Sick Building Syndrome
Modern Day Dilemma

Pollen, moldspores, bacteria, tobacco smoke, formaldehyde, methylene chloride, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, particles, hydrocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, benzene, ozone, and bioaerosols are some examples of possible contributors to Sick Building Syndrome.

Pollution Sources Contributing to Sick Building Syndrome

The key to whether you have a sick building or healthy home may depend on your Attic space.

Combustion Pollutants

All three of these combustion pollutants may be formed when heating or gas fired appliances do not operate or vent properly. When inhaled, Methylene Chloride may also breakdown to form Carbon Monoxide as well. Methylene Chloride is a common toxic solvent used in many paint products like strippers.

Biological pollutants produce the symptoms consistant with Sick Building Syndrome by three main pathways:

• Toxicosis involving the toxic effects from toxic chemicals produced and released by biological organisms such as toxic black mold, mildews, bacteria, and other microbes.
• Infection of human hosts whereby pathogens like bacteria or viruses invade the body and attack tissues.
• Hypersensitivity as a result of the body's immune responce to Biological invaders like viruses or bacteria.

Common contributors to biological air pollutants becoming a problems usually revolve around the production of excess liquid water or water vapor where it doesn't belong in the home. Some examples are as follows:

• water damage to homes from flooding or storm damage.
• leaks in plumbing, roofs, or from air conditioners or HVAC systems.
• condensation on central air pipes, HVAC components, or other cool surfaces where insulation may not be present, is insufficient, or has become damaged. Uninsulated air conditioning coils or pipes will "sweat" the most when hot humid air contacts them such as during warm months.
• ice damming on building roofs which allows water to seap under shingles and through roof sheathing.
• dehumidifiers and humidifiers.
• pets
• moisture from unvented or poorly vented kitchens and bathrooms.
• poor insulation causing drafts or the "chimney effect".
• defective heating and air systems such as clogged condensation drain lines and full drip pans.

Low VOC Non-Toxic Paint Volatile organic compounds (VOC) off-gasing from the paint on the walls of your home or office may be one of the biggest contributors to your Sick Building Syndrome symptoms. Reduce indoor air pollution from VOC emissions by using only non-toxic paint certified as no-VOC or low-VOC. Here's our guide to VOC emitting paints including a list of leading manufacturers of low VOC, non-toxic paint.

Examples of Volatile Organic Compounds
Some examples of specific VOCs are perchloroethylene, formaldehyde, benzene, household solvents, pesticides, ammonia, and many cleaning agents contained within common household products. Of particular concern is Formaldehyde which is a very common VOC in most homes yet is one of the most dangerous since it's a strong respiratory irritant and carcinogen as well!

Cigarette smoke is another major source of not only VOCs, but also thousands of toxic chemicals, hundreds of carcinogens, and very fine soot like particles that penetrate deeply into the lungs. Cigarette smoke also contains toxic heavy metals and even radioactive isotopes like Americium which is absorbed by tobacco plants from the soil and injected directly into the deepest recesses of your lungs with every breath you take of environmental tabacco smoke (ETS). If you are skeptical about this, following is an interesting anecdote to prove that cigarette smoke contains these radioactive particles...

Radioactive Smoke?
In the inorganic laboratory in which the home air purifier expert frequently resides we are required to wear what are known as "RAD badges" in order to record our potential exposures to radiation from instruments such as our XRF unit. After having the radiation badges tested for dose, it was noticed that for some reason several lab personnel had elevated levels of radiation exposure, enough to be of concern. It didn't take long to find a trend which showed that the only Rad badge wearers with elevated radiation levels were all those who smoked. It turns out that the Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) and second-hand smoke from their cigarettes was the culprit. The smoke was exposing the badges (worn on lab coat pockets) to radioactive decay energy from such isotopes as Americium carried within their cigarette smoke particles. This trend of elevated radiation dose for lab cigarette smokers persists each and every time our Rad badge results come back. Yet another reason I am happy not to be a smoker!

Radon + Cigarette Smoke = DEATH!
It's a no brainer that if cigarette smoking is allowed in your home or your work place, the symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome may well be due to inhalation of the second hand smoke and possibly a synergistic interaction of Environmental Tobacco Smoke with other air pollutants. But besides the acute affects of cigarette smoke, there are deadly chronic affects too. For example, smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the U.S. Now consider that the SECOND leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the U.S. is Radon. Radon is a very dangerous gas resulting from the radioactive decay of Uranium within the Earth's crust. If you smoke cigarettes AND you breath elevated levels of Radon over the longterm the odds are in favor of you developing Lung Cancer or other potentially deadly lung disease.

Radon is detectable in almost every home in the U.S. and is a very big public health concern depending on how much is entering a particular building. Unless you test for Radon gas levels you will never know how much you are breathing because Radon is odorless, colorless, and produces no emmediate symptoms. However, if you are exposed regularly to cigarette smoke AND you are also exposed to elevated Radon gas levels at the same time, you have a MUCH MUCH HIGHER RISK OF LUNG CANCER than with either exposure separately. This is an example of a synergistic interaction between indoor air pollutants. There are many well documented cases suggesting death rates from lung cancer is statistically elevated upon exposure to both high Radon and cigarette smoke together over longterm periods.

KEEP SMOKERS OUTSIDE IF POSSIBLE and if you smoke QUIT SMOKING!!!
Oh, and have your home tested for Radon gas levels.

VOCs are amoung the smallest and most damaging of indoor air pollutants. Because of their molecular size, Volatile Organic Compounds will pass straight through even the best HEPA air filter. Therefore, most home air purifiers and air duct filters will not help to reduce these very damaging gases in your air. Special gas-phase filters containing Activated Carbon, Zeolite, Potassium Permanganate, or other special sorbent materials are required to remove VOCs from indoor air. The absolutely best home air purifier brand with models able to filter gaseous VOCs as well as near 100% of all the other indoor air pollutants that may be contributing to symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome is IQAIR.

VOC Destroying Ionic Air Purifier
Besides gas-phase cartridges that absorb Volatile Organic Compounds, there is a new ionic home air purifier technology availble which may be even more effective. It is known as Hydroxyl Radical purification and it may be particularly effective for neutralizing airborne VOCs. However, even more promising is the evidence suggestion that Hydroxyl Radicals may even neutralize the sources from which the VOCs are emitted, such as from paint on walls, particle board, carpeting, or plastics.

Hydroxyl Radicals are powerful oxidizers which react with the VOC molecules to break them down into much less damaging by-products. Like Ozone molecules emitted by Ozone air purifiers, commercial Ozone generators, and some ionic air purifiers, Hydroxyl Radicals seek out and destroy many of the gases that cause Sick Building Syndrome. However, unlike dangerous Ozone gas, Hydroxyl Radicals do not persist for hours or days or cause tissue damage like Ozone can.

This ability to neutralize VOCs at their source while emitting virtually no Ozone is what makes the Japanese-made Sharp Plasmacluster FP-N60CX the best ionic air purifier available on the market today. It is also very quiet and includes a large amount of activated carbon in a WASHABLE gas-phase filter which enable the capture of yet more of the potentially thousands of different VOC gases. There's also a washable pre-filter and a very high quality HEPA filter to catch almost 100% of lung penetrating particles down to 0.3 microns in size. These washable filters mean that replacement filters may not be needed for up to five years! This together with its energy efficiency makes the Plasmacluster a very cost effective purifier, and the hybrid ionic-HEPA air filter system make it an effective method of combating Sick Building Syndrome. Though it can only be one part of a wise air purification strategy involving ventillation, air cleaning, and source control.

As effective as the Plasmacluster air purifier might be, it is unreasonable to think that it alone will be able to capture or destroy all indoor air pollutants that may cause Sick Building Syndrome. Therefore, the most logical way to keep VOCs from making your building and you sick is by practicing source control. In other words, identify and elliminate as many sources of chemicals vapors as is practical. One of the major hallmarks of the human race is our use of man-made chemicals to manipulate and create unique environments. Therefore, due to our "chemical romance" you should not expect to be able to elliminate all chemical or VOC sources. So you should just try to identify and reduce the major sources where practical.

Here are some major sources of Volatile Organic Compounds in the home to watch out for:

VOCs may become a particular problem when a building is being renovated or constructed because many of the above sources are much more likely to be used and become airborne. Extremes in temperature and humidity also affect the release of Volatile Organic Compounds.

Older buildings are often sick buildings because of many of the above contributors such as mold. However, they may also contain two of the most toxic heavy metals - Lead and Mercury. You definately don't want these two inorganic contributors to Sick Building Syndrome in your home or work place! They probably aren't much of a problem if the building you are in was built after the early 1990s.

Indoor paint manufactured prior to 1990 and outdoor latex paint manufactured prior to 1991 may contain Mercury (element symbol Hg from latin word Hydrargyrum) which was added to paint primarily because Mercury is an effective fungicide and biocide. In fact there is controversy over the continued use of Mercury in vacinations and medical solutions for these same anti-fungal and biocidic properties. Mercury causes a host of health problems including birth defects, abnormal behavioral changes, and permanent neurological damage.

Lead (element symbol PB from latin word Plumbum) is another common problem in older buildings because prior to 1978 it was still being added to paints. Lead-based paint in older structures are still a major problem particularly when the residues are disturbed and become airborne such as during rehab, renovation, or construction projects. Lead-based paint test kits are available to homeowners and will help identify these toxic residues. Otherwise, it's wise to assume all older paint residues may contain these toxic heavy metals and thus should never be disturbed. Seek professional assistance. Lead-based paint removal should only be attempted by certified professionals who use special HEPA vacuum cleaners and are trained to follow strict containment and disposal protocols to keep airborne lead exposure to a minimum.

Several household products still may contain some Lead or Mercury. For example, some hair coloring products contain Lead and concrete mixes may contain some Mercury.

Overall, unless your building or home is older, is being renovated, or is deteriorating, heavy metals probably aren't the most likely contributors to Sick Building Syndrome.

Are My Symptoms Due to Sick Building Syndrome?

If just one person seems to have problems in a particular building or part of a building yet no one else is effected, it is possible that that person may suffer from a particular allergy or sensitivity to something in the building. That does not mean that the building is necessarily a sick building.

A common example of the above distinction is with someone who suffers from what's known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). These individuals are extremely sensitive to one or many airborne chemical vapors, particularly the VOCs mentioned above. Just because they get a whif of Methylene Chloride from a fresh paint job at work and fall ill only when on the clock does not inherently indicate Sick Building Syndrome. These individuals will usually have a history of symptoms in other situations unrelated to the building in question. It's important to be able to differentiate between isolated sensitivities and group symptoms because Sick Building Syndrome mitigation can require significant structural, mechanical, or logistical remedies, most of which can be potentially very costly.

I Suspect Sick Building Syndrome, So What Can Owners or Occupants Do About Building-related Illness?

For more information about Sick Building Syndrome or anything else for that matter, please feel free to contact the home air purifier expert.

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