Bake-offs may not cure 'sick buildings.'Bake-offs may not cure 'sick buildings' Several states are considering regulations to ward off "sick building syndrome sick building syndrome n. An illness affecting workers in office buildings, characterized by skin irritations, headache, and respiratory problems, and thought to be caused by indoor pollutants, microorganisms, or inadequate ventilation. " -- where chemicals cause illness among occupants -- in public facilities, includig schools. Building owners or employers would have to turn up the thermostat thermostat, automatic device that regulates temperature in an enclosed area by controlling heating or refrigerating systems. It is commonly connected to one of these systems, turning it on or off in order to maintain a predetermined temperature. for three or more days before allowing occupancy of new or renovated buildings, to accelerate the offgassing of potentially toxic chemicals from new structural materials Structural materials Construction materials which, because of their ability to withstand external forces, are considered in the design of a structural framework. Brick is the oldest of all artificial building materials. and furnishings. But studies by Charlene W. Bayer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. GTRI employs around 1,300 people, and is involved in approximately $100 million in research annually for more than 200 clients in industry in Atlanta now suggest such proposals may be premature. Bayer's experimenal attempts to bake off volatile organic chemicals emanating from new modular room partitions and particle-board samples (taken from an Atlanta office building) failed to eliminate the chemicals' smell and offgassing. In fact, her data indicate that a three-day bake-out at 90[degrees]F -- a regime being considered by New Jersey -- may actually create new indoor air-pollution headaches. Bayer's tests show, for example, that if a space is not heated evenly, condensation can collect in "cold spots." Because she found that alcohols, oxygenated compounds and chlorinated chlorinated /chlo·ri·nat·ed/ (klor´i-nat?ed) treated or charged with chlorine. chlorinated charged with chlorine. chlorinated acids some, e.g. chemicals preferentially dissolved in this condensate condensate, matter in the form of a gas of atoms, molecules, or elementary particles that have been so chilled that their motion is virtually halted and as a consequence they lose their separate identities and merge into a single entity. , she now worries that in the real world such condensation might transform previously benign materials, such as older carpets, into new concentrated reservoirs of potentially toxic chemicals. And cold spots may prove common, she says. Data collected by others indicate that once air temperatures reach 90[degrees]F, it may take another three days before the rest of the furnishings do. Moreover, she found that bake-out temperatures can volatilize vol·a·til·ize intr. & tr.v. vol·a·til·ized, vol·a·til·iz·ing, vol·a·til·iz·es 1. To become or make volatile. 2. To evaporate or cause to evaporate. some compounds that don't evaporate at normal room temperatures. More surprisingly, even though her studies indicate that bake-out drives off significant quantities of volatiles, the offgassing rates at the end of the bake were hardly lower than prebake emissions, though the gases' chemical makeup may have changed. The take-home message, she believes, is that manufacturers should let new products volatilize to harmless levels for several months in their warehouses -- before selling them -- rather than in people's living and work spaces. |
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