Sometimes, All I Need is the Air that I Breath...

…at 30,000 feet.

To save money, airlines in the United States are circulating less fresh air into the cabins of many airplanes. As a result, flight attendants, as well as some passengers, have begun to complain that the practice is causing headaches, nausea and other health problems, especially after long flights.

The reduction of fresh air is done only on newer planes. Older aircraft built before the mid-1980's provided cabins with 100 percent fresh air that was circulated every three minutes. But the newer models provide half fresh air and half recirculated air that is freshened every six or seven minutes or longer. The recirculation system enables the planes to use less fuel to cool the outside air, which is heated by the engines as it is drawn in.

This is similar to a common problem with Building Related Illness or its more severe and newsworthy sister, Sick Building Syndrome. In the 1970’s, due to energy efficiency concerns buildings were built with the air conditioning bringing in less fresh air.

In the same article, the New York Times describes some of the problems attributed to poorly circulated air.

Studies have also found that passengers with respiratory problems can infect their fellow passengers unless enough outside air is supplied to dilute the contagious effects of coughs and sneezes.

"Reducing the amount of fresh air from outside the cabin and increasing the length of time between cleaning of the vent system increases the amount of contamination in the air that passengers and flight attendants breathe," said Mr. Witkowski of the flight attendants union.

Several Government studies have shown relatively high levels of carbon dioxide in airplane cabins. At the request of flight attendants, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health studied MD80's used by Alaska Airlines last February. The agency found that carbon dioxide averaged 4,882 parts per million, more than four times the 1,000 p.p.m maximum set by the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

King 5 News out of Seattle reports another problem with air in airplanes.

Mysterious illnesses have been reported by flight crews around the world, who believe they are exposed to dangerous fumes aboard aircraft.

Scientists believe they have found the culprit.

Researchers have zeroed in on a chemical found only in airplanes, a jet engine oil additive called tricresyl phosphate, or TCP.

Here's how TCP could find its way from a jet engine into humans. All commercial jetliners, from both Boeing and Airbus, use air sucked in by the engine and then fed to the cabin in what's called a "bleed air" system.

Oil and hydraulic fluid leaks in the engine, which flight crews say happen more often than airlines admit, can send toxic vapors into the breathing air system and throughout the plane.

Dr. Clement Furlong of the University of Washington genetics lab has been studying this problem for the last three years.

There have been documented cases of sick passengers, but that's usually when there's a big leak and obvious smell and vapors in the cockpit.

Dr. Furlong's team suspect that flight crews, who spend 750 hours on a plane a year, suffer from lower level exposures to TCP. They're trying to find out if it accumulates in the body.

Boeing's new 787 does not use bleed air technology.

Decisions to be made a year from now, two years from now.

In the next two years, many homeowners will have to make some decision concerning their televisions and their air conditioning systems.

Less than a year from now (February 17, 2009), television stations will be mandated by the federal government to broadcast in digital. What this means for most people who own TVs made before May 25 of last year will need to get and adaptor or a new TV.

One word of advice if you are planning to use the adaptor and your TV antenna doesn't get UHF channels in clearly:

A special antenna generally is not needed to receive digital signals. You may have antenna issues, however, if your current antenna does not receive UHF signals (channels 14 and above) well, because most DTV stations are on UHF channels. In such a case, you may need a new antenna or to add a UHF section to your existing antenna system. This equipment should be available at most bricks-and-mortar and Internet consumer electronics retailers.

Less than two years from now (January 1, 2010) The refrigerant used in most central air systems (R-22) will only be available for maintenance of existing systems. As of the above date all new air conditioning systems will have a new, more environmentally-friendly refrigerant called R-410a.

This will concern the homeowner who has an R-22 system when only the outdoor unit or indoor unit fails. Under normal circumstances, replacing the damaged unit would be standard procedure. However, this will leave you with a situation where one half of your system is young and the other half old, and in less than two years the replacement for an R-22 condenser or airhandler will not be available.

The homeowner who owns a relatively new R-22 system has anothe concern. The making of new R-22 will be reduced until January 1, 202o, when only recycled R-22 will be available. What this means is that, as we get closer to 2020, repares that require R-22 will become more expensive as the refrigerant becomes scarce.

California Wants Control...

..of the thermostat in your new home.

California utilities would control the temperature of new homes and commercial buildings in emergencies with a radio-controlled thermostat, under a proposed state update to building energy efficiency standards.Customers could not override the thermostats during "emergency events," according to the proposal, part of a 236-page revision to building standards. The document is scheduled to be considered by the California Energy Commission, a state agency, on Jan. 30.

The description does not provide any exception for health or safety concerns. It also does not define what are "emergency events."

In the Tampa area, Tampa Electric (TECO) has a volunteer program called Prime Time. During a time of high use, instead of firing up another plant TECO would shut down air conditioning in selected homes to save energy. This is done so rarely that many Prime Time customers forget that they are on the program. In exchange for being on this program TECO customers get a discount on their electric bill.

This California proposal however, would be mandatory for new homes.

I know what you are thinking, and I am sure that there is a mechanism which would warn the powers to be if you should replace their thermostat with one controlled by you.

California Cracking Down on Ozone

Last September the California Air Resources Board voted to prohibit indoor ozone generators from putting out more than 0.05 ppm.

Robert Baker, Chairman & CEO, RGB Group, Tampa, FL, writing in Indoor Environment Connections, believes this is one of the Worst AND Best Indoor Air Quality Event of 2007:

In my opinion, this represents one of the worst IAQ events of the year because it is an example of our private enterprise system and democratic processes failing to protect the health and welfare of American citizens and a regulatory authority being forced to step in.It ranks as one of the best of the year, however, because it appears that, after decades of debate and litigation involving manufacturers of such devices, one of the nation’s most influential bodies has initiated decisive action.

Mr. Baker continues:

Not only is ozone a respiratory irritant, but recent studies demonstrate that it can react with volatile organic compounds indoors and produce aldehydes and other harmful breakdown products.

And here are the comments of Jay Hoover, the president of Integrity Air Conditioning on the subject of ozone:


In general I agree. I am also happy that Florida still allows that air quality tool. ....So ozone can cause some volatile organic compounds to change into more harmful compounds. It however causes other known harmful organic compounds and other chemicals to be rendered harmless. For example carbon monoxide changes to carbon dioxide and O2 in the presence of O3. That can be great for people working in auto repair shops. We recommend a low level CO detector as a start for auto shops.

Are There More Spores Outdoors?...

…and do they have human health effects?

Below are excerpts from an article in the December 2007 issue of Indoor Environment Connections by Dr. Harriet Burge Director of Aerobiology, EMLab P&K, San Bruno, Calif. She is an expert in the field of Indoor Air Quality. You can read the entire article here. - Way Cool

Yes, they do. Several papers in the literature document the relationship between asthma outbreaks and especially high concentrations of specific spore types. “New Orleans Asthma” is a syndrome blamed on basidiospores. Thunderstorm asthma has been blamed on a particular type of ascospore. In addition, clear relationships have been found between increased hospital admissions for asthma and outdoor spore concentrations. In the American Southwest, outdoor Alternaria exposure may actually initiate asthma in children.

Also consider the fact that gardening is considered to be a healthy form of exercise. You are outdoors breathing the “fresh” air (assuming you don’t live in the Los Angeles basin!) and are encouraging things to grow. You happily pull weeds and dig holes for the plants, breathing in the wonderful odors of the microbial volatiles responsible for the odor of new-turned soil along with all the spores (including those of Stachybotrys) that are growing on the dead leaves you are digging up.

On the other hand, gardening has never been reported to cause “toxic” symptoms such as headache, fatigue (other than that induced by using your muscles), memory loss, etc.

Refrigerant Changes You Need To Know...

....when choosing a new air conditioning system.

What most folks have now

Currently, the vast majority of residential central air conditioners use a refrigerant called R-22. Some systems already use the newer, more environmentally friendly refrigerant called R-410a, but R-22 far and away is the most common refrigerant in homes.

What’s happening in 2010

Starting in 2010, a little over two years from now R-22 systems will no longer be available. Also, starting in 2010 the manufacturing of new R-22 will start to be limited until the only R-22 available by 2020 will be recycled refrigerant. This will cause repairs involving refrigerant for R-22 systems to be more expensive.

What this means for those looking for a new system today

If you need a new air conditioning system, Integrity Air recommends that you get an R-410a system. In most cases the prices are comparable. Also if you have a mix-matched system, that is, a system where one section is much older than the other, you may want to replace the older section before 2010.

Securing Units Before a Hurricane

The photo on the left is the rooftop of a local school. Integrity Air replaced a failed air conditioner with a new ductless mini-split system (the outdoor section can be seen in the right foreground).

The original unit was set on 4' by 4' lumber laying on the roof. As you can see, the new outdoor section has been secured to the wall on a stainless steel bracket.

Securing the outdoor unit in this fashion is much stronger for our hurricane-prone area......also makes for easier roof replacement when needed.