Guest guest Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 Hence, carpets can be useful! Entrain the dust so it doesn't get back in, like in hardwood floors - all you need to do is walk and the dust is back in the air, caught in the ventilating air. Maybe they should control or analyze the presence of floor surface type - I'm sure all have hard surface, but some will have small rugs or piece of carpet. Hmmmm. .. > > > Its what in the breathing zone! > > Bob > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 - Research I saw in Austin supports your thought that carpeted rooms may have less dust in the air. The paper below shows lower particulate levels in room with carpet than rooms with a resilient flooring. I am copying the lead author of this paper to make him aware of this discussion. Henry Slack US EPA Region 4 Atlanta GA 452: IAQ Study of Schools in Relation to Flooring Types and Cleaning Processes Tony Worthan¹*, Marilyn Black¹, and Ken McIntosh² ¹ Air Quality Sciences, Inc. ² Carpet and Rug Institute *Corresponding email: tworthan@...: Abstract: Indoor air quality studies in schools related to flooring types and cleaning effectiveness was conducted over a 2 year period in elementary schools with both carpet and resilient flooring (vinyl composition tile) in individual classroom settings. Separate classrooms were chosen for study from each school, one with carpet and one with vinyl composition tile. School 1 did not have a defined routine maintenance plan other than nightly sweeping of the hard surface floors and an “on call†deep cleaning as needed for spills or obvious soiling. The six year old carpet in School 1 has been “deep†cleaned once 4 years prior to the study. School 2 was a two year old school with a documented “green†cleaning plan with nightly microfiber mopping of the hard surface floors and vacuuming of the carpet. Low volatile organic compound (VOC) cleaning chemicals were used on building surfaces including the flooring. The carpet had been “deep†cleaned on an annual basis. For this study, comprehensive indoor air quality measurements were made periodically over a two year period (4 times) in the selected classrooms of both schools. Measurements included individual volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including formaldehyde; airborne and dust levels of environmental fungi; airborne and dust levels of animal and insect allergens; and respirable particles. Each school continued its routine cleaning maintenance with the addition of a thorough or “deep†cleaning of the flooring every other test period. In these cases, IAQ measurements were made immediately before, 12 hours and 24 hours following cleaning. Overall the data showed that particulate and microbiological contaminants were significantly higher in the school with limited cleaning procedures; deep cleaning of the flooring was effective in removing over 70% of the microbiological allergens in carpet and over 30% from the hard surface flooring; and that cleaning procedures related to resilient flooring resulted in extended VOC exposure following thorough cleaning. The data trend over time showed significantly less indoor air and settled dust pollution in the school with routine “green†cleaning procedures than the school with limited cleaning. AND FROM THE BODY OF THE PAPER: In all cases, data indicate higher particle levels among the resilient surfaced rooms in comparison to carpet. THEIR FIGURES SHOW RESULTS IN THE RANGE OF 10-60 ug/m3. . Re: Moulds in floor dust Posted by: " " scottarmour@... scottarmour@... Tue Jul 5, 2011 4:15 pm (PDT) Hence, carpets can be useful! Entrain the dust so it doesn't get back in, like in hardwood floors - all you need to do is walk and the dust is back in the air, caught in the ventilating air. Maybe they should control or analyze the presence of floor surface type - I'm sure all have hard surface, but some will have small rugs or piece of carpet. Hmmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Reminder: The subject line of this thread is "Moulds in floor dust", not dust in air. How much mold growth occurs in the dust in carpets vs. mold growth in the dust on floor tile?. If carpeting is to serve as a filter, it should be disposable or washable -- and kept dry until it is disposed of or until all accumulated dust is removed. How do you keep carpeting in a school dry at all times in a humid, rainy/snowy climate? From the summary info provided in the abstract below: "..deep cleaning of the flooring was effective in removing over 70% of the microbiological allergens in carpet...". Doesn't this mean that after deep cleaning, probably using water/steam extraction methods, 30% of the microbial particles are left in the carpet? Was the sampling performed in occupied classrooms when lots of kids' feet were shuffling around on the carpet and when actual exposure would occur, or was sampling done during unoccupied hours? The study discusses VOCs from hard surface floor cleaning solutions but not stain removal chemicals for carpet spotting, or disinfectant solutions that are sometimes applied to carpet, or powdered products like "carpet fresh" that some school janitor might use. FYI, this study was apparently funded by CRI to be used for marketing purposes. Hardly objective scientific research, IMO. Consider the source. Steve Temes - Research I saw in Austin supports your thought that carpeted rooms may have less dust in the air. The paper below shows lower particulate levels in room with carpet than rooms with a resilient flooring. I am copying the lead author of this paper to make him aware of this discussion. Henry Slack US EPA Region 4 Atlanta GA 452: IAQ Study of Schools in Relation to Flooring Types and Cleaning Processes Tony Worthan¹*, Marilyn Black¹, and Ken McIntosh² ¹ Air Quality Sciences, Inc. ² Carpet and Rug Institute *Corresponding email: tworthan@...: Abstract: Indoor air quality studies in schools related to flooring types and cleaning effectiveness was conducted over a 2 year period in elementary schools with both carpet and resilient flooring (vinyl composition tile) in individual classroom settings. Separate classrooms were chosen for study from each school, one with carpet and one with vinyl composition tile. School 1 did not have a defined routine maintenance plan other than nightly sweeping of the hard surface floors and an “on call†deep cleaning as needed for spills or obvious soiling. The six year old carpet in School 1 has been “deep†cleaned once 4 years prior to the study. School 2 was a two year old school with a documented “green†cleaning plan with nightly microfiber mopping of the hard surface floors and vacuuming of the carpet. Low volatile organic compound (VOC) cleaning chemicals were used on building surfaces including the flooring. The carpet had been “deep†cleaned on an annual basis. For this study, comprehensive indoor air quality measurements were made periodically over a two year period (4 times) in the selected classrooms of both schools. Measurements included individual volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including formaldehyde; airborne and dust levels of environmental fungi; airborne and dust levels of animal and insect allergens; and respirable particles. Each school continued its routine cleaning maintenance with the addition of a thorough or “deep†cleaning of the flooring every other test period. In these cases, IAQ measurements were made immediately before, 12 hours and 24 hours following cleaning. Overall the data showed that particulate and microbiological contaminants were significantly higher in the school with limited cleaning procedures; deep cleaning of the flooring was effective in removing over 70% of the microbiological allergens in carpet and over 30% from the hard surface flooring; and that cleaning procedures related to resilient flooring resulted in extended VOC exposure following thorough cleaning. The data trend over time showed significantly less indoor air and settled dust pollution in the school with routine “green†cleaning procedures than the school with limited cleaning. AND FROM THE BODY OF THE PAPER: In all cases, data indicate higher particle levels among the resilient surfaced rooms in comparison to carpet. THEIR FIGURES SHOW RESULTS IN THE RANGE OF 10-60 ug/m3. .. Re: Moulds in floor dust Posted by: "" scottarmour@... scottarmour@... Tue Jul 5, 2011 4:15 pm (PDT) Hence, carpets can be useful! Entrain the dust so it doesn't get back in, like in hardwood floors - all you need to do is walk and the dust is back in the air, caught in the ventilating air. Maybe they should control or analyze the presence of floor surface type - I'm sure all have hard surface, but some will have small rugs or piece of carpet. Hmmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.