Sick Building Syndrome - What you can't see can harm you?

PRLog (Press Release) – Sep 24, 2007 – Conventional wisdom says that, if a definite cause cannot be identified for a "sick building" problem, it must be the fault of the energy (HVAC) system. If you accept that premise, you have fallen into a "logic trap".


Indoor levels of air pollutants can be 2-5 times higher, and occasionally 100 times higher, than outdoor levels. IAQ's expertise is in identifying and eliminating environment -related reactions or allergies.


Challenging the "Logic Trap"

It's time to challenge the assumptions, which lead to this unsatisfactory conclusion. The Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) in a building and the energy system are inextricably bound, but, contrary to popular belief, the energy system is seldom the cause of IEQ problems. A poorly designed or maintained system definitely contributes by creating conditions which encourage the spread and severity of problems, but the source and blame for most IEQ problems lies elsewhere.

The Fuzzy Gray Stuff

Microorganisms (or microbes) are part of our everyday lives and environments. By definition, in their smallest form they are microscopic or too small to see with the naked eye. By the time they are large enough to see, you aren't looking a one microorganism; you are looking at hundreds or millions. At that point the question isn't whether or not you have microbial contamination. You do! The appropriate questions are: "How bad?" and "How dangerous are the organisms?"

In indoor environments, microbes are found on all environmental surfaces, in the air and in water associated with both normal and catastrophic situations. The few highly publicized outbreaks of Legionnaires Disease and the more complex indoor issues of today such as Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and Building Related Illness (BRI) have begun to put microbiologists and microbiological sciences in the headlines and on the line.

BRI Defined

Technically, Building Related Illness (BRI) is defined as the clinical manifestation of occupant exposure to excessive airborne pollutants in a building. The array of typical symptoms includes headaches, burning eyes, fatigue, dizziness, flu-like maladies and upper respiratory complaints. Although these symptoms can by generated by many different things, all can be caused by microorganisms, and more and more frequently these microbes, especially fungi, are being implicated as primary and contributory factors.

If you are currently suffering from environment-related symptoms, and seek to find the root cause - and would like to track down the source9s)t, visit the following links for more information :http://www.iaqsg.com/Diagnostics-Indoor-Environmenta-Qua ...