The Janitors' Closet

Air pollutant detection

Polluted indoor air is said to be responsible for a good many premature deaths.  Here's an interesting article, out of Perdue University,  on developments in sensors that can detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs), that cause many of those deaths.  From the article:

 “Our work’s goal is developing low-cost volatile organic compound sensors capable of identifying indoor air quality problems and capable of controlling ventilation in response to high indoor emissions,” Braun said. “Sensing indoor volatile organic compound concentrations and then adjusting ventilation accordingly can maintain acceptable levels, but current sensor technologies are much too expensive for this purpose.”

Also of concern is size of the detector, and power usage.

Can't solve a problem that you cannot detect, and measure.

In our commercial janitorial operation, we have a slightly different focus - particulates, generally in the 1 to 10 micron size.  Such particles, of various kinds, can cause cancer; the AMA lists 50 some occupational disease syndromes, such as asbestosis and black lung disease (common among coal miners), all of which seem to be caused by such size particles.

Several studies on how you can tweak janitorial service, such as by using HEPA filtrated vacuums and microfiber mops and wipes, show a better than 50% reduction in daytime airborne particle count, in that size range.  We monitor IAQ as part of our service package, and (in a fairly tightly sealed, 5-night per week client facility), that's about what we achieve, as compared to usual janitorial equipment and procedures.

Breath easy!

The chemical dangers of social media

Interesting story out of Bristol, England.  It seems that the local fire chiefs are warning folks to exercise caution when using social media tips on cleaning chemicals.

The reason that we in commercial janitorial train our crews in chemical usage involves the various hazards one might encounter in mixing inappropriate chemicals, or neglecting proper ventilation, or failing to don protective equipment (at the most basic level, eye protection and gloves).  One gal, for instance, found herself inside a chlorine gas cloud after mixing bleach and vinegar to scour her shower.  You'd think, in England at least, people would have some awareness of the downside of chlorine gas, what with World War I and all.

You rarely get safety training via a tweet, or a Safety Data Sheet on the given chemical.

Mold - dead or alive?

We don't see a lot of mold in the Phoenix area where I work in commercial janitorial, as mold likes wet places; most building here have little problem with wet foundation, walls or attic.  But where there is an active moisture source - think a floor drain, a pipe leak in a restroom wall, a blockage in the drain line from the air conditioning unit - we have a problem, just like anyone else.

Some people are allergic to mold, and some molds (thankfully, a minority) are toxic to all people.  So the preferred solution is to fix the leak, and fully remove the mold.  Problem is, if the mold is back inside a wall, you need to demo and replace drywall.  Should it be under flooring, an even larger budget is indicated.

Caught an interesting article by our good friends at Cleaning and Maintenance Management, discussing issues that might not come readily to mind, particularly when one tries to cut cost - and corners - by avoiding demolition, using fogging and other chemicals to deal with the mold.

Some procedures involve "killing" the mold, and letting it set.  Seems a reasonable solution.  But, like any silver lining, there lurks a grey cloud within.  A mold can be deactivated - rendered dormant - but will began growing again with a bit of moisture.  Hard to tell if it is dead, or just dormant.  Further:

"For many years, people have been tested by doctors for allergies, and through the testing process, determined to be allergic to mold. The process is called “prick-testing.” During this process, a mold spore is injected just under the skin and if the patient reacts with a raised bump of a certain size or itching, is the doctor may determine that person is sensitive to mold and probably has developed, or will develop, mold allergies. The spore is a dead, not viable, mold spore. What that simply means is that people react to mold whether it is dead or alive."

So - best to bite the bullet and remove the mold.

 

Measles on the comeback

One might think that a wealthy nation like America could defeat most of the communicable diseases that have plagued (no pun intended) mankind for millennia. Not so.  Measles, declared eradicated in the US back in 2004, has increased its incidence some 20-fold in the years since (albeit from a vey low start point).  

The reason is lack of vaccination.  When you vaccinate a large preponderance of the kids, you confer "herd immunity" - though not everyone is vaccinated, enough are that the pathogen cannot move through the population. (Some folks, due to reactions to a given vaccine, cannot be vaccinated.)  A while back, during an outbreak here in Arizona, we noted that those not vaccinating their children were either those in a quite conservative rural religious community on our northern border, or in trendy, upscale northern California communities - quite an interesting combination.  Folks in the latter group seem to continue to believe in a thoroughly debunked UK study (one study only) that claimed to tie vaccine to autism.  One wonders what other fairy tales they subscribe to. Perhaps we should teach science a bit better in our schools....

Speaking of schools, the recent measles (and other) outbreaks put particular pressure on schools, and on those (like us, commercial janitorial services) who clean them.  That's one reason we stress sanitation - hitting touch points throughout the facility with a hydrogen peroxide cleaner/sanitizer, delivered via a microfiber cloth.  Better to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

97.7 Percent Disinfection Rate

Here's an interesting news release out of Northwell Health.  Using surround UV light, they've achieved 97.7% pathogen elimination in a hospital setting, covering multiple surfaces.  Not quite full disinfection, but compared to fallible humans...

They do stress that the UV light application will not replace traditional human cleaning and disinfecting, but used as a "second hit", the method seems to me to show tremendous potential.

In providing healthcare cleaning, we use a full hospital grade disinfectant which, if used thoroughly, ought provide close to total pathogen kill.  But, while we do our best (proper equipment and methodology, training, supervision, and so on) we're still using humans for the job.  And by definition, there's never been a perfect human - or just one, depending on one's philosophy.  So a pretty darn thorough back-up is much appreciated.

LItter - by the numbers

For all the concern about plastic straws, water bottles, and bags, it turns out that our most littered item is - the plastic cigarette filter (cigarette butt) - at least by number of items, as opposed to poundage.

Makes sense.  Other items are big, and kind of noticeable when you toss them.  Food service items - plates, soda cups and straws - tend to go into the trash can at the restaurant; bags (at least the ones I get) are used to pick up after the dog.  Cigarette butts are dropped on the sidewalk, or out of the car window.  They then tend to get washed off onto the field, or down the storm drain, and out to sea.

Doing commercial janitorial service, we're pretty careful about trash disposal, and try to adhere to recycling programs (and provide them when needed to our clients.)  But, we can't do much about butts (as it were) out on the street.

Here's a bit more, from our friends at Cleaning and Maintenance Management.

Poncho Villa to stay

Tucson has declined a request to remove from a city park a 14 foot equestrian state of the prominent Mexican revolutionary Poncho Villa.  The statue was presented to Tucson back in 1980 by the government of Mexico (nice to acquire impressive artwork on the cheap....). (Tucson is down the freeway from Phoenix, AZ, where I run a commercial janitorial service.)

I much like the idea of keeping the statue, but in this era of removal of public art, it does invite some perhaps uncomfortable comparisons.  Villa was a revolutionary (hence, technically a traitor), legally quite similar to our own Lee and Davis; he also, if memory serves, launched a raid or two into US border towns, killing a the odd American.  "Black Jack" Pershing spent months pursuing his band into Mexico, tying up a significant part of the American army, before being sent to a somewhat larger conflict in France.

Statues of historical figures can always generate controversy.  No human being (or only one, depending on your religious persuasion) is perfect; all have feet of clay, to some degree.  So a public statue will always offend someone. 

We have little enough public art, specifically statuary, as it is - walk a European city, sometime, for comparison.  Public art helps define public spaces, and thus improves society; one can find a penetrating analysis in Jane Jacobs' classic "The Death and Life of Great American Cities".  We ought preserve what little public art we have. 

It's also a bit of hubris to second guess folks, often generations ago, who devoted scarce resources to honoring a given individual or group, and to improve public space simultaneously.  Hard to see much difference between us taking down a statue that has become politically incorrect, and the current crop of Middle East barbarians destroying a pagan temple because, for them, paganism is politically incorrect.  Next step might be slitting throats of elderly archeologists.

So perhaps we should keep statues of Poncho Villa, and Robert E. Lee, and any pagan temples we might still have extant.

What to do with the extra drugs?

There's an interesting kerfuffle on disposal of unused medications, from and article by our friends at Cleaning & Maintenance Management.

On the one hand, "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency strongly discourages the pouring or flushing of pharmaceutical drugs into the sewer system and has issued a new rule banning this practice for hazardous waste pharmaceuticals at health care facilities. Makes sense.  There have been many indications that even small doses of medications turning up downstream can impact various critters, and municipal sewage treatment systems are not designed to remove such contaminates.

On the other hand, "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in contrast, has advised individuals to dispose of narcotics and other controlled substances down the drain or toilet in order to prevent animals and children from coming in contact with them."

You can't win.

Perhaps the best solution might be to put the stuff in the red Hazcom trash cans that most health care facilities use, for bodily fluid contaminated material, sharps, and so on.  That trash is picked up by a specialized vendor and taken out to be (generally) incinerated.  Perhaps  a third of our commercial cleaning involves healthcare facilities; they all use the Hazcom containers, and are generally pretty careful about keeping dangerous materials out of the regular trash.

But I could tell stories about a string of dialysis facilities we cleaned years back; we'd often find rather large pools of blood under the dialysis chairs, and used sharps (needles) siting on the counter, point outward.  They wound up with a "major reorganization" involving liability from a patient bleeding out during dialysis.  Some clients you don't much mind losing.

None of the above addresses what individuals ought do at home, with unused or outdated medications.  Most folks I know don't have Hazcom receptacles available.  And, for me, I don't much want miscellaneous medications to get to my dogs.

Where you need hand sanitizers

I'm passing along to our commercial janitorial clients a good article from our friends at Cleaning and Maintenance Management, what with it being flu season and all.

Besides the obvious locations for hand sanitizers (restrooms and lunchrooms), look at conference rooms, building entrances, sales counters and individual desks - desk surfaces, phones and computer keyboards can harbor lots of pathogens.

Management ought also actively promote hand washing and sanitizer usage and, perhaps most important, set the example.

Employees out sick or, worse, coming to work to perform inefficiently but to pass pathogens along quite efficiently, is never good for the bottom line.

Too little water pressure, or too much

Around the end of November, I commented on an outbreak of Legionnaires disease among patients in a hospital; the place had been conserving water by lowering water pressure, and hence velocity, during low use periods, leading to growth of the bacteria.

Now comes an article in the Atlantic noting that the bacteria likely inhabiting your shower head (and the rest of your water system), generally pretty good at cementing themselves in place, can be knocked lose by too fast a water flow.  They are not generally a problem for folks with robust immune systems, but if inhaled, can cause pneumonia, and other bad things, among an already at-risk population.

In cleaning commercial facilities, we're not responsible for a lot of showers, and never for the inhabitants of the pipes.  Thank goodness.

Some days, you can't win.