32 | July/August 2023
May's Ways
continued from previous page
ef rey C. ay
C. Ma is the Founder and Principal Scientist of
May Indoor Air Investigations LLC in Tyngsborough, MA.
eff combines his education as an organic chemist and his
over 25 years of experience investigating building prob-
lems to specializ e in indoor air quality IAQ . He is a former Adj unct Faculty
Member in the Department of Work nvironment at the niversity of Massa-
chusetts owell and is the author or co-author of five books on indoor air qual-
ity published by The ohns Hopkins University Press) , including My House is
Killing Me! eff is a nationally recogniz ed speaker at annual conferences for
the IAQ Association and the Maine IAQ Council, among others. He is a Coun-
cil-Certified Microbial Consultant ACAC and a Certified IA Professional
AEE) . eff holds a B.A. from Columbia College chemistry) and an M.A.
from Harvard University organic chemistry) . See www.mayindoorair.com for
details about eff's company's services as well as about his publications and
presentations. eff conducts site visits as well as phone consultations. ou
can contact him at eff@ mayindoorair.com or call 97 49-1055.
your downspouts to direct the down-
spout water away from the house.
The second edition of
My House is Killing Me
contains practical tips
for ways to maintain
healthier indoor air.
The book was published
in ecember 2020 and
is available online.
A gutter garden." Gutters and downspouts should be inspected and cleaned
as needed, but at least once a year.
Otherwise, you can place down-
spout blocks under the bottoms of
Unless otherwise indicated, the photographs in this article are the property of
May Indoor Air Investigations LLC and cannot be used without permission.
Air in a house naturally flows from
bottom to top and out, especially
during the heating season. That is
why you inhale air from your base-
ment or crawlspace, even if you
rarely go down there. Basement
conditions are therefore very import-
ant when it comes to the indoor air
quality in the whole house.
