Healthy Indoors Magazine - USA Edition

HI Jan 2019

Healthy Indoors Magazine

Issue link: https://hi.healthyindoors.com/i/1076124

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 46 of 59

Healthy Indoors | 47 you can take some steps to reduce your exposures to pet allergens (as well as other allergens) that previous occu- pants may have "left behind" in the dust. Photomicrograph of five dog-dander particles and a skin scale (all stained pink) May Indoor Air Investigations LLC • Clean the baseboard heating convectors, if present. Re- move the covers so you can wipe the top and bottom cover surfaces. HEPA vacuum (using a vacuum with a HEPA filter as well as – please – a bag) the tops, bottoms and sides of the heating fins. Blast the fins with steam va- por from a steam vapor machine. Put rags or old towels under the fins to catch the grime and protect the flooring. Once you have cleaned the convectors in this way, you need only wipe the tops of the covers before the heat is turned on in the fall. • Radiators should also be cleaned – and at the start of ev- ery heating season – as they, too, can contain moldy dust and pet-dander allergens. Use a 36-inch vacuum crev- ice tool (available on line) to get to hard-to- reach spots. Clean radiators covers if present. • If the apartment has carpeting, you can lay carpet protec- tor on the carpet "pathways" (where you walk most often) to see if this reduces your allergy symptoms. This prod- uct is adhesive-backed plastic that painters use to protect flooring from paint splatters and drips. Removable carpet protector with good adhesive is available from www.pro- tect.com. If the carpeting is still a problem, thoroughly HEPA vacuum the carpet and then treat it with steam va- por from a steam-vapor machine (test a small spot first to be sure the steam won't damage the fibers). on air flows up elevator shafts. Soot particles can blacken walls and carpets ten floors up; in addition, they are un- healthy to inhale. In such a building, the elevator should not open up di- rectly into the garage, but rather be located in a hall or a room with an airtight door. Some species of mold can grow when the rela ve humidity (RH) is over 80%. As air cools, it's RH rises. Basements and crawl spaces are naturally cool and damp, so in the humid season, the RH must be kept under 50% in unfinished, below-grade (below the ground) level spaces. The Flow of Air In a building, air flows from the bottom (the basement) to top and out, especially in the heating season (warm air rises). Air also flows from spaces with higher air pressure to spac- es with lower air pressure. We get one or two calls a month from people who are smelling smoke and cooking odors from their neighbors' apartments. This is a tough problem to address. You can try to close cracks and gaps through which air may flow into your apart- ment from the common hallway or from a unit below yours. You can also try to increase the air pressure in your apart- ment by operating a window fan or two on supply (not a great option in cold weather, though). To determine the source of odor infiltration, you could put a window fan on exhaust in a window (with all other windows closed) and sniff at floor, wall and ceiling openings (including electric switches and outlets) to see where the odor is strongest. Then seal as needed. In the end, if you are having a problem with smoke and cooking odors where you live, you may just have to move. First, though, seek legal counsel to find out your rights in this situation. Are You Moving Into a New Place? Before signing of the dotted line, find out the schedule for maintenance and capital work, even if the building is small — say, 8 units or less. Meet some of the residents, Board members and/or maintenance or management staff. Look carefully at conditions - not only at the unit in question, but also at common areas like hallways and the basement. Pet-dander particles remain at a site long after the ani- mal (or the person wearing clothing that contains pet-dan- der particles) has left the premises. If you have pet allergies,

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Healthy Indoors Magazine - USA Edition - HI Jan 2019