Building Related Illness

In recent years, it has been observed that residents in buildings with air-conditioning systems were suffering

from headaches, stuffy noses, dry throats, fatigue, coughs, chills, nausea and difficulties in concentrating. Examples of such incidents are well-known; out of the dozens of cases reported let us only mention two cases. 

A US Army study over nearly four years (47 months) in 11 Army Training Centres compared the occurrence of respiratory diseases suffered by recruits housed in new, tight and air-conditioned buildings, with those housed in old "leaky" barracks (Brundage report 1988). The men living in the air-conditioned buildings showed 51% more acute febrile respiratory diseases compared to the trainees in the old barracks. The study made another astonishing discovery; respiratory diseases increased immoderately in proportion to the time the soldiers lived in the "modern" barracks; and the disease stopped when the soldiers were relocated to "old" barracks. No doubts were left as to the formation of cultures of respiratory pathogens in the duct system of A/C installations and that the forced air-transmission itself was responsible for the large percentage of diseased soldiers.

Bacteria and fungi require very small quantities of organic matter and minerals as nutrients to be able to develop, and these are readily available on the large surfaces in A/C ducting systems. In addition to micro-organisms, chemicals, smoke and organic dust particles are also found in large quantities.

Samples taken from the indoor air and duct surfaces showed heavy infection of fungi like Cladosporium, Penicillium, Mucor and Aspergillus. These micro-organisms cause various respiratory diseases to the residents. In one instance it was found that the spores of Aspergillus-Flavus contained up to 1100 ppm of Aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is so toxic that the allowed concentration in food is only 30 ppb (part per billion)

Those who suffer the most from this kind of respiratory diseases are patients in hospitals, children in kindergartens, youngsters in schools and elderly people in private houses.

It is striking that until the recent findings of research scientists all of the above-mentioned diseases were related to causes like cold weather, flu or food poisoning.

The significance of the problem is now recognised by all major health agencies like the WHO, the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, the National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health, the American Society of Microbiology, just to mention a few.

GeoSIL  is a multicomponent disinfectant based on hydrogen peroxide and silver, with distinguished bactericidal, algicidal and fungicidal characteristics.

GeoSIL   can be applied universally. Due to its characteristics and advantages it can be superbly applied in air-conditioning systems.

GeoSIL   demonstrates a wide range of effectiveness. Its antimicrobial effect includes the complete range of micro-organisms.

GeoSIL  is effective against:

Bacteriophages
Viruses
spore formers
yeast

mycoderin

algae

GeoSIL has a rapid and reliable effect on:

       grampositive bacteria

       gramnegative bacteria

GeoSIL  has neither taste nor smell; i.e. at proper dosage it is not noticeable.

GeoSIL is superbly suited to successfully prevent a recontamination of the system.

FIELDS OF APPLICATION

After the cleaning operation, the disinfection is carried out with a 2% GeoSIL solution, using the GeoSIL® TURBOFOGGER, a portable pneumatic cold-fogging unit.

The fogging unit will atomise the GeoSIL disinfectant into small droplets of maximum 30 microns. The fog will cover the entire surface of the ducts and will penetrate into any small crack, joint and corner and will destroy all micro-organisms.

As a result of "contaminated" fresh air being sucked in, organic deposits, pathogenic germs, etc. are concentrated on the surfaces of air-conditioning equipment in contact with air and water.

These deposits on the one hand affect the efficiency of the air-conditioning equipment (worse transfer of heat, blockages), and on the other hand they are breeding grounds for excessive growth of pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi and algae.

Once the parts in contact with air or water have been thoroughly cleaned, all surfaces must be fully wetted with a 2% GeoSIL solution. The 2% GeoSIL solution may be applied either mechanically using a sponge or cloth soaked in a 2% GeoSIL solution or using the GeoSIL® TURBOFOGGER.  It is not necessary to rinse off or remove the 2% GeoSIL solution.

Since the pathogenic germs are very small, the filters incorporated in the air-conditioning equipment are unable, or only partially able to trap these pathogens. Particularly when the air-conditioning equipment, system ducts and especially the filters have not been adequately trained and disaffected, the pathogenic germs develop suddenly on these services and are carried into rooms by the air flow.

To avoid this, constant disinfection of the filter and the water used for humidification is absolutely essential.

The following possibilities are available for disinfection with GeoSIL:

q       Disposable filter

The filter is sprayed at regular intervals by one or more permanently installed nozzles. For this purpose, a GeoSIL concentration of 250-500 ppm is recommended (depending on the requirements).

q       Circulating filter

The circulating filter is constantly humidified in a bath of water. The water bath should possess a constant surplus of GeoSIL of 50-100 ppm (depending on the requirements).

q       Humidifier

The water used for humidification may be disinfected directly with GeoSIL, depending on the temperature and working time of the water used for humidification. A concentration of GeoSIL of 10-50 ppm is recommended.