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Air Handling Systems for Cleanroom Control
Published in Kenneth E. Avis, Sterile Pharmaceutical Products, 2018
The relative humidity specification being used in most facilities in the United States is 45 percent ±5 percent. This condition is achievable under almost all outdoor air conditions. Maintaining a constant, relatively midrange humidity is important for several reasons: Humidities above 55 percent can cause personnel perspiration and increased particle shedding.A lower humidity helps limit mold growth.Higher humidities (above 50 percent) encourage oxidation and rusting.Very low humidities encourage electrostatic charging of surfaces, particularly plastics.
Molds
Published in William J. Rea, Kalpana D. Patel, Reversibility of Chronic Disease and Hypersensitivity, Volume 5, 2017
William J. Rea, Kalpana D. Patel
Avoiding brain damage from molds and mycotoxins requires primary prevention. Molds cause neurological and respiratory damage and illnesses that appear to progress and become irreversible and so avoidance of exposure is imperative. First, the building must be designed to prevent moisture within walls. This means preventing intrusion from roofs, (Rain and snow) condensation (including with air-conditioning ducts, and plumbing leaks (supply, icemakers and sewers), facilitate ventilation of walls and roofs so they breathe. Second, construction materials that do not aid the growth of Stachybotyrus and other toxic molds should be used. Strongly alkaline building materials for repair and new construction such as lime, plaster, and concrete deter mold growth.
Controlling Indoor Air Problems: How to Keep the Building Working Well
Published in H.E. Burroughs, Shirley J. Hansen, Managing Indoor Air Quality, 2020
H.E. Burroughs, Shirley J. Hansen
The remaining dilemma at the time of this writing is the issue that there are no clear and definitive mold standards—the basic problem of “how clean is clean.” The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has not established a Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for mold. Neither has the American Conference of Industrial Hygienists established a safe level, however, several states have recently enacted laws requiring licensure of mold consultants and remediators. The medical scientists have declared that there is no clear linkage between mold exposure and severe adverse health effects, yet concede that low levels of exposure can induce allergic reactions in susceptible individuals. This dichotomy mandates that the building owner take deliberate care and due diligence in selecting and managing the remediation team and his consulting experts. This is because cleanliness targets are largely “expert” driven and getting in bed with the wrong expert will end up costing thousands of tests, months of productivity loss, and millions of dollars in laboratory and remediation fees to attain “clean.” Thus, the targets for “acceptability” must be mutually agreed upon between the experts and parties to the complaint before remediation commences—otherwise it does not ever end because “0” doesn’t exist in the normal commercial building setting that is exposed to outdoor air. There is currently an ANSI approved standard for mold remediation from the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) titled, “IICRC S520: Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation.” Other organizations, such as AIHA and NADCA, have published documents that include guidance on mold remediation.
An emerging pretreatment technology for reducing postharvest loss of vegetables-a case study of red pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) drying
Published in Drying Technology, 2022
Li-Zhen Deng, Chun-Hong Xiong, Parag P. Sutar, Arun S. Mujumdar, Yu-Peng Pei, Xu-Hai Yang, Xian-Wei Ji, Qian Zhang, Hong-Wei Xiao
Red pepper is frequently contaminated with high levels of bacteria, molds, and yeasts due to the poor sanitary conditions during cultivation and harvesting, which causes the high microbial load on the dried products.[19] Furthermore, foodborne pathogens like Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus cereus have been detected in dried red pepper.[20] Dried red pepper is usually consumed directly or as an ingredient in many ready-to-eat food products. When rehydrated or used in food with higher water activity, surviving microbes can propagate to levels that could constitute a risk to consumers. Moreover, contamination with mold may result in product spoilage and even production of mycotoxins, which are severely toxic to human and animal health.[21] Mycotoxin is often detected in dried red peppers, and it is challenging to destroy aflatoxins that are resistant to the various extreme environment.[14,21] The thermal treatment is effective in eliminating microorganisms in food.[22] However, dried products' low water activity environments offer considerable protection against microorganisms, while their thermal resistance increases as the water activity decrease.[22] There are various disinfection technologies, such as chlorine dioxide, ozone, electrolyzed water, sodium hypochlorite.[23,24] Those treatments either need a long exposure time or increase the moisture content of dried products. Therefore, it might be desirable to decontaminate the fresh sample before drying.
Comparison of ERMI results for dust collected from homes by an electrostatic cloth and by the standard vacuum method
Published in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 2021
Stephen Vesper, Larry Wymer, David Cox, Gary Dewalt, Eugene Pinzer, Warren Friedman, Peter J. Ashley
Reviews of the scientific literature have concluded that exposure to high levels of mold contamination is associated with adverse health effects, especially for people with asthma (WHO 2009; Kanchongkittiphon et al. 2015; Osborne et al. 2015; Thacher et al. 2017; Mendell et al. 2018). Therefore, standardized and objective methods are required to quantify mold contamination in homes. To fill this need, the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) was created (Vesper et al. 2007).
Pro-inflammatory responses induced by A. fumigatus and A. versicolor in various human macrophage models
Published in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 2019
Elisabeth Øya, Anita Solhaug, Anette K. Bølling, Reidun Øvstebø, Tonje B. Steensen, Anani K.J. Afanou, Jørn A. Holme
Epidemiological studies have demonstrated an association between exposure to mold-contaminated/humid indoor air and exacerbation of respiratory diseases with increased inflammatory status, such as asthma (Baxi et al. 2016; IOM 2004; WHO 2009).