AboutDavid L. Russell, PE Expertise I`m a Chemical,Civil and Environmental Engineer and have a number of projects in all phases of the environment.
I have worked in the chemical industry and am active in professional societies, and am currently on an industrial wastes committee for the Water Environment Federation, and have taught courses in remediation in the US and abroad.
I have written one book on Remediation of petroleum Contaminated Sites, and have a second book on PRACTICAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT to be published by John Wiley in September, 2006. I've also written over 30 articles on various elements of environmental problems and cleanup. Most Recently, I have addressed a NATO Scientific and Techical Conference on Ecoterrorism, and have worked with the same group on remediation of sites contaminated with Chemical Warfare Agent materials and othe materials as well. . I can answer q`s about Chemical and Environmental Engineering, land development, air pollution, water pollution, soil and water cleanup, combustion, international environmental problems, industrial processes chemical processes. Civil and Environmental and Chemical Engineering. Overall, I have over 35 years of experience in this area. Note: I do not answer homework questions
Experience I love work in the third world and developing areas
because it is challenging and one can get a sense of accomplishment.
Question Four days ago I returned home from a week long trip to find a strong, chemical-like, toxic-smelling odor in my condo. It reminded me of a paint-thinner or even plastic that had been burned. A family member who checked on things daily while I was gone, said the odor had been present for four days. No one has been able to hypothesize a cause: the air quality inspector said it was the AC unit, the AC repairman said the AC is fine. PS - we have had mold inspections performed & been instructed to receive HEPA cleaning as well as a TM-100 cleaning for moderate levels of mold present in the air. Could the chemical odor be a mold issue? Any other conclusion as to where it may be coming from?? I am desperately searching for answers.
Answer First, let me try and save you some money. If the AC repairman said that it is not the AC unit, I'd at least postpone the HEPA cleaning for the time being.
Here's my best guess. You live in a condo. Have you checked with your neighbors to see if they have recently a) painted, b) treated their unit for bugs, c) put in new carpeting, d) had electrical problems, or e)had anything wrong in the building? Those are the places where I would check first.
Now, about the mold issue. Mold grows where there is water. The black toxic mold you hear so much about is the growing of mold on the inside of the drywall where there is continuous moisture. A leaky roof will do it, but unless you are at the top floor of your unit, you may not have that problem. Mold is ubiquitous and is even outside. It is the presence of water which allows it to grow. It won't generally grow unless there is continuous sources of moisture.
I assume that you may have some indoor plants. They could be a source of the odor, without meaning to. Don't throw them out, but check them for odor, and then if they are a potential source, re-pot them and cut back on the water.
You may want to check around your fuse box and your electrical outlets. It's possible that you may have had a problem there and wiring may have fried or burned without causing a fire, but that would be strong enough to create an odor.
Finally, and this is the least likely, but have you considered a possible source of an infestation? Because I don't know where you are, I'm trying to think of all sources of possible odors. One would have to include animal odors. I do not mean to be offensive, but if in your absence, a critter (wild animal, roof rat, or just about anything else) got into your condo from even a small open space, it might have crawled behind something and died, causing an odor. It's impossible to tell from this distance.
Try these low cost things I suggested first and then see if you don't get answers.
I just don't think that the TM 100 and HEPA cleaning will be of much good unless there is an active source of mold infestation, and without water, that's unlikely. Oh yes, depending upon where you are within the building, and how your A/C unit ventilates the space, you might check for water in the ducts as a possible source of mold.
I wish that I could be of more help.
Sorry.
Dave
Just after completing this response, I was looking through the news on the WWW. I came across the following article and it may have some relevance to your situation depending upon the age of your condo.
EPA Finds Suspect Materials in Foreign Drywall
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 9:10 PM
NEW ORLEANS -- The Environmental Protection Agency has found suspect materials in a small sampling of Chinese-made drywall, adding weight to fears that the house-building staple may be causing corrosion in homes and possibly sickening people in several states, a report released Tuesday said.
The EPA tested Chinese-made wallboard in two Florida homes and discovered sulfur and two organic compounds associated with acrylic paint, the report said. Those chemicals were not found in four samples of American-made drywall. Also, the agency said it found strontium at higher levels in the Chinese product than in U.S. wallboard. Strontium compounds are used in making ceramics, pyrotechnics, paint pigments, fluorescent lights and medicine.
Shipping records reviewed by The Associated Press indicated that imports of potentially tainted Chinese building materials exceeded 500 million pounds during a four-year period of soaring home prices, peaking in 2006. The drywall may have been used in more than 100,000 homes, according to some estimates, including houses rebuilt after 2005's Hurricane Katrina.
The boards apparently cause a chemical reaction that gives off a rotten-egg stench that grows worse with heat and humidity and corrodes metal. Researchers do not know yet what causes it, but possible culprits include fumigants sprayed on the drywall and material inside it.
The EPA noted in the report that its two-home sample may not be representative of all drywall products. Also, the agency said the report was not done to see if there was a link between the Chinese drywall and "the conditions being observed in houses."
EPA officials did not immediately comment on its report that was released by Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
Several federal and state agencies are investigating complaints that the drywall is corroding copper pipes, blackening jewelry and silverware and causing health problems.
Landrieu and Nelson are calling on Congress to include $2 million in a war spending bill to enable the Consumer Protection Safety Commission and other federal agencies to more thoroughly research the extent of problems with the Chinese drywall.
Nelson said the EPA results shed light on what was in the material.
"In the end, I think all this stuff is going to have to be ripped out" of homes, Nelson said.
Landrieu said the government needs to "get answers for families with sick children and pets, construction workers and builders removing the product, and local health officials who are concerned with dumping the drywall in their landfills."
The drywall was brought into the U.S. when building materials were in short supply and because the Chinese-made drywall was abundant and cheap.
Dozens of homeowners in the Southeast have sued builders, suppliers and manufacturers, claiming the very walls around them are emitting smelly sulfur compounds that are poisoning their families and rendering their homes uninhabitable.
Builders have filed their own lawsuits against suppliers and manufacturers, claiming they unknowingly used the bad building materials.
Companies that produced some of the wallboard, including Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, a Chinese company named in many of the lawsuits, said they are looking into the complaints, but downplayed the possibility of health risks.
A spokesman for KPT did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
A Florida Department of Health analysis found the Chinese drywall emits "volatile sulfur compounds," and contains traces of strontium sulfide, which can produce the rotten-egg odor, but that it had not discovered "an imminent or chronic health hazard at this time."
Dr. Patricia Williams, a University of New Orleans toxicologist hired by a Louisiana law firm that represents plaintiffs in some of the cases, said the EPA report appeared to corroborate the findings of experts hired by plaintiffs' lawyers.
"It sounds similar to what we are finding," she said. She added that exposure to the compounds being found in the drywall could cause serious problems.
Besides Florida and Louisiana, the senators said problems with Chinese-made drywall have been reported in Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, California.
On Thursday, the Senate Commerce Committee is expected to hold a hearing on the issue of Chinese-made drywall.
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On The Web:
EPA report can be found at Sen. Mary Landrieu's Web site:
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I don't know if this has any relevance to your situation but is it possible and worthwhile checking? Maybe. If your place had been built or significantly refurbished within the last few (4) years, you could have this problem. I don't know.
