News / Health & Wellness
Mold Guidelines Developed
Clearwater-based Microbiology lab's decade-long research establishes important fundamental guidelines for air quality practitioners and consumers.
For more than twenty years, health problems stemming from building-related biological and non-biological materials have been on the rise, yet indoor air quality professionals and consumers have lacked a starting point by which to compare bacterial and fungal bioaerosol results in a presently unregulated industry. Until now.
"To date, the industry, both private and public, has not been able to establish a basis by which to measure the baseline conditions for indoor airborne bacteria and fungi," said Alan Wozniak, President and CEO of Pure Air Control Services. "With our extensive environmental background and multiple-disciplined IAQ experience spanning over 500 million square feet of residential and commercial building space, we have been able to provide bioaerosol guidelines that are being used to determine what is normal in a home or building environment."
At the recent 2005 American Industrial Hygiene Conference Expo in Anaheim, California, Dr. Rajiv Sahay announced the results of a decade-long study on airborne culturable bioaerosols in a presentation entitled "Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ): A 10-Year Case Study for Industry IEQ Guidelines" to an audience of over 450 industry professionals.
As one of about twenty-five Ph.D. aerobiologists in the world, Dr. Sahay, Laboratory Manager for the Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory (EDLab ) in Clearwater, FL, has spent the past ten years collaborating with colleagues Dr. Monroe King, Alan Wozniak, CIAQP, Francisco Aguirre, CIAQP, Dr. James Kimbrough, Mark Wozniak, MBA, CIAQP and Dr. Tomas Tamulis regarding bioaerosol issues. They collectively recognized the importance of introducing mold guidelines to assist in establishing normal background bioaerosol numbers for building indoor environments and thus began compiling data for this important aerobiological exploration.
"There are many charlatans and shamans in the indoor air quality industry today. In an unregulated industry, this can wreak havoc to the uninformed consumer," said Mr. Wozniak. "It was for that reason, among others, that we felt compelled to diligently assess our inter-relational database and provide industry guidelines."
The Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory (EDLab) has gone through the rigorous steps to become one of the elite American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) accredited (EMLAP #102795) environmental microbiology laboratories in the U.S. EDLab is the only Florida lab accredited in bacteriology, mycology and microscopy.
"Upon establishing the laboratory in 1992, it was our intent to accumulate the data derived from field analysis to begin documenting realistic microbiological guidelines and standards," said Mr. Wozniak. "Since it's inception, we have invested a lot of time and money in developing not only a state-of-the-art microbiology laboratory, but also in developing the proprietary inter-relational database called Computer Assisted Air Management Program (CAAMP) by which to compare airborne culturable bioaerosols."
Throughout the decade-long study, more than eleven thousand indoor and outdoor bacterial and fungal samples were taken in and around over seven thousand commercial and residential test sites across the
"Our industrial hygiene protocols and laboratory guidelines have been utilized in many important indoor environmental quality expert testimony cases," said Mr. Wozniak.
Dr. Sahay's suggested guidelines for airborne culturable bioaerosols for indoor environmental quality are designed to help consumers, IAQ technicians, building diagnosticians, environmental scientists and other air quality professionals gain a better understanding with relation to building conditions, indoor air quality and bio-aerobiology.
"Since Dr. Sahay's indoor environmental quality presentation, thousands of industry professionals have requested a copy of the mold guidelines; a clear indicator of the need for guidelines and standardization," stated Mr. Wozniak.
"Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ): A 10-Year Case Study for Industry IEQ Guidelines" is the first of many indoor air quality studies presented by the Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory from the data garnered over the ten-year time period.
For more information, on Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory and its services or for a copy of the 10-Year Study call (800) 422-7873 ext. 303.
Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory (EDLab ) is a division of Pure Air Control Services, Inc.
About Pure Air Control Services:
Founded in 1984 by Alan Wozniak, President/CEO in what began as a small mechanical contracting business has grown into an award winning, industry leading indoor environmental quality (IEQ) service company serving many fortune 500 corporations, school boards, county, city, state and federal governments and consumers across the US. The firm has serviced over 500 million square feet of indoor environments in over 10,000 facilities. Pure Air Control Services is under contract with the General Services Administration (GSA), Contract #GS-10F-0488R, linking them directly to federal governmental agencies as a provider for IAQ consulting, expert laboratory analysis, as well as HVAC system cleaning and mold remediation services. The firm is also a certified 8(a) MBE.
The firm has offices in
Pure Air Control Services provides the following indoor environmental services on a national basis:
· Building Sciences Evaluation
· Building Health Check
· Environmental Microbiology Laboratory (AIHA Accredited)
· Environmental Project Management
· IAQ-Screen Check Test Kits/EvaluAire and EvaluAire Pro
· Mold Remediation Services
· HVAC System Remediation
Clients of Pure Air Control Services include: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), General Services Administration (GSA), Johnson Controls, Allstate Insurance, Carrier Air Conditioning, Siemens’ Building Technologies (SBT), V.T. Griffin, Dobbins Air Force Base, Naval Air Warfare Center - Orlando, Naval Air Station - King's Bay, Georgia; The Haskell Company, Leon County Government, Tallahassee, Florida, Pinellas County Government, Clearwater, Florida; Collier County Government, Naples, Florida; Bayfront Medical Center, St. Pete, Florida; US Army - Ft. Bragg, Kentucky; Naval Station - Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Montgomery County School District, Maryland; Citrus County School District, Florida; and many others.
For additional information, please contact:
Mr. Alan Wozniak, President/CEO
Pure Air Control Services, Inc.
(800) 422-7873 x 802
www.pureaircontrols.com
www.edlab.org
www.buildinghealthcheck.com
www.indoorairtest.com
