When allergies are not the suspect problem of building related illnesses, then it may be due to the presence of VOC's (volatile organic compounds). VOC's are the off gases emitted by chemicals such as paints and plastics at room temperature. The usual human responses to VOC's are acute or chronic nausea and headaches. The new technology for sampling and testing of VOC's and mVOC's (microbial VOC's) is TO-15 via the Summa Canister with full list and other assays. The TO-15 analysis is written by the EPA and refers to a specific 72 compound list of regulated compounds. If you live in Naperville, Oswego, Montgomery, Aurora, Plainfield, Yorkville, Sugar Grove or others, Environmental Inspection Dynamics can help you with the following:

 

VOC’s & TESTING What is a Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) ?  The word “volatile” means the compound can vaporize and become a gas at room temperatures.  “Organic” means the compound contains carbon.  Some organic chemicals are in household products such as paints, cleaning solvents, fuels and even particle board.  EPA studies have found that organic pollutants are 10 times higher inside homes than outside.  The obvious sources of VOC’s are those found in household cleaning products.  The not so obvious are treated woods, carpeting, painted walls and coverings, and spores from fungi and molds.  The two greatest indoor contributors of VOC’s are carpets and furniture constructed with pressed wood products like particle board or medium density fiber board.  There are three “C’s” to be concerned with in carpeting:  it Collects, Contains and Contributes VOC’s.  Think of carpet as a “VOC bank.”  Particle board and medium density fiber board contain high levels of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins.  VOC’s contribute to ground level ozone.

 

What to do if you’re experiencing health concerns such as chronic headaches, dizziness, nausea:  TEST!

 

We feel the best method for sampling and testing is the TO-15, which was developed by the EPA for initially testing at Superfund sites.  The TO-15 utilizes the Summa Canister in sizes from 6L (liter) down to the mini-can at 400 ml (milliliter).  It utilizes a flow regulator into the canister that runs from 5 minutes to 24 hours.  Analysis of the compounds are done with a GC/MS (gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer) instrument.  The TO-15 analysis as written by the EPA refers to a specific 72 compound full list of regulated compounds to support the Clean Air Act.  The TO-15 full list can also be expanded to do a 10 to 20 extra non-target compound library search not on the full list.

 

These are known as TIC’s (tentatively identified compounds).  This is kind of a “what’s in my air sample.”   The TO-15 can also be used to identify mVOC’s (microbial volatile organic compounds).  Since molds give off gases, the TO-15 can be used as a clearance tool after remediation.