Fire Proof Building For the past few summers I’ve been somewhat caught off guard by how vulnerable I have felt when dry winds are blowing and smoke fills the sky. I remember very clearly being on the roof, with a mask on, cleaning out the gutters and small piles of leaves. As an industrial hygienist

Air Quality Index (AQI) and You During the 2018 Paradise Fire smoke wave, many in the Bay Area obsessively checked online for air quality information and updates. Here is an overview of a handful of real-time air quality websites I found helpful and how they compare. Keep in mind that climate change plus newer and cheaper

DIY Box Fan Filter & Air Quality Experiment Here in San Francisco and surrounding areas kids are stuck indoors during this smoke wave caused by our wild fires with little or no air filtration. In San Francisco the school buildings are older and are not setup to have building wide air filtration. Nor can cash-strapped

5 Interesting Things About EMF (Electromagnetic Fields): There are actually 5 different types of “EMF” that are commonly tested in buildings: low frequency magnetic fields low frequency electric fields “dirty electricity” or “high-voltage transients” or “electrical noise” radio frequency (RF) radiation alpha, beta and gamma ionizing radiation Each of the above types of radiation originates

6 Tips for Water Quality and Water Testing: Source matters! One of the most important variables in water quality is the source. Does the water come from an open water source like a lake or reservoir? Is it treated and delivered to a site via the municipal or county water service? Or is it a

Home Lead Testing There are of course DIY Home Lead Test Kits available online and in some hardware stores, but the more reliable way of evaluating a home and its contents for lead risks is to hire a Lead Inspector. The Lead Inspector will either utilize bulk sampling, which is destructive and will leave holes

Bay Area Air Quality Among Worst In Nation As an industrial hygienist it came as a surprise that the American Lung Association recently ranked Bay Area air quality among worst in nation for air pollution and particulates. Unhealthy levels of pollution were found in numerous parts of the country, but the San Francisco Bay Area

Tension at the Materials and Human Health Summit? A report from Greenbuild 2013 This year 25,000 industry experts descended upon the Philadelphia Convention Center for a week of networking and education to discuss Building Materials and Human Health at Greenbuild 2013. I was fortunate enough to attend the Materials and Human Health Summit, an all-day

Curious about general best practices for minimizing EMF exposure? This post is an excerpt from the Healthy Home Standard, and it includes many great EMF rules of thumb. This is part of a series about the Healthy Home Standard, and there will be another post on additional EMF best practices. The following EMF rules of

Fluoride, Health, and Drinking Water The addition of fluoride to the drinking water supply began in the 1950s as a method to fight against tooth decay.  Currently, 11 countries in the world have more than 50% of their population drinking fluoridated water. These include Singapore (100%), Hong Kong (100%), Brunei (95%); Australia (80%), Malaysia (75%),