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Worker Mold Protection Guide - HASL_2034dnlfile

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Final Guidelines for the Protection and Training of Workers Engaged In Maintenance and Remediation Work Associated with Mold 7 Rautiala and colleagues (1996) reported that during repairs of moldy buildings, "construction workers are exposed to high concentrations of microbes, perhaps causing health problems." These researchers strongly recommended personal protection of both the respiratory system and eyes for workers and isolating the work to protect occupants. NIOSH (2003) corroborated these findings with data from Health Hazard Evaluations of remodeling work in moldy buildings. During remediation, the spore count has been documented to increase a thousand fold. Most clinicians who participated in the companion Clinical Aspects of Mold Exposure meeting, hosted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health December 10-11, 2003 have seen remediation workers with adverse health effects. Dr. Philip Morey, Vice President of Air Quality Sciences, provided the following data at the 2004 Manhattan workshop from a study he co-authored that contains exposure data for remediation workers (Morey and Hunt, 1995). Air sampling was conducted by spore trap under quiescent conditions in a building that had suffered severe mold contamination after an earthquake destroyed much of the roof above the second floor. Samples were then collected during demolition and after the first cleaning. The results indicate very the high levels of mold spores generated during demolition as well as the reductions that can be achieved from cleaning. Table 1. Airborne molds during initial inspection. Average Spore Concentration per m 3 Sample Description Total P-A* Stachy* Cla* Outdoor air, N=5 17,600 2,200 ND 5,000 Floor One, N=15 5,500 100 ND 1,800 Floor Two, N=6 9,800,000 9,200,000 100,000 450,000 *P-A= Penicillium-Aspergillus; Stachy= Stachybotrys; Cla=Cladosporium Table 2. Airborne molds during demolition. Average Spore Concentration per m 3 SampleDescription Total P-A Stachy Cla Outdoor air, N=5 5,700 1,300 50 3,500 Floor One, N=15 2,200,000 2,080,000 28,500 5,000 Floor Two, N=6 32,000,000 30,500,000 180,000 700 Table 3. Airborne molds during first final cleaning. Average Spore Concentration per m 3 SampleDescription Total P-A Stachy Cla Outdoor air, N=7 1,960 220 35 1,070 Indoors, both floors, N=17 39,000 35,300 750 1,700 Factors Affecting Mold Exposure Potential The consensus from the workshops was that the following factors should be considered as criteria for mold exposure potential: Project size, square footage of mold that is present;

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