AGENCY REPORTS ON CURRENT IAQ ACTIVITIES

American Lung Association of Los Angeles County (ALA-LAC)  -- David Berger (dmberger@earthlink.net)

• Tools for Schools Mentors. The ALA-LAC has recruited 15 professionals from the Southern California Section of the AIHA to mentor Los Angeles County schools implementing the U.S. EPA's IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit. Planning is underway to train the volunteers to serve as IAQ Mentors for a one year period. See Attachment A.

• Responding to Media Coverage on Public Health Issues. David Berger presented a promotional video developed as an Alpine Independent Contractor sales tools. The video contained a recent local news segment (KCOP, Channel 13, L.A.) on mold. The news report presented a very dramatic angle on the dangers from mold exposure. The typical public air quality concern handled by ALA-LAC has to do with residential indoor air issues. The nature of calls ranges from residential air filtration devices to biologicals and allergens and less occasionally asbestos and radon. When KCOP-TV ran a series of reports on mold, our office was inundated with over 600 calls in a few days. Clearly, this indicated to us that there is a unfulfilled public demand for information on IAQ. However, there needs to be a more proactive and less "sensational" method of dissemination.

• ALA Clean Air Summit. ALA-LAC is participating in the planning of ALA of California's Clean Air Summit, scheduled in San Diego during August, 1998

• Indoor Cooking Emissions Study. CARB is in the process of contracting with Arcadis, Geraghty, and Miller (previously Accurex) for a study of indoor residential cooking emissions and the potential exposures of house occupants to those emissions. The principal investigator, Dr. Roy Fortman, will measure particles of all sizes up to 10 m, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, trace elements and fatty acids (as markers) that are emitted during various cooking activities such as frying, broiling, baking, and microwaving. They will measure the pollutants very near the stove and in several other areas of the house such as the kitchen and the main living area. They will also measure the cook's personal exposures, and will test the effectiveness of various mitigation measures in reducing air concentrations and exposures.

• Indoor Standards and Guidelines Tables. Indoor Program staff are compiling tables of existing indoor air quality standards and guidelines for many indoor pollutants, both for general use and for use by the Indoor Air Quality Technical Committee convened by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. to develop indoor air quality-related standards for products and materials used indoors. The tables include personal exposure standards and guidelines as well. The tables will serve as a valuable quick reference for such standards and guidelines, and refer the reader to many additional, original sources of information. We would appreciate review of the tables by all interested CIWG members, both to check the accuracy of the numerical values in them and to provide comments on how they might be made more useful to other groups. Contact Dorothy Shimer at CARB at 916-327-8693, or dshimer@arb.ca.gov, if they do not have copies and are interested in reviewing the tables.

• Underwriters Laboratories' Indoor Product Standard Progress. UL's General Standard Workgroup met this spring and continues to make progress toward developing indoor air quality standards for indoor products and materials. The General Workgroup is compiling definitions, exposure and risk assessment information, measurement methods, and other relevant information and compiling it into a general guidance document for other UL workgroups to use as they develop standards for specific products. The Indoor Air Cleaners Workgroup has made considerable progress, but the vacuum cleaners workgroup is stymied by opposition from some vacuum cleaner manufacturers. UL's Technical Committee will re-convene this coming fall to hear updates on progress of the three workgroups and to grapple with some of the difficult issues that have arisen in the workgroups' endeavors.

• Final Reports on Research Projects. A final report on a modeling study of Californians' exposures to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in the 1980s and the late 1990s has been completed and should be available this fall. Dr. Bill Nazaroff and his students examined the exposures of California nonsmokers to a number of VOCs listed as toxic air contaminants that are emitted in ETS. When they considered the impact of AB13 (which prohibits smoking in nearly all workplaces in California), the decrease in smoking prevalence in the state over the last decade, and other societal changes, they found that California adults' exposures to those VOCs from ETS had dropped considerably, and that children's exposures had also decreased, but to a lessor extent. Final reports are expected to be completed by the end of the year on CARB's study of pollutant levels inside vehicles driven on California roadways and on a study of emissions from carpets, vinyl flooring, and paints.

• Toxic Air Contaminants. At their July Board meeting, the Air Resources Board will consider diesel exhaust for identification as a toxic air contaminant. Indoor Program staff used a population exposure model developed under contract to estimate Californians' exposures to diesel exhaust particles. Substances that may be reviewed in the next few years under the Toxic Air Contaminants Program include methyl-tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), crystalline silica, selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and styrene, and perhaps a few others such as fine mineral fibers or ethyl acrylate. More Calls. EHIB staff continue to field calls from members of the general public as well a s county health departments concerning questions about indoor molds and their possible health consequences. It appears that news media (particularly TV news) is continuing to play up the issue of deadly molds in homes.

• Unvented Gas-fired Heaters. In early June, IAQ staff held a technical workshop, attended by health experts, appliance manufacturers, gas utilities, and other stakeholders. The aim of the workshop was to review technical issues that will affect the development standards. The 1½ day meeting was organized around four topics: i) Health concerns of combustion appliances and appropriate exposure limits for emissions; ii) Performance and exposures; iii) Modeling & testing; and iv) Installation requirements. For each of the topic, Greg Traynor (DHS contractor) summarized his progress on the evaluation of relevant issues. The discussion among participants was open and helped to identified areas of prime importance and potential contention among stakeholders.

 
• TRDRP Research Proposal Not Funded. We learned that our proposal with LBNL, Evaluation of Office ETS Exposure in Relation to AB13 (Leon Alevantis, PI) was not be funded by the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program for the 1998 grant

 
• Conference Presentation. Jed Waldman gave a presentation on IAQ Health Effects at the Indoor Environment '98 Conference in Washington D.C. in April.

 
• Presentations on ACGIH Bioaerosols. Janet Macher gave two presentations on the forthcoming ACGIH book, Bioaerosols: Assessment and Control, including a 4-h forum at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exhibit in May and a 2-h tutorial at the American Association for Aerosol Research in June.

 
• Richmond Laboratory Facility. The groundbreaking for the RLF Phase I will occur sometime this summer. The Environmental Health Laboratory Branch is to be included in Phase II. Because of delays, there is the possibility that occupancy of the two phases will be merged, rather than have the staged occupancy originally planned. All the DHS laboratory units are expected to vacate 2151 Berkeley Way by the end of 2001.

• Radon in Schools. The IAQS' report on annual radon concentration measurements conducted by the California Radon Program (Dave Quinton et al.) has been completed. It is undergoing Departmental review and is expected to be release soon. As mentioned in the previous minutes, the results indicate that approximately 1% of California elementary school classrooms could be expected to be measured to have annual radon concentrations above the EPA action level (4 picoCurie per liter). The estimate is that 4.7% of schools statewide might be expected to have at least one classroom above the action level.

• The Hazard Evaluation System & Information Service (HESIS) has been concentrating a great deal of effort on Medical Sharps, concerned with preventing transmission of blood borne pathogens to health care workers. The main item related to IAQ has been some work-in-progress about (outdoor) dust contaminated with coccidiomycosis, and protection of construction workers exposed to this dust. Because of the wet winter, parts of the Central Valley are especially risky this year for cocci exposure. We plan to have a fact sheet available on this hazard soon. HESIS is also involved in investigating a food producer that apparently experienced a mass carbon monoxide poisoning episode in February. Propane forklifts were used indoors in a packing/shipping operation. The employer has changed to electrical forklifts and instituted other controls to prevent a repeat of this type of incident.

• Meetings are being held on possible changes to state regulations on blood borne pathogens and air contaminants. There have been recent revisions in OSHA regulations on respirators and TB. See Attachment B (not on web).

• The CEC is in the process of formulating requirements that would allow for specific reductions in air leakage through the ducts and envelopes of new residential buildings. Such air leakage reductions would lead to air tightness above existing levels for new homes. Staff is in the process of analyzing the related proposals for any significant impacts on occupant health. Refer to the Proposed Negative Declaration on the revisions to the Commission document entitled, "Alternative Calculation Methods Approval Manual," which address compliance with our energy efficiency standards. This can be found on our web site:  http://www.energy.ca.gov/98standards/documents/ACM/INDOOR07.PDF.

• The Elihu Harris State Building Green Committee (GBC) met on the April 15 with DGS and contractors for the Elihu Harris State Building (EHSB), Oakland, The GBC was informed that:

a. Work is ongoing to complete material installation/application in the building.
b. Partitions and workstations were installed on only a few floors.

The GBC has studied the list of materials used during the building construction and are concerned that the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from these materials may cause health effects in sensitive individuals. To calculate an accurate flushout time for the building, it is necessary to have information on the amount of materials used (those that emit VOCs), and the time of their application. A flushout is normally performed after the building is completed and all VOC-emitting materials are installed/applied. In the case of the EHSB, the installation/application of materials is still not completed in many floors and is continuing. As a result, the GBC felt that a flushout time calculated from the limited data provided will be at best be a rough estimate and compromised by uncertainties. The State of Washington has building specifications that requires all newly constructed public buildings be flushed out with fresh air at ambient temperature for 90 d prior to occupancy.

In a study done to evaluate the efficacy of such a flushout in a new office building (6 floors, 339,000 sq ft.), changes in indoor air contaminants levels over the flushout period were recorded (Burt et al., 1996). That building had many similarities to the EHSB but on a smaller scale. Data from this study showed that total VOC and acetaldehyde concentrations decreased to about baseline (outside) levels after 4 weeks of flushout. For formaldehyde, the mean concentration decreased by about 50% after 4 weeks of flushout; this was probably due to its slow release from particle board and other materials. The study also shows that addition of partitions and new furniture to the floors (during the 5th and 7th week of flushout) causes the levels of these contaminants to rise.

Based on Burt et al., the GBC recommends the flushout time of at least 4 weeks for the EHSB. We have been in contact with DGS' Office of Buildings and Grounds, Health and Safety Services concerning air sampling for the flushout process. We will be working with Lance Lister, CIH, in the flushout measurements. The following flushout conditions are recommended:
a. Flushout Period: 24 hours/day, for at least 4 weeks
b. Outside Air: 100%
c. Temperature: Ambient
d. Ventilation Rate: 3 air changes/ hour

It is important to know the limitations of this flushout process. The flushout can only remove contaminants that are already emitted into the indoor environment. It is most useful for removing chemical contaminants that have high short-term (within days) emission factors such as in most paints, adhesive and carpets. The 4-week flushout recommended (or the 90-d flushout used by the State of Washington) will not completely remove formaldehyde or other chemicals leaching from products such as particle board, as these chemicals can take a long time to be completely released.

• IAQ Tools for Schools. Region 9 participation in the roundtable discussion of asthma in schools previously presented by the ALA of SF/San Mateo for the Bayview/Hunters Point (BV/HP) area of SF continues to bear fruit. All the schools in the neighborhood are eager to participate in the EPA "six school" pilot project. (These pilot schools will benefit from a "walk-through" by a highly-qualified IAQ professional.) The BV/HP community has become a driving force within the SFUSD to encourage a more proactive approach to IAQ. Shelly Rosenblum has been assisting the SFUSD in its drafting of an IAQ Policy, which will be presented to the SF School Board on August 11th. Shelly notes that while the Policy is fuzzy in technical detail, it is strong in that it clearly states that schools house a potentially sensitive population and that the Board's goals will be to address the needs of that population, not just a "healthy average" student or staff member. The policy also states that it is the Board's or decision makers' duty is to be aware of health implications of actions that in the past were considered unrelated to health.

• School IAQ/Grants. Region IX has awarded a small grant to the American Lung Association of Los Angeles County (ALA-LAC) for their "IAQ Tools for Schools" (IAQ TFS) Mentor Program. They are working with the Southern California section of the AIHA to provide "mentor" assistance during the first year of school site IAQ TFS program implementation. A "train the trainer" workshop will be provided to AIHA volunteer mentors on August 25-26 in Los Angeles. Additional funding was recently awarded by the R9 Regional Administrator, bringing the total EPA contribution to $21K. ALA-LAC is matching the grant with at least $14K, a testament to their commitment to this issue.

 
• Healthy Homes Grant. The EPA Region IX Administrator is providing $18K to the Alameda County Lead Program for the next step in its Healthy Homes intervention project.

 
• Child Health Champion Pilot Project. EPA HQ has awarded $135K to the ALA-LAC to work with the Mothers of East LA and the LA City Dept. of Environmental Management on KICK Asthma L.A., a project to address environmental asthma triggers as well as asthma management in East Los Angeles. A similarly-funded project in Nogales, AZ will focus on a variety of environmental health issues for children. R9 is providing technical review.

 
• Training. A series of training workshops was presented for R9 by the U of Tulsa training center during the week of June 15-19. Included was a pilot workshop on restoration from floods, sewage and mold, presented by members of the Remediation business. This promises to be a very useful workshop after some minor changes in the curriculum. Attendance at all these workshops was smaller than some past "SRO" presentations, which presented increased opportunities for Q & A and networking.

 
• Mold. A Public Forum on molds and homes was presented in Roseville, CA on June 20, and attended by over 240 people. This remarkable event was initiated by a organizationally unaffiliated community member, Teresa Codina. Ms. Codina had received past technical assistance from our program as well as from Dr. Sandra McNeel of DHS-EHIB. Dr. McNeel and R9's Barbara Spark were among the 7 speakers at the 3+ hour event. The Forum was announced by the Sacramento Bee and covered by all Sacramento area television stations. The follow-up Sac Bee article quoted Barbara "cautioning people to educate themselves and not to overreact..." In a show of hands, a very large proportion of the 240 people attending the meeting indicated that they currently had mold problems in their homes, and a substantial proportion of this group indicated that their doctors had said that their health problems were mold-related. Our office continues to get a steady stream of mold calls from the Sacramento area, primarily from homeowners in tracts with apparent construction-related moisture problems.

 
• Workshops on Mold Issues. On July 29^th, a workshop entitled The Sick Building: Coping With Health And Maintenance Issues From Mold, Mildew And Fungus -Diagnoses And Cure will be presented at the Claremont Hotel in Oakland by the State Bar Association and the Community Associations Institute (a trade organization for developers, homeowners associations, property managers, attorneys, and public officials). The program for this two-hour evening program was assembled by a local attorney who has become active in mold issues and is serving to raise awareness of mold/health problems in the legal and private housing community. Barbara Spark will introduce speakers James Craner, MD, Greg Raymond, CIH, and attorneys Marc Fong and Dan Smith. There will be a fee charged. For information call 415-647-5211, ask about the "July 29 program". It is likely that similar programs will be provided in the Central Valley and southern California.


An unusual and rather affordable ($245/public officials) program on Cleaning for Healthy Indoor Environments will be presented October 15-17, 1998 in Seattle, WA by the Mid-Atlantic Environmental Hygiene Resource Center. For a brochure, call (215) 387-4096 or visit http://www.libertynet.org/mehrc/cleaning.htm.

• Outreach Presentations. Barbara Spark was the dinner speaker at the March meeting of the Southern California section of the AIHA, on The Mold Scare: Media Hype or Emerging Public Health Concern? The LA County Dept. of Environmental Health took advantage of this S. Cal visit by organizing a half-day workshop on Mold and requiring attendance by 35 middle-managers. Dr. Sandra McNeel of DHS-EHIB joined Barbara on the program. Barbara also raised the mold/health issue at the May 29th workshop on Asthma in California.

Indoor Environmental Quality in Schools. -- Jed Waldman (waldman@cal-iaq.org)

• The committee has finalized its report entitled: Indoor Environmental Quality in Schools: Critical Needs. The report is being submitted for departmental approval by both DHS and OEHHA. Other member agencies may be asked to sign off on the report.

• On April 1, several members of the committee met with the state Department of General Services' (DGS) Deputy Director of Real Estate Services Division (Michael Courtney) and his staff. It was a productive meeting and provided a forum to discuss IAQ issues and possible changes in current DGS policy that might be worth attempting. The committee had prepared a list of preliminary ideas (Attachment C). Mr Courtney explained that DGS is under mandate by the legislature regarding building construction costs and that only low-cost and no-cost changes to existing building design and material specifications could be considered. The DGS is open to using the East Campus development in Sacramento as a test case, and a Green Team has already been formed for this project. Although the CIWG committee offered to provide consultation on IAQ-related issues for the Green Team, Mr. Courtney said that he would have his staff evaluate the likely costs of implementing our recommendations.

Jed M. Waldman chaired the meeting.

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