The Latest News...

• Word on the Street
• In a pair of actions, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration attacked indoor health failures at military facilities in Martinsburg, W.Va. and White Sands, N.M.
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• Wide World of LEED
• Building green and implementing green features into existing structures has gained considerable popular and economic traction in the last several years. At the forefront of the movement, setting standards and certifications by which such changes are made, is the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System. Despite critics, LEED is positioned as a sustainability leader in a world steadily moving to a greener future.
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• Fragranced Products: Truly a Surprising Package
• Public concern continues as more unwelcome ingredients, such as asbestos and lead in children‘s toys, are discovered in a variety of imported products. A longer-running dispute continues domestically between consumers and vendors of many products boasting undisclosed ingredients.
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• ALA's State of the Union
• Since the very beginning of the smoking habit, the inhalation of tobacco smoke has been identified as a health hazard. With medical evidence mounting over the years about the addictiveness of tobacco-based nicotine and the damage done to lungs by smokers and those around them, steps have slowly been taken to reduce the risk of exposure to tobacco smoke. Age limits were placed on the sale of tobacco, advertising was regulated and, with increasing public support, even smoking in enclosed public spaces has been banned in some areas.
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• NYC Proposes Law to Regulate Monitoring Equipment
• Citing advisement by an official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the New York Police Department has moved to “license private biological, chemical and radiological detectors,” according to the New York Daily News.
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• Publisher's Perspective -- Welcome to the 100th Issue of IE Connections
• For the last 99 months, I’ve had a crappy job. Day after day without relent I have been challenged by issues like excess moisture and its huge consequences, bacterial infections, noxious fumes and confusing healthcare advice. It’s not pretty stuff.
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• Ask Dr. Burge -- How Can I Tell if the Outdoor Spore Aerosol Is "Normal?"
• This question arises when an outdoor bioaerosol source is present that may be impacting adjacent homes or other buildings. A few examples of this kind of source are municipal composting and sewage treatment facilities, municipal landfills, construction sites and, of course, farming activities. I am sure you could expand this list from your personal experiences.
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• Radon Corner -- Measuring Low Levels of Radon Inexpensively
• This past December, Dr. William Fields posed the seemingly simple question of “What is the maximum period after exposure ends that [charcoal] labs can provide reliable results?” Like many simple questions, the answers are not equally simple and at times can reveal some answers we may not want to know. This simple question may indeed be such a question. To understand the import of this question, one needs to understand how charcoal canisters, which have become a mainstay of the short-term radon-measurement industry, work.
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• IAQ in Schools -- Maintaining Healthy IAQ During the Winter
• As you read this, it has been rather cold and snowy in many areas of the United States. In previous issues, we have focused on energy and IAQ. In this one, let’s look at possible health issues during winter operation.
  To provide a healthy learning environment with good indoor air quality, a building should be reasonably clean and comfortable, not have mold growing inside it, not be over-ventilated, not be under-ventilated and have planned air flows in critical areas.
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• HVAC Systems and Building Science -- A Case Study of Unintended Consequences
• According to the Law of Unintended Consequences, every action has more than one effect and these effects always include some that are unforeseen. Indoor Environmental Technologies recently encountered an example of this law as it applies to modifications made to buildings to increase their energy efficiency.
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