We were contacted by a company in London asking for an assessment of indoor air quality for the purpose of the BREAM assessment scheme. The objectives of this assessment were to; Measure the concentration of formaldehyde in the indoor environment.Measure the concentration of total volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the indoor environment.Evaluate the site compliance [...]
Breeam Air Quality Plan for West Gordon Community Hub
At West Gorton Community hub we were called to help draw up an indoor air, BREEAM air quality plan. As part of our plan we need to describe the steps that would be taken during design construction, commissioning and handover of the community hub to ensure that the indoor air quality was acceptable. The community [...]
Respirable crystalline silica exposure in worktop manufacture
Work with natural materials and man-made materials containing quartz has a potential to exposed employees or installation engineers to significant levels of respirable crystalline silica. People working in worktop manufacturing, concrete productions, quarries and stonemasonries are usually most at risk from exposure to respirable crystalline silica. Silica is a natural substance found in most rocks, [...]
Plastic fumes during injection moulding
I have recently carried out an occupation exposure assessment in an injection moulding facility. The employees working at the facility were being exposure to low level of fumes released from the injection moulding machines. The employer was concerned about the potential health risk from the fumes and thus requested a formal evaluation. Plastics used in [...]
College Lead Survey
I have been appointed to carry out a building lead survey prior a major refurbishment of a large college. The building was quite dated and was in need to more thorough renovation. The management of the college has decided that parts of the building should be stripped and refurbished to a better standard. The refurbishment [...]
Welding fumes exposure assesment
I have recently visited a company which specialises in production of catalytic converters. The company had a fairly large production area with approximately 60 employees. The majority of the employees were engaged in welding operations with a small number working on CNC machines. All of the welding operatives were engaged in similar type of work [...]
Bacterial sampling on a production line
A cosmetic product manufacturer located in the north of the country was experiencing problems with bacterial contamination in the one of his product lines. The technical team has suspected that one of the product filling lines is not operating appropriately and may be the source of bacterial in the product. It has been decided that [...]
Basement (crawlspace ) air causing indoor air quality problems
Air quality investigation is a complex task an only rarely the investigator come across immediately obvious answer to a problem. Typical investigation will usually involve sampling for most likely contaminants in the hope that some will be present at the concentration likely to cause the experienced adverse health symptoms. Preparation and consultation with the client [...]
Un/resolved case
Indoor air quality investigation may not always produce the expected results and sometimes the results of such investigation are often inconclusive. This is particularly true in the air contamination is only one of the suspected causes of a particular problem or the airborne contaminants are present only sporadically, for short periods of time or sometimes [...]
Unusual problem – resolved
A while back I was contacted by a very nice lady living on the south coast of the country. She was very concerned about what appeared to be black mould covering approximately one third of the bedroom ceiling and extended onto one of the bedroom walls. We had a lengthy discussion about what it could [...]
