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Indoor Air Quality
by Mike Swanson, Envirohealth, Inc.
A common indoor air quality problem is determining the identity of a particular odor. Even if you narrow the possibilities down to a family of compounds, like "volatile organic compounds," you still have hundreds of particular compounds to choose from. For instance, several employees in your building report an occasional "solvent-like" odor in their department, and accompanying symptoms of burning eyes, sore throat, and headache. You suspect that the cause might be VOCs from a product that is being used in another part of the building. How would you proceed?
One approach might be to collect a grab sample using a Tedlar bag the next time the odor is reported. Have the sample analyzed by GCMS to identify the volatile components. The use of GCMS is essential because of it’s ability to identify unknown compounds. Compare the compounds detected in the sample to the hazardous components listed in the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the products used in your building. You don’t have an MSDS for every product used in your building? Now would be a great time to make sure you do, before this kind of problem surfaces. Even if your company shares a building with other companies, talk to the building manager about establishing an MSDS sharing system. Establish procedures for collecting all of the MSDS’s from each company, and store them in a location that is accessible to all. Preparing for such a problem may save you from a lot of "headaches" in the future.
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