Recent Concerns: Lead in School Drinking Water Lately we’ve heard a lot about the heavy metal lead in school drinking water across California.  The reason we’re hearing about these schools finding lead in their drinking water is because schools are now required to test for lead.  We have known for a long time that lead

New OSHA Silica Testing Requirement in Effect OSHA has issued two standards (“rules”) to minimize exposure to respirable crystalline silica. One rule applies to construction trades, and the other for general industry and maritime workplaces. This blog focuses on the new OSHA Silica Testing requirements for the construction industry. September 23, 2017, kicked off enforcement for most

Dust and Smoke From Fires Far more people have been impacted by dust and smoke than fires themselves. If you were directly impacted by fires you should read Cleaning After Fire. For others in the region who have been more directly impacted by dust and smoke from fires, please consider these tips to minimize health

Cleaning After Fire The October 2017 California Fires in Northern California were devastating. Northern California will be dealing with the death and destruction of recent wildfires for years.  The immediate life-safety concerns about fire are obvious and frightening, but what many don’t realize is that returning to fire damaged buildings is also hazardous. Cleaning after

Environmental Compliance Testing Protects Occupant Health The word “compliance” may set our freedom loving hearts on high alert. Most Americans tend to push back when anyone tries to limit our personal liberties. But when it comes to our environment, compliance testing is necessary and can help expand our freedoms – Freedom from fear of drinking

San Francisco Water Supply, New Chemicals & Ground Water Testing For the first time in nearly nine decades, San Francisco is blending local groundwater with Hetch Hetchy Reservoir water, sourced from over 167 miles away.  For some, this change has been hard to swallow as San Francisco residents have long held bragging rights to exceptional

Dirty Electricity from LEDs Many folks interested high fidelity sound systems or low-EMF environments want to minimize electromagnetic interference (AKA: EMI, High-Voltage Transients, Electrical Noise, and Dirty Electricity) from lighting systems. Compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) – the curly pig tail variety with some mercury in them – are notoriously “dirty” and create significant EMI. As the

IAQ issues LEED Building – Part Two As a healthy building inspector and industrial hygienist, I have performed several pre-occupancy IEQ tests to the LEED standard and specifically for LEED certification, so I am familiar with both the testing and flush out option and IAQ issues LEED Building. The flush out option has been most

Air Quality Problems in the EPA’s San Francisco LEED EBOM Building IAQ Issues in a LEED Building Part ONE At the end of February 2016, NBC ran a segment investigating whether the EPA region 9 building, at 75 Hawthorne Street in downtown San Francisco, was a Sick Building. All answers pointed to yes. In the

During one of my many presentations on Building Enclosure Commissioning to architecture firms, I had a question from a concerned architect that I think echoes the concern in many professionals’ minds about mold. The architect in question was wondering if there is any way to guarantee “on paper” that mold will never occur in an