, Mr. Roser, of Franz HVAC Services, stated that he had
studied Ultraviolet light for some time. In fact he had
installed ultraviolet lights in a bank that had been
experiencing a high degree of absenteeism due to any number of
illnesses. After the installation and subsequent operation of
the UV lamp air cleaner, the absentee rate of the bank employees
dropped dramatically. Only supervisory personnel of the bank
were aware of the system installation. The success of the UV
air cleanser in the bank convinced Mr. Roser that UV works. Mr. Roser
has subsequently installed the American-Lights® UV air cleanser
in his home to protect his family and is an avid spokesman for
Enhance-It and the American-Lights® ultraviolet air cleanser. Most recently, Mr. Roser installed
UV air cleaners in a
school system. May 2001, Lexington, KY
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