Evaluation of Indoor Environmental Quality in a Medical Office Building

Details

• Personal Author:
  Methner, Mark M. ; Oza, Aalok Y. ; Methner, Mark M. ; Oza, Aalok Y.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The Health Hazard Evaluation Program received a request from employees at a medical office building. They were concerned about indoor environmental quality and exposure to sewer gas, specifically hydrogen sulfide. The medical office building was a four-story, concrete masonry office building constructed in the 1960s that had been renovated twice
  
  the three main floors were converted into offices and exam rooms. The building was surrounded by manholes that had been identified as sources of odors. The building was within 30 feet of a 24-inch trunk line that carried sewage from approximately 60% of the surrounding area toward the wastewater treatment facility. Most of the building's current plumbing was the original cast iron waste and vent piping, which can become brittle and crack with age. We visited the facility in April 2013 and measured hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, temperature, and humidity levels throughout the building. We also inspected the building's heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system. We did not detect hydrogen sulfide in the building. We found that carbon dioxide concentrations generally increased when moving further away from the supply air discharge point on each floor
  
  outdoor air supplied to each floor was not uniformly distributed. Temperature and humidity were within ANSI/ASHRAE recommended levels. We found problems with duct dampers, heat pumps, and the computerized control system, and determined that air flowed from the restrooms into the hallways. We found odor sources within and near the building such as dry drain traps and manholes. We recommended the employer improve the air quality in the building by (1) testing and balancing the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system, (2) increasing the amount of outdoor air coming into the building, and (3) fixing the problems with the duct dampers, heat pumps, and computerized control system. We also recommended the employer (1) remove plumbing fixtures and seal unused drain pipes, (2) replace cast-iron pipe with polyvinyl chloride pipe, and (3) create an employee and employer health and safety committee and hold regular meetings. We recommended employees (1) report odors to managers as soon as they occur, (2) not open building windows, and (3) participate in the health and safety committee. Following our visit, the employer reported that drain-trap devices were installed on all floor drains, HVAC components were inspected and repaired, cracks in the sanitary sewer lines were repaired, and manholes were sealed or replaced with solid lids and rain-guard devices. The employer reported that odor complaints have decreased since our evaluation.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Air Conditioning Air Movements Air Pollution, Indoor Engineering Environmental Exposure Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Environmental Pollution Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Hospitals Humidity Hydrogen Sulfide Occupational Health Safety Sulfides Temperature Ventilation Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Administration Air-conditioning-equipment Air-flow Air-quality-monitoring Dioxides Engineering-controls Environmental-control-equipment Environmental-exposure Environmental-factors Environmental-pollution Exposure-assessment Gas-mixtures Gas-sampling Gases General Medical And Surgical Hospitals Heating-systems Hydrogen Sulfide IAQ IEQ Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Indoor Air Medical-facilities Odors Office-workers Office Building Plumbing Relative-humidity Sewer Gas Temperature-measurement Ventilation-systems Work-environment

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• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 2012-0266-3210, 2014 May ; :1-17 ; Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 2012-0266-3210, 2014 May ; :1-17
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)   ; Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)  
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA) ; Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA201202663210
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies ; DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  24 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Booher, Donald E. ; El Burai-Felix, Alia ; Galloway, Ellen ; Hartle, Greg ; Watts, Shawna
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20044396
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2014-106314
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2014]. Health hazard evaluation report: evaluation of indoor environmental ; quality in an office building. By Oza A, Methner M. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department ; of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National ; Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH HHE Report No. 2012-0266- ; 3210,
• CAS Registry Number:
  Hydrogen sulfide (CAS RN 7783-06-4) ; Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9) ; Hydrogen sulfide (CAS RN 7783-06-4) ; Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services ; Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  622110 - General Medical and Surgical Hospitals - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4cd62d87cb01224c50080db3928205763b4d4cfccb1e24bbdfabe665e6ea9810e8c50cfad9758440db34282d5ad10072c29da17302bc265437a59dd111f88368
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172447/cdc_172447_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.23 MB ]