• Not all types of asbestos-containing materials are banned by the U.S. government. Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ban the use of asbestos in some types of products, federal courts have overturned some provisions of the asbestos bans. This makes it perfectly legal to manufacture and distribute some types of asbestos-containing products.
• It is possible that some banned products may either deliberately or unknowingly be imported from other countries. That's because products in those countries can legally be manufactured with asbestos. Although the last American asbestos mine closed within the last few years, Canadian mines still operate, and Canada is a major exporter of both raw asbestos as well as asbestos-containing products.
• Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral and is sometimes present as a contaminant when mining other types of raw materials. This includes the mining of vermiculite, which is used in various building materials and consumer products. Produced at a mine in Libby, Montana, vermiculite was determined by the EPA to contain significant quantities of asbestos. A massive investigation and cleanup of the town has been ongoing through the EPA's Superfund program since 1999 and continues today. Although the Libby mine is now closed, asbestos contamination in other types of mining operations are undoubtedly occurring and some of these asbestos-contaminated raw materials eventually end up in various types of building materials and products.
• Asbestos is the asbestiform (fibrous) variety of six minerals that are regulated by the U.S. government. The six regulated fibrous minerals are chrysotile (serpentine), crocidolite (riebeckite), amosite (cummingtonite-grunerite), anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite. There are other naturally occurring minerals found in building materials that are also fibrous. Fibrous wollastonite is just one example of a non-asbestos mineral that is commonly found in building materials and products. The EPA could revise the definition of “asbestos” in the future to include additional fibrous minerals, such as wollastonite, if it is determined that the fibrous varieties of these minerals pose a health risk.

According to the notice, “EPA Asbestos Materials Ban Clarification,” the following types of asbestos-containing products are not banned in the U.S, and may therefore be found in newer and newly renovated buildings:

• Asbestos-cement corrugated sheet products
• Asbestos-cement flat sheet products
• Asbestos clothing
• Asbestos pipe line wrap
• Asbestos roofing felt
• Vinyl-asbestos floor tile
• Asbestos-cement shingles
• Millboard
• Asbestos-cement pipe
• Automatic transmission components
• Clutch facings
• Friction materials
• Disc brake pads
• Drum brake linings
• Brake blocks
• Gaskets
• Non-roofing components
• Roof coatings

Building owners who plan to renovate or demolish a building should have an asbestos inspection performed, even in newer and newly-renovated buildings.

For more information, email Glenn Potter or call him at 781-933-2555.

In the event of pandemic influenza, businesses are expected to play a key role in protecting employees' health and safety, which would do much to limit the negative impact to the economy and society.

Steps that businesses can take should a pandemic occur, as recommended by the federal government, include the following:

• Identify essential employees and other critical inputs, such as raw materials, suppliers, sub-contractor services/ products, and logistics, required to maintain business operations by location and function during a pandemic.
• Create an emergency communications plan, which includes identifying key contacts and back-ups, chain of communications, including suppliers and customers, and processes for tracking and communicating business and employee status.
• Forecast and allow for employee absences due to personal illness, family member illness, community containment measures and quarantines, school and/or business closures, and public transportation closures.
• Implement guidelines to modify the frequency and type of face-to-face contact.
• Establish policies for preventing influenza spread at the worksite, such as promoting respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette.
• Establish policies for employees who have been exposed to pandemic influenza, are suspected to be ill, or become ill at the worksite, including infection control response.
• Provide sufficient and accessible infection control supplies, including hand hygiene products, tissues, and receptacles for their disposal.
• Develop and disseminate programs and materials covering pandemic fundamentals, personal protection, and response strategies.
• Share best practices with other businesses in your communities, chambers of commerce, and associations to improve community response efforts.

For more, click here .

The World Health Organization had compiled a list of 10 things to know about pandemic flu. Here are some:

Pandemic influenza is different from avian influenza. Most avian influenza viruses do not infect humans. An influenza pandemic happens when a new subtype emerges that has not previously circulated in humans.

Influenza pandemics are rare but they are recurring events. The last one — the Hong Kong flu — occurred in 1968.

The world may be on the brink of another pandemic. Health experts have been monitoring the H5N1 strain for almost eight years. Should it evolve to a form as contagious as normal influenza, a pandemic could begin.

Widespread illness will occur. Because most people will have no immunity to the pandemic virus, infection and illness rates are expected to be higher than during seasonal epidemics of normal influenza.

Since mold growth often relates to building design, new structures ideally should be designed to systematically resist moisture and mold-related problems. That means, building owners should choose an architectural/engineering firm that has a thorough understanding of moisture control in buildings. In evaluating A/E firms, consider examples of work they have completed in varying climates, which have successfully resisted moisture and mold growth.

Most importantly, when designing the structure, the architect should specify materials that are resistant to mold in areas where there is greater potential for moisture, such as restrooms or laboratories. For example, ventilation ducts, plenums, air handling units (AHU), fan coil units, and variable air volume (VAV) boxes should have metal or non-porous, e.g., closed-cell polyethylene, liners.

Fibrous duct liner, fiberglass ducts, or fiberboard, which can hold dust and moisture and become growth sites for mold and bacteria and can shed fibers into the air, should not be used. Metal ducts and ducts with non-porous linings have the additional advantage of being able to be cleaned if cleaning becomes necessary; whereas, ducts with porous linings typically are not able to be successfully cleaned

Then, when selecting a general contractor, base your decision, in part, on the contractor's knowledge, experience, and commitment to implementing the moisture control and other design features specified by the architect/engineer.

Andy Reinach of Lyme Properties, a commercial property developer focused on biotech, based in Cambridge, Mass., says ”A mold prevention and management program is invaluable, because without it we wouldn't have a document to make people aware of events that could occur.”

He notes that providing the program to contractors during construction and property managers during operations makes them aware of mold relation issues and lets them take steps to minimize any mold may form.

“People are more aware of potential damage that mold could cause,” says Reinach. “They're taking the extra steps to protect material from moisture. Once we have a moisture event, we respond more quickly and know who to call.

Actual construction, including the scheduling of each major phase, will also have a major impact on mold prevention. The general contractor will play a critical role in minimizing potential mold problems by appropriately installing and testing key systems.

Materials such as gypsum board should not be installed near or below areas where wet processes, such as spray-applied fireproofing, concrete pouring, or cutting, are performed. Testing new plumbing, for example should be done before installing materials, including wall, flooring, and ceiling materials, that are vulnerable to mold growth.

In addition, throughout construction, the builder should take care to inspect materials for signs of mold growth. Any organically-based materials, such as wood and gypsum board, or other vulnerable materials, such as lined duct, delivered to the site should be checked for preexisting mold. Also, any wet or moldy materials delivered to the site should be rejected or quarantined if they cannot be rejected immediately. Materials that pass inspection should then be stored in a manner that protects them from the elements and minimizes the effects of high humidity. While members of the construction team can conduct inspections, it often is preferable to engage a qualified, independent third party who has been trained in all aspects of mold prevention.

Once your building is functioning, and occupants are in place, it's important to implement an ongoing mold prevention and management program. Driving the program is an understanding of sources of water and elevated humidity, as well as occupant activity involving water, within your facility.

Mold awareness training — for occupants and maintenance staff — is also vital. Knowing how occupant activity can promote mold growth, and knowing how to recognize the early signs of mold growth, will go a long way toward containing such growth and the cost of mitigating it. One of the most important steps building managers can take is instituting a system whereby water leaks are immediately reported.

Mold thrives in damp organic matter and mold growth media can vary widely. Examples of media that can support mold growth include stagnant water, damp wood, backing on carpet and carpet pads, cellulose ceiling tiles, and paper facing on gypsum board. Interior finishes such as vinyl cove base and vinyl wall coverings may hold moisture against gypsum board or wood, thus enhancing the conditions for mold growth. Current industry standards and guidelines recommend that any porous water-damaged materials (e.g., gypsum board, carpet) that remain wet for more than 24 to 48 hours be removed to minimize the potential for subsequent mold growth.

Regular interior building inspections will help identify mold problems in their early stages when mitigation is easiest. Key areas to inspect include mechanical rooms, laboratories, custodial closets, kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, washing facilities, and indoor decorative fountains, all of which are sources of water and humidity.

Inspections should cover plumbing and HVAC systems, all interior spaces, and stored materials, using visual observations and tools such as moisture meters. For example, mold may be hidden from view but exist in backing on carpet and carpet pads, cellulose ceiling tiles, and paper facing on gypsum board. Interior finishes such as vinyl cove base and vinyl wall covering may hold moisture against gypsum board or wood, enhancing the conditions for mold growth.

Similarly, exterior inspections — of the building envelope and exterior sources of water that could enter the building — are also key preventive maintenance steps.

Maintaining equipment, as well as critical exterior components, such as roofs, windows, and other openings in the building envelope, is essential. Be sure to follow maintenance recommendations from manufacturers, architects, and engineers.

Should mold growth be found, it should be treated promptly. Your response should rely on a designated team of respondents charged with the responsibility of mitigating the situation. You should communicate promptly and clearly with occupants, letting them know the nature of the problem, your plan to mitigate it, and what they should or should not do.

Be sure also to complete a written record of each incident. That record should include a description of the problem, including when and where it occurred, mitigation actions taken, new procedures developed and implemented to minimize the risk of recurrence, and the means by which you will measure compliance and effectiveness.

For more information, email Carrie Swift or call her at 781-933-2555.

Recycling building materials requires adhering to regulatory guidelines. In addition to requirements regarding testing for asbestos and other hazardous materials, building codes in some areas may prevent use of used materials, such as studs, as structural members. Nonstructural members, such as trim and siding, may not be regulated.

Following are general guidelines, which will save time and expense when recycling:

Before engaging in a recycling project, determine who will accept the waste you intend to recycle. This will tell you how to separate different categories of waste.

Set up containers for material recycling up on site and clearly label them. While some containers should be covered to protect contents from rain, others should be locked to prevent tampering.

Train construction personnel in material sorting policy. Part of their job is to periodically monitor collection containers to prevent mixing different types of waste.

Designing to prevent waste in the first place reduces the need to recycle. If you can, work with the designer or architect to:

• Specify standard sizes for all building materials.
• Use materials that can be easily disassembled at the end of their life.
• Use durable interior finishes or materials that can be easily removed and recycled if they need replacement.
• To the extent possible, design spaces to have multiple uses.

To access a comprehensive set of energy and environmental guidelines for construction from the U.S. Department of Energy, click here .

Asbestos and lead contamination, noise and chemical exposure, indoor air quality, OSHA compliance, and related issues are some of the areas addressed by industrial hygienists.

It is the industrial hygienist's job to know how to measure the environment and how to assess risk. Solutions may be as simple as stopping an annoying odor by filling a dry floor drain trap with water, or may lead to designing complex sampling strategies and making detailed assessments of short- and long-term health risks. Industrial hygienists specialize in determining the actual pathways by which people are exposed — and what is or is not a workplace hazard — using good science to accurately appraise concerns.

Communication is a key component of effective industrial hygiene practice. This means the more people understand the hazards of the substances they work with, the more careful they can be. Bringing professional industrial hygiene perspective into workplace communications can help to alleviate unnecessary concerns or create understanding about correct procedures for ensuring a safe work environment.

Effective methods of communication can range from one-on-one discussions, to small or large group meetings, to traditional training methods, to email and web-based information systems. All of these methods have been used to educate and to communicate risk in today's work environments.

New hazards are being brought to the attention of the public every day, so there's a never-ending need to educate and alert people to industrial hygiene issues. A skilled industrial hygienist brings expertise to interpreting standards and communicating risk or the absence of risk in the workplace and in the community.

For more information, email Ann Eckmann or call her at 781-933-2555.

• Define your environment's filtration efficiency requirements.
• Identify filter options to meet your filter efficiency needs.
• Select filters with the lowest initial pressure drop.
• Determine annual operating cost by considering both the initial and final pressure drops.
• Determine the lowest cost option by comparing total costs of the filter, e.g. filter price plus energy cost.

The key factors affecting filter performance, according to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), are:

• Pressure drop, which relates air flow and energy cost. A low pressure drop requires less energy to push air through the filter, increasing energy efficiency. A high pressure drop reduces air flow to the HVAC unit, requiring more energy to maintain the desired air flow. Even filters with the same particle removal efficiency can have very different pressure drop characteristics.
• A filter's MERV rating (Minimum Efficiency Recorded Value) relates to its particle removal efficiency at various particle sizes. The ASHRAE 52.2 standard measures the fractional particle size efficiency (PSE) of an HVAC filter. This indicates the filter's ability to remove airborne particles of differing sizes between 0.3 and 10 microns in diameter. It states a filter's minimum efficiency rating - unlike previous efficiency ratings that listed an average efficiency rating. (Since the filter is most efficient after it builds up a layer of dirt, the average efficiency rating can be misleading since it does not reflect the lower efficiency that exists before a dirt layer has built up on the filter, as discussed below).
• Dust-holding capacity indicates how much dust a filter can hold until a specified pressure drop is reached. Higher capacity translates into longer filter life. When evaluating dust-holding capacity, it's important to compare dust-holding capacities between filters at the same final pressure drops to make accurate comparisons of projected filter life.

ASHRAE has issued two HVAC filter testing standards, ASHRAE 52.1 and the newer standard, ASHRAE 52.2, that are intended to assist end-users in the selection of appropriate air filtration products. When selecting filters, one should pay attention to the MERV rating. This is a numerical system – from 1 to 16 – that rates filters based on the minimum particle removal efficiency for a given particle size. A rating of 16 is the most efficient filter.

According to Alan Ouellet. of Filter Sales and Service, Inc., low efficiency filters, MERV 1 to 5 are designed to keep lint and dust from clogging the heating and cooling coils of an HVAC system. Medium and high efficiency filters, MERV 6 to 15, help remove bacteria, pollen, soot and other small particulates that can affect health. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Standard PM2.5 recognizes that particles as fine as 2.5 microns in diameter pose a potential health risk. Medium and high efficiency filters in the MERV 11 to 15 range are capable of removing such particles.

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, most filters achieve higher filtration efficiency after a dirt layer has built up on them, according to Ouellet. This usually occurs after 30 days or more in service. Some filter types offer high initial and sustained efficiency. New technology in the media and design of air filters offer a wide range of products with enhanced performance. If you are using the same filter you did ten years ago chances are there is something better available. Filter manufacturers have been responding to indoor air quality requirements with filters of higher efficiency and lower operating costs.

Many filter users today are selecting filters based on the LCC. With as much as 80% of the total cost of filtration being energy consumption, a small savings in pressure drop or resistance to air flow can amount to significant savings and make the actual price of the filter pale in comparison.