Indoor Air Quality Solutions, IAQS

Florida Meth Lab – Florida Indoor Air Quality Solutions, IAQ

By SHELDON GARDNER
Sunday, April 7, 2013

Methamphetamine use is growing across Florida, and that trend is reflected in St. Johns County where the number of meth busts has increased for the past few years.
 
St. Johns County’s first meth bust came in the 1970s, and meth labs weren’t discovered regularly again until the early 2000s, according to previous stories.
 
Deputies started finding a few meth labs a year in 2008, said St. Johns County Sheriff’s Cpl. Mike Hartsell. In 2011 and 2012, the Sheriff’s Office found more than three dozen meth labs.
 
“It’s not gonna slow down,” Hartsell said.
 
Meth labs have been found across the county in hotel rooms, homes, backpacks and cars. Many of them are clustered in and around the city limits, but labs have also been found in Hastings, Elkton, Ponte Vedra Beach and off County Road 210 and 208, according to Sheriff’s Office records.
 
Most of them are small-scale, one pot labs, that are highly mobile and produce enough meth for personal use.
 
The same is true statewide. Most labs fit in a Gatorade bottle, small enough so that someone could “start making meth in one county and drive through three counties before it’s done,” said David Gross, special agent supervisor with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which monitors trends in drug use.
 
The increase in meth lab discoveries is also happening across the state, but meth is already a nationwide problem, Gross said. Meth has been in Florida since the late 80s or early 90s, but use and production started to pick up in 2008.
 
In 2008, law enforcement agencies across the state reported 180 meth labs, Gross said. That number rose steadily. In 2011, 676 meth labs were found. There were probably more since multiple areas in the state did not file reports. Reporting is on a voluntary basis.
 
In 2012, 930 meth labs were reported statewide.
 
In May 2011, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Team formed to better respond to the growing problem. The team is made up of deputies trained in handling meth labs. Hartsell supervises one of those teams.
 
When the Sheriff’s Office meth team arrives at a scene, officials suit up and remove the lab from the home. That takes four to six hours and costs from $500 to $2,000 depending on the size of the lab, Hartsell said.
 
Meth cooks endanger not only the people cooking them, but surrounding communities. The gases used in the cook are toxic and highly flammable and explosive. In 2010, a Sheriff’s deputy had to be taken to the hospital for an inhalation injury after breathing in the toxic fumes during an investigation, Hartsell said.
 
Meth use also increases criminal activity, affects surrounding communities and costs the county money. As with other drugs, people often steal to support their habit, Hartsell said.
 
Meth labs are toxic to people and homes.
 
Cooking meth or smoking it creates gases that seep into walls, carpets and furniture, he said. If a building is not cleaned properly, the residual gases are still there, and it’s a health risk.
 
Depending on the extent of meth use, decontaminating a building could mean ripping out walls and throwing away furniture, costing thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. Sometimes houses are so badly contaminated that they need to be demolished.
 
St. Johns County Code Enforcement officials recently demolished a mobile home at 1990 Powell Road because meth had been cooked in the home. Two labs had been found there over the past few years. The property owner opted to have the building torn down instead of paying for the clean-up.
 
Officials said meth use will continue to be a problem in the state and the county despite efforts to fight its spread.
 
“Right now that’s the future of narcotics in our county,” Hartsell said. “At least for the time being.”
 
■
 
A few facts about meth
 
Methamphetamine facts from the Drug Enforcement Administration:
 
Street names: Batu, Bikers Coffee, Black Beauties, Chalk, Chicken Feed, Crank, Crystal, Glass, Go-Fast, Hiropon, Ice, Meth, Methlies Quick, Poor Man’s Cocaine, Shabu, Shards, Speed, Stove Top, Tina, Trash, Tweak, Uppers, Ventana, Vidrio, Yaba and Yellow BamLooks.
 
■ How it’s done: Meth can be swallowed, snorted, injected or smoked.
 
■ Affects: Meth creates an intense rush with highs that can last for half a day. The drug releases high levels of dompamine into the pleasure areas of the brain. Long-term abuse can cause addiction, violence, anxiety, confusion, insomnia, paranoia, hallucinations, delusions. Dopamine-producing brain cells and serotonin-containing nerve cells can be damaged by exposure to meth.
 
■ Overdose: Taking too much meth can cause a heart attack, stroke and multiple organ problems as the body temperature is raised to dangerous levels. Overdosing also can cause convulsions.
 
■ Legal: Meth is a Schedule II controlled substance and is prescribed, in very limited use, to treat obesity and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
 
■ Where it all started: Mexico produces most of the meth that is imported into cities in the US. Many meth labs found in the U.S. are small scale labs.
 
■ What’s been done: The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 requires businesses that sell non-prescription products that contain major ingredients in meth — pseudoephedrine, ephedrine or phenylpropanolamine — to make customers show ID and sign a logbook to purchase the products. They must also keep the products in a locked cabinet.
 
■ Florida has its own laws regarding the sale and purchase of ephedrine and its related compounds. The State Legislature passed a law in 2010 that controls the sale and purchase of the chemical, and created an electronic database for sellers and law enforcement to keep track of who is buying and selling, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

www.FloridaIAQ.com

Florida Indoor Air Quality Humidity & IAQ

Maintaining relative humidity below 50% inhibits mold and mildew growth, dust mite infestations, and bacteria. This lower relative humidity also reduces the out-gassing of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). Molds are incapable of obtaining the moisture needed for their development directly from the atmosphere, but they can obtain it from a substrate, which has absorbed moisture from moist air (60% to 100% relative humidity).

The relative humidity of the air has an indirect effect on fungal growth, and the more hygroscopic a material is, the more susceptible it is to mold growth. The minimum moisture content at which mold growth occurs depends on the material and usually ranges from 10% to 14%. Suitable substrates include carpet fibers, gypsum, concrete, bricks, etc.
Mold spores are everywhere all the time, entering from outdoor air as well as on pets and clothing. A mold spore landing on an indoor surface is likely to be insignificant and amount to little more than a common component of indoor dust, until such a mold spore lands on a moist organic surface (such as drywall.) High indoor humidity causes the surface moisture level to be sufficient for mold sporulation.  Since a mold spore requires moisture to propagate and grow, the indoor humidity level is a key gating factor in the control of indoor mold (and dust mites) in buildings.
Certain common mold genera and species, such as some members of the Aspergillus sp. and others grow readily on common building materials if they also have enough moisture. While there are fungal species that are able to grow under a remarkably wide range of environmental conditions, keeping indoor humidity at the appropriate level will reduce the chances of growth of the most common indoor problem molds.
High indoor humidity can encourage more issues than indoor mold. The same moisture conditions that support growth of problematic indoor molds also encourage the development of bacterial hazards, dust mite populations, mite fecal allergen problem, and possibly other insect problems in buildings.
The same measures of humidity control to prevent mold growth are needed to discourage the dust mite population that exists in all living areas. Measures discussed in this article including choosing and maintaining the proper humidity level to avoid indoor mold will also work to minimize the level of dust mites and dust mite allergens.
Keep the indoor humidity level in the mid-comfort range. A maximum indoor relative humidity of 50% RH may be acceptable, 45% RH better. At 60% indoor RH, we’re entering the indoor mold-formation risk zone of high interior moisture in building wall or ceiling cavities or on wall and floor surfaces, possibly conducive to mold growth.

John Lapotaire

Florida Indoor Air Quality Solutions

www.FloridaIAQ.com

Particle pollution, also called particulate matter or PM, is a complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets in the air. When breathed in, these particles can reach the deepest regions of the lungs.  Exposure to particle pollution is linked to a variety of significant health problems such as asthma.

Particulates are a mixture of organic and inorganic substances suspended in the air. They can be solids and/or liquids and exist in a range of sizes. Particulate size is measured in micrometers (µm), one millionth of a meter. The EPA refers to different groups of particulates that include:

1. Total suspended particulates (TSP) – representing the range of particulate matter normally found in the urban atmosphere. TSP generally includes from 1µm to 50µm.
2. PM₁₀ – refers to particulate matter of less than 10m m in diameter. PM₁₀ is generally considered the most useful particulate measure. Particles less than 10µm in diameter can be inhaled and have the potential to reach the tracheo-bronchial region of the lung.
3. PM_2.5 – comprises of fine particulate matter less than 2.5µm in diameter. Particles of this size are capable of deep lung penetration.
4. Total suspended particulates (TSP) – representing the range of particulate matter normally found in the urban atmosphere. TSP generally includes from 1µm to 50µm.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration have a recommendation for 8 hour exposure for particles in the .3 µm size which is a recommended 0-40,000 particles/cc this is found in the OSHA Technical Manual.

Particulate Reduction;

The goal of improving the Indoor Air Quality is going to begin with particulate reduction.  Particulate matter (PM) is the name for a wide range of particles that are small enough to be carried by the air, therefore; breathed in by people. They can be solid or liquid, or a mixture of both.

The size of particles may range from 0.005 µm to 100 µm in diameter. In comparison, the average size of a human hair is 60 µm. PM₁₀ are particles that are 10 µm or less in diameter.  PM_2.5 are particles of 2.5 µm or less in diameter.  The finer particles pose the greatest threat to human health because they can travel deepest into the lungs.

Indoor particulate matter is a mixture of substances like these:

• Carbon (soot) emitted by combustion sources;
• Tiny liquid or solid particles in aerosols;
• Fungal spores;
• Pollen; and
• A toxin present in bacteria (endotoxin).

In a properly-maintained home, most of the airborne particulate matter comes from the outside. However, some homes do have significant sources of indoor particulate matter which come from the following sources:

• Cigarette smoking is the greatest single source of particulate matter in homes and buildings where people smoke;
• Cooking: especially frying and sautéing;
• Malfunctioning combustion appliances: for example, furnaces without a proper air filter;
• Non-vented combustion appliances like gas stoves;
• Wood-burning appliances like wood stoves and fireplaces: especially if the smoke leaks or back drafts into the home; and
• Mold growth.

Reducing concentrations of particulate matter in your home;

1. Furnaces and ventilation systems: Make sure that furnaces and ventilation systems are properly maintained, and that you replace filter screens as often as recommended by the manufacturer. All combustion appliances, including furnaces, should be inspected by a qualified technician yearly.
2. Cooking: Turn your exhaust fan on when you are cooking, and especially when frying.
3. Woodstoves: Choose properly sized woodstoves and make sure that the doors close tightly. Have your chimney cleaned yearly, too.
4. Mold: Prevent mold growth and the release of mould spores into your indoor air by controlling humidity and fixing water leaks and water-damaged areas
5. Smoking: Don’t allow people to smoke indoors because particulate matter levels increase with every smoker in the building.
6. Clean: Use your HEPA vacuum cleaner regularly.

Your vacuum cleaner, as a general rule, is really only efficient at trapping particles that have settled onto the floor or whatever surface you’re vacuuming.  Even many room air cleaners are of limited effectiveness in typical building environments, because every time someone walks across a room, opens a door or window, or flips on the central air handling home, thousands if not millions of superfine particles are introduced into the breathing space as the room air is disturbed or exchanged. Since portable air cleaner airflow rates are often fairly low in relation to the rate of room contamination, many people with portable air cleaners may still end up breathing more dust than they realize.

How can you stop or prevent dust? Well, you can’t, at least not completely, since even humans produce their own organic dust and the surfaces within the building are also constantly “shedding” micro-particles. Of course, you can make sure you have good entrance matting in place, so outdoor contaminants and dusts are not tracked in as much.  You can also try to cleanup or contain other sources of fine particles (e.g., paper dust from tissue boxes, dirty air ducts or HVAC filters, etc.) Finally, you can make sure that the processes you use to clean your homes removes rather than redistribute dust as much as possible. This would include vacuuming surfaces with an HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filtered vacuum cleaner.   Use HEPA vacuum cleaners or high efficiency vacuum cleaner bags. These dramatically reduced the amount of dust, allergen and pollens pumped back into the air by the vacuum cleaner.

Florida Humidity Bloom Florida Indoor Air Quality Solutions IAQS

A humidity bloom is the growth of mold within a living space due to the elevation of indoor relative humidity at or above 60 percent relative humidity for a period of time greater than 72 hours and must be maintained for growth to continue.  When the humidity is above 60 percent relative humidity, molds will germinate causing what is referred to as a mold bloom.   These molds can bloom in many colors and are often confused with dust, dirt, foxing, or cobwebs.

Humidity for an extended period of time, typically in excess of 72 hours to initiate the bloom and must be maintained for growth to continue.  When the humidity is above 60 percent relative humidity, molds will germinate causing what is referred to as a mold bloom.   These molds can bloom in many colors and are often confused with dust, dirt, foxing, ghosting, or cobwebs.

Both active and inactive mold can have a distinctive smell, which most people describe as musty.

• Active mold in the early stages of a bloom has hair-like filaments in webs, which develop a more bushy appearance as the bloom matures. This is more easily seen under magnification. Active mold is soft and may smear when touched with a fine brush. It may also be slimy and damp.
• Inactive mold is dry and powdery and will seem to brush off materials readily.

Mold and mildew are words that refer to more than 100,000 species of fungi. Mold spores are present everywhere in our environment, generally in a dormant state where they do little damage. Spores require moisture to become active. They do not require light.

When water or high relative humidity provides the necessary moisture, dormant spores will germinate, grow fine web-like structures, and eventually produce fruiting bodies that release more spores. Most molds will germinate at 60 percent relative humidity. Increases in temperature can speed the growth rate of active mold.

There are 4 critical requirements for mold growth – available mold spores, available mold food, appropriate temperatures and considerable moisture. The removal of any one of these items will prohibit mold growth.

The only way to reduce the threat of mold in a home is to maintain an environment that is not hospitable for the germination of mold spores. The temperature should be 74-78 degrees F, and the relative humidity of 60% or less. It is important that the air conditioning system (HVAC) be kept on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Inconsistent operation or fluctuations in the temperature and humidity are the cause of many serious mold outbreaks.

Humidity

Humidity is simply vaporized water in the air. Your breath contains hundreds of droplets of invisible water vapor. You can see them when you breathe on a pair of cold glasses.

The term most often used to define the amount of water vapor in the air is “relative humidity.” Relative humidity is the percentage of water vapor in the air at a specific temperature, compared to the amount of water vapor the air is capable of holding at that temperature. Warm air holds more water vapor than cold air. When air at a certain temperature contains all the water vapor it can hold at that temperature, its relative humidity is 100 percent. If it contains only half the water vapor it is capable of holding at that temperature, the relative humidity is 50 percent.

If the outside air temperature in winter is 0°F and the relative humidity is 75 percent, that same air inside your 70°F home will have a four percent relative humidity. The Sahara Desert has an average relative humidity of 25 percent.

When air is saturated with water vapor, it has reached the dew point; at this point, water vapor condenses and produces visible water or “condensation.” In winter it usually occurs first on windows. When warm, moist air comes in contact with a cold window, air temperature drops and it can no longer hold the water vapor; condensation results.

Desirable Humidity Levels

The human body is comfortable when relative humidity ranges between 20 and 60 percent. In your home, an average relative humidity of 35 to 40 percent is appropriate when the outside temperature is 20°F or above. However, during cold weather, higher humidity ranges may cause structural damage because of condensation on windows and on the inside of exterior walls. As outdoor temperatures fall, condensation problems inside may develop.

The construction of a home also influences how much humidity is desirable. Tightly constructed buildings with properly installed vapor barriers and tight fitting doors and windows retain more heat and moisture. This is where mechanical ventilation becomes important. If a home does not have the proper mechanical ventilation, excess water vapor can move through walls and ceilings, causing wet insulation, peeling paint, and mold on walls and woodwork.

The following table shows recommended indoor humidity levels in relation to outdoor temperatures.

Maintaining relative humidity below 50% inhibits mold and mildew growth, dust mite infestations, and bacteria. This lower relative humidity also reduces the out-gassing of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). Molds are incapable of obtaining the moisture needed for their development directly from the atmosphere, but they can obtain it from a substrate, which has absorbed moisture from moist air (60% to 100% relative humidity). The relative humidity of the air has an indirect effect on fungal growth, and the more hygroscopic a material is, the more susceptible it is to mold growth. The minimum moisture content at which mold growth occurs depends on the material and usually ranges from 10% to 14%. Suitable substrates include carpet fibers, gypsum, concrete, bricks, etc.

Mold spores are everywhere all the time, entering from outdoor air as well as on pets and clothing. A mold spore landing on an indoor surface is likely to be insignificant and amount to little more than a common component of indoor dust, until such a mold spore lands on a moist organic surface (such as drywall.) High indoor humidity causes the surface moisture level to be sufficient for mold sporulation.  Since a mold spore requires moisture to propagate and grow, the indoor humidity level is a key gating factor in the control of indoor mold (and dust mites) in buildings.

Certain common mold genera and species, such as some members of the Aspergillus sp. and others grow readily on common building materials if they also have enough moisture. While there are fungal species that are able to grow under a remarkably wide range of environmental conditions, keeping indoor humidity at the appropriate level will reduce the chances of growth of the most common indoor problem molds.

High indoor humidity can encourage more issues than indoor mold. The same moisture conditions that support growth of problematic indoor molds also encourage the development of bacterial hazards, dust mite populations, mite fecal allergen problem, and possibly other insect problems in buildings.

The same measures of humidity control to prevent mold growth are needed to discourage the dust mite population that exists in all living areas. Measures including choosing and maintaining the proper humidity level to avoid indoor mold will also work to minimize the level of dust mites and dust mite allergens.

Keep the indoor humidity level in the mid-comfort range. A maximum indoor relative humidity of 50% RH may be acceptable, 45% RH better. At 60% indoor RH, we’re entering the indoor mold-formation risk zone of high interior moisture in building wall or ceiling cavities or on wall and floor surfaces, possibly conducive to mold growth.

John Lapotaire, CIEC

Indoor Air Quality Solutions, IAQS

http://www.FloridaIAQ.com

More often than not, free comes with a hefty price that ends up costing far more than you thought it would and never has that been truer than in the mold business.

The safest thing consumers can do whenever the word “FREE” is used to sell a mold remediation job is to avoid that contractor all together. Think about it. No one is in business to do anything for free. Anyone offering something for free is doing so to sell you something else. While that may be fine when it comes to “buy one – get one free” deals offered on TV infomercials, in the mold business a free inspections and testing can end up costing you thousands of dollars for remediation work that may be grossly exaggerated or in some cases doesn’t need to be done at all.

The biggest mold scam is and always has been – mold remediation contractors who perform “FREE” mold inspections. When it comes to mold, you do NOT want a mold inspector who is motivated to find mold removal jobs for themselves.

Mold remediation is a very profitable business and engaging in both mold inspections and mold remediation is a serious conflict of interest. The potential for fraudulently creating thousands of dollars in bogus and unnecessary mold remediation work is tremendous and – unfortunately – an everyday occurrence in this industry.

This fraudulent practice of the mold remediation contractor securing work by providing “FREE” mold inspections then offering to remediate the mold is against the Law in the State of Florida.

Your Mold Remediator and Mold Inspector MUST be Licensed by the State of Florida. Under the Florida Licensing Law the Mold Remediator Cannot perform Mold Remediation on any job that he or she has performed the Mold Inspection.

This is the oldest mold scam in the mold remediation and restoration industry and it’s easy to pull off because most consumers don’t know enough about mold to realize when they’re being bamboozled into work that is often grossly exaggerated, and in some instances, not even necessary.

Beware of the mold remediation contractor that offers “Free” Mold Inspections and uses terms such as “Black Mold”, “Toxic Mold”, or “Toxic Black Mold”.

Those terms are a clear indication that the mold remediation contractor providing the “Free Mold Inspection” is using scare tactics to convince you that you need the mold remediation work for your immediate safety.  Not likely. 

To establish the presence of mycotoxins in any indoor environment the Licensed Mold Assessor would need to collect samples that would identify the species of mold.  This cannot be accomplished with the collection of spore trap samples.  The spore trap samples will only provide mold spore identification to the genus not the species.  Or feline if you will and not house cat vs. Bengal tiger, Genus vs. species.

To identify the species of mold the Licensed Mold Assessor would need to collect either culturable (viable or living) or PCR samples. 

Culturable must be collected using a pump, impactor, and agar plates. These samples are then sent to the laboratory and take time to grow and are more expensive than mold spore trap samples.

PCR, Polymerase Chain Reaction, is used to detect the DNA of the spore and is collected using a pump and a 3-piece PCR air-sampling cassette.  PCR is even more expensive than the mold cultures and spore traps combined, but they are much faster than waiting for the culturable samples to grow. 

It gets even more expensive when you realize that now that you’ve identified the mold in the indoor environment as a species that MAY produce mycotoxins you now have to determine if the potentially mycotoxin producing mold species actually produced any mycotoxins in the indoor environment being sampled. Whew!

Yes it takes much more than a “FREE Mold Inspection” to establish that you home or office has a mold that produced mycotoxins.  It’s more likely that the mold remediation contractor offering the “FREE Mold Inspection” and using terms like “Black Mold”, “Toxic Mold”, or “Toxic Black Mold” is just trying to scare you into more mold remediation than you actually need.

No indoor environmental professional would ever use those term, ever!  If they are being used you are being played.  Ask the individual to stop using unprofessional scare tactics and leave.

Remember, Convenience Can Cost You.
Most people prefer to deal with one contractor for everything because it’s convenient. But when it comes to mold that convenience can end up costing you thousands of dollars in unnecessary repair work. There are enough reputable and Florida State Licensed Mold Inspectors who do not engage in remediation work to risk getting ripped off.

Remember a mold inspection should be completely unbiased. Mold inspectors should have no personal interest in how an inspection turns out, nor should they ever profit from what they find, either directly by doing the removal themselves, or indirectly by referring work to their friends for a kick-back.

The only way to ensure you will get an unbiased inspection report and avoid this mold scam is to hire a Florida State Licensed Mold Inspector who does not perform mold remediation.  And always ask if they will be following the ANSI Approved S-520.

The S-520 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation is procedural standard and reference guide for the remediation of mold damaged structures and contents. The S-520 is based on reliable remediation and restoration principles, research and practical experience.

The S520 provides a philosophical shift away from setting numerical mold contamination action levels. Instead, it establishes mold contamination definitions, descriptions and conditions (1, 2, 3), and general guidance, which, when properly applied, can assist remediators and others in determining criteria that trigger remediation activities or confirm remediation success.

Contaminated as the presence of indoor mold growth and/or spores, whose identity, location and amplification are not reflective of a normal fungal ecology for an indoor environment, and which may produce adverse health effects and cause damage to materials, and adversely affect the operation or function of building systems.

Condition 1 (normal ecology) – may have settled spores, fungal fragments or traces of actual growth whose identity, location and quantity is reflective of a normal fungal ecology for an indoor environment.

Condition 2 (settled spores) – an indoor environment which is primarily contaminated with settled spores that were dispersed directly or indirectly from a Condition 3 area, and which may have traces of actual growth.

Condition 3 (actual growth) – an indoor environment contaminated with the presence of actual growth and associated spores. Actual growth includes growth that is active or dormant, visible or hidden.