Carpet Is Our Friend!
| "Carpet is a friend to the school classroom because it acts as a filter and a trap for airborne biologicals," HOST researcher Judy Bates told school management professionals from around the country at an IAQ seminar she led recently at the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) annual conference in San Antonio. However, carpet's ability to act this way, she cautioned, "requires schools to take care of this floor covering and extract out the biologicals through effective vacuuming and regular cleaning." Bates referred to studies she led last year, comparing the level of mold spores in classroom carpet to mold spores in classroom air. Air levels were found to be dramatically lower than carpet levelsin some rooms, air levels were less than 1% of the carpet levels. "There is no evidence to show that biologicals leave the carpet," she said. "It looks like a one-way street. Biologicals fall onto the carpet and stay there until effective cleaning removes them." Mold spores are normal and ordinary in outside air, and schools should expect to find indoor air amounts similar to outside amounts, Bates said. If indoor air levels are much higher than outdoor levels, "be suspicious of an indoor source of growing mold." Any area that is damp from leaks or condensation can become an indoor source. Ventilation systems and ceiling tiles under roof leaks are common indoor sources of molds. In school cleaning tests, one Host dry extraction cleaning removed over 85% of the accumulated mold spores from the carpet dust. Host cleaning also removed 85-95% of dust mite allergen and cat allergen. Cat allergen is found in schools because it is carried in on the clothes of children and staff. This is also a likely scenario for dust mite allergen. Airborne dust mite allergen levels in schools, like that for mold, has not been found to be excessive either. "We have not been able to find dust mite allergen in the air in the classrooms we have tested, even above carpets that contain high levels of dust mite allergen. This is good evidence that the mite allergen is not disturbed from the carpet by ordinary foot traffic. Once again, carpet plays the role of a filter and a trap that holds the biologicals out of the breathing zone." Bates summarized by saying that, "low humidity, dry interior environments and cleanliness are the critical elements to healthy indoor air for classrooms. Cleaning that does not introduce excessive and lingering moisture into these environments is healthful." For more information on indoor air quality and its relation to cleaning, or an IAQ kit, contact the company at, HOST/Racine Industries, Inc. PO Box 1648, Racine, WI 53401 or visit www.hostcarpetcleaning.com Johnson's Wax Cleaning Service This is a scary thought for many established cleaning services. It certainly has created good deal of anxiety among established contractors in South America. Some contractors in Brazil and Columbia are boycotting Johnson's Wax products in protest of the international chemical company's entry into the local cleaning business. One question that comes to mind is, if Johnson's Wax has entered the cleaning business in South America, will a Johnson's Wax Cleaning Service soon pop up in Seattle, Los Angles or Sioux Falls, So. Dakota? The following comes from CM Daily News, a service of Cleaning Maintenance & Management and Cleanfax magazines: Health Tax Breaks for Self-Employed Cleaning professionals who own their own business will be able to deduct more of their health insurance costs under new federal tax rules that President Clinton recently signed into law. The new rules accelerate the schedule for making health insurance fully deductible. Currently, self-employed people can deduct 45% of their health insurance costs. With the new law, the percentage rises to 60% in 1999, 70% in 2002, and 11% in 2003. |
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