Puerto Rico Celebrates National Indoor Air Quality Awareness Month

National Indoor Air Quality Awareness Month takes place each October. The term indoor air quality (IAQ) refers to the air in any type of built environment, and with Americans spending approximately 90% of their time indoors according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air quality can have a significant impact on comfort, health and even productivity.

EPA warns that the concentrations of some indoor pollutants can be 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor concentrations. This is usually due to various factors, including energy-efficient building construction if the structure lacks sufficient mechanical ventilation to ensure adequate air exchanges, activities taking place in the building, lack of preventive maintenance, and the increased use of synthetic building materials, furnishings, personal care products, pesticides and even cleaning products.

“Some of the more common IAQ pollutants include mold, pollen, particulate matter, animal dander, radon, formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, lead, asbestos, carbon monoxide and combustion gases, and tobacco and marijuana smoke to name a few” said Harry Pena, President of Zimmetry Environmental. “Health effects from indoor pollutant exposure may be experienced soon after exposure or possibly years later, as can be the case with exposure to substances like asbestos. These pollutants can even come from a combination of outdoor and indoor sources so it takes an experienced IAQ professional to be able to thoroughly assess and optimize indoor environmental conditions.”

The IAQ and industrial hygiene professionals at Zimmetry Environmental support the efforts of National Indoor Air Quality Awareness Month with air testing, monitoring and consulting services. Their experts identify and mitigate exposure risks to biological, chemical and radiological concerns in Puerto Rico and across the Caribbean. Last year, Zimmetry even sponsored an educational video about National Indoor Air Quality Awareness Month that can still be seen at: https://youtu.be/RbLmbmixmOU

To learn more about Zimmetry’s indoor air quality, environmental and building science testing, compliance and consulting services, please visit www.zimmetry.com, call (787) 995.0005 or email info@zimmetry.com .

About Zimmetry Environmental
Since 2002, Zimmetry Environmental has been providing environmental consulting services to building owners and managers, architects, engineers, EHS professionals and Fortune 500 companies. The company is based in Puerto Rico and provides services across the Caribbean and Central America. The professionals at Zimmetry offer environmental compliance, indoor air quality, asbestos, lead-based paint, Phase I ESAs and general environmental consulting services.

Contact Information

Paul Cochrane

President

Cochrane & Associates, LLC

Contact via E-mail