Environmental Testing
Indoor Air Quality
The quality of air inside offices, schools and other workplaces is important not only for workers’ comfort, but also for their health. Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) has been tied to symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, trouble concentrating and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. Also, some specific diseases have been linked to specific air contaminants or indoor environments, like asthma with damp indoor environments. In addition, some exposures, such as asbestos and radon, do not cause immediate symptoms but can lead to cancer after many years.
In today’s litigious society, due diligence is more important than ever when addressing occupant complaints.
Many factors affect indoor air quality. These factors include poor ventilation (unbalanced distribution – lack of outside air), problems controlling temperature, high or low humidity, recent remodeling, contaminated airborne water mist, and other activities in or near a building that can affect the fresh air coming into the building. Sometimes, specific contaminants like dust from construction or renovation, mold, cleaning supplies, pesticides, or other airborne chemicals (including small amounts of chemicals released as a gas over time) may cause poor indoor air quality.
The right ventilation and building care can prevent and fix indoor air quality problems. Although OSHA does not have indoor air quality standards per se, it does have standards about ventilation and standards on some of the air contaminants that may be involved in indoor air quality problems.
Indoor air quality is a concern in many schools due, in part, to the age of students and poor condition of a number of school buildings. School indoor air quality is particularly important as it may affect the health, performance and comfort of children.
Criterion’s Field Services can provide expert advice and monitoring for indoor air quality pollutants that are often found in indoor environments.
Whether you’re a homeowner or building facility manager or occupant concerned about unseen dangers that may be lurking in the very air you breathe, Criterion’s indoor air quality investigations can assist you in solving your indoor air quality problems.
Criterion’s Field Services professionals can test for many of the substances known to cause indoor air quality problems. These include:
- Mold
- Asbestos
- Carbon Monoxide
- Radon
- Lead
- Carbon Dioxide
- Formaldehyde
- Bacteria
- Environmental Tobacco Smoke
- Combustion Products
- PCBs
- Sewage Contamination
- Vapor Intrusion
- Allergens
- Pesticides
- VOCs
- Legionella
- Endotoxins
As well as:
- Testing Services
- Health Benefits
- Testing Process
- Home Air Quality Videos
- Associations
- Consulting
- Equipment
- Remediation
- HVAC Services
- Events
- Indoor Air Contamination Industry News
Criterion’s Field Services Staff will not only issue a report on what, and how much they find, but what the results mean. If any problems are found, they will also submit information on the cause as well as cost-effective recommendations for solutions. Talk to Criterion! We will gladly provide references, advice and if necessary, a free Proposal to solve your problem.