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Indoor Air Quality,
Or Mass based:
- What is Air Pollution?
Air Pollution consists of undesired
Particulate, or Gaseous content, as well as undesired Temperature,
Humidity, and Flow characteristics.
- What are undesired Particulates?
Particulates are small particles
that can become ariborne, and include Pollen, Mold Spores, Bacteria, Viruses,
and Inert or "dead" matter within the same size ranges. Some of these
particulates can elicit allergic or toxic reactions.
- What is undesired Gaseous content?
Normal air composition is about
70% Nitrogen (N), 21% Oxygen (as O2), and various other trace gases. When the
amount of any trace gas increases significantly, or the oxygen content decreases,
then there is a danger of dicomfort, nausea, and / or aspyxiation.
- What is Combustion?
The rapid combination of some material and
Oxygen in a process commonly referred to as a Fire. Slow speed combination also
occurs and is commonly known as rust.
- What is Open combustion?
A campfire is an excellent example of an
Open combustion process, where large amounts of surrounding air are used to supply
the Oxygen needed by the fire. A standard fireplace is functionally identical.
However, the intent is to heat the indoors, not throw out air that has already
been heated. Unfortunately most oil, gas, and wood fired heating appliances are
of the open combustion design. When compounded by an intent of energy efficiency,
open combustion appliances should be excluded at the design stage.
- There is a smell of oil near my oil furnace, although I don't see any
leaks. How come?
The moment a combustion furnace first ignites there
is no updraft in the exhaust pipe to the chimney, so a bubble (or puff) of air
composed of combustion products is formed that is of greater dimensions than the
furnace. This bubble of air Whose sound may be a "whoof" can permeate any porous
surface, such as concrete, sheetrock, structural lumber, etc. Once the updraft
begins, the bubble of combustion fumes is sucked back into the furnace and vented
up the stack. This is standard operation, unless there is a fan assist designed
to start the updraft before ignition. That initial puff of combustion fumes can
produce an oily smell that will linger forever, or until the porous materials are
removed. If for this reason alone, Open Combustion Oil furnaces are Not
recommended.
- What is Negative Pressure?
If you have an inflated balloon, it has a
higher or positive pressure than the surrounding air. From another vantage point,
the air surrounding the inflated balloon is of lower or negative pressure compared
to that inside the balloon. When you considers a structure, a fan that is
exhausting air outdoors will cause a lower or negative pressure indoors compared
to outdoors. Conventional Open Combustion appliances (gas stove, furnace,
etc.) will cause negative pressure indoors during operation. If this happens
during winter, there will be leaks around all building envelope imperfections,
such as doors, windows, etc. that will exhibit entry drafts of cold and dry air.
Since winter air is generally very dry, this can cause mucous membrane (eye,
nose, throat, lung) discomfort. TO remedy this, some use local or whole-house
humidifiers, to bring comfort by raising the Relativ Humidity (RH) indoors.
However, since the air is regularly exchanged with the operation of the appliance,
the humidification process needs to an ongoing one. While this brings in a lot
of fresh air indoors, and diluting indoor pollutants, the flow is uncontrolled.
Even if your structure is deemed "energy efficient" and "tight", if you have
an Open Combustion appliance, it fights the intent of tightness and may not
operate properly possibly causing other health-related problems.
- What is Sealed combustion?
A grenade is an excellent example of a
sealed combustion process. However, its is quite useless for everyday needs in
that we want to benefit from the process, and therewith we must be able to control
the speed of the combustion process. Sealed refers to the isolation of the
combustion process from the living space. A campfire with a radiator filled with
water over it, and piping and a pump to bring the hot water indoors to another
radiator to provide heat, is a sealed combustion system as far as the living space
is concerned. Bringing the fire indoors, the air supply for the fire must come from an
intentional outdoor source, say through a pipe. The hot air to be circulated
indoors is then isolated from the combustion chamber and the combustion system is
“sealed” from an indoor perspective.
- I have a "Ventless" gas / propane / kerosene heater. Is it Sealed
Combustion?
Read the operating manual carefully. Unless there is a pipe
penetrating the wall to outdoors for combustion air needs, and if the manual
requires a window to be cracked open, it is not a Sealed Combustion unit. If a
"cracked open" window is required, and you don't open one because it's too cold
outside, you may be creating a recipe for tragedy.
- I am chemically hypersensitive, and I am allergic to mold. How do I get
rid of it completely?
The simple answer is: you can't. The longer answer
identifies thousands of airborne Mold particles or Spores of different genera
available constantly outdoors. If indoors reflect a similar concentration, it is
understood as a "healthy" place, from a mold perspective. There is an illusion
that one can make indoors totally mold free. The moment anyone opens a door to
come in or go out, a simple gust of air replenishes the indoors with a portion
of what is airborne outdoors at the moment.
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Electro-magnetic
Fields,
Or Energy based:
(Stray stuff)
- Stray Voltage / Current
Stray: not controlled, not on the right path, etc.
If it occurred with automobiles, there would be a lot of dead people . . .
However, most stay on track.
With Electricity, however, this is a function of sloppy and deficient design that
started with Edison, that of the three-wire system to provide 120/240. Since electricity
is invisible, a lot can go wrong, but as long as the switch turns on that lamp or fan,
everything seems OK. The end result, which morphs along form day to day, is current where
it should not be, and voltage where it should not be. For a thorough understanding of the
concepts and ramifications, a thorough understanding of the electric system and how it
is interconnected is necessary. Ironically, even engineers and electricians lack much
of this knowledge. So you ask: how come I by it? Well, over 30 years working on, and with,
system concepts and operation, from the simple indicator light, to the remotely controlled
electric substation, to the various and numerous ways to make it all happen. While this
pontification cannot assume to make an electrician or engineer out of you, it may teach
you some things they don't know (unless they've already read this, that is).
- How do you measure Stray Voltage?
With a good quality voltmeter,
whose input impedance is 10 megaOhms. Use a long lead (30 - 50 feet) tied at one end
to a peice of metal stuck in the soil (ten feet or more from the Electrical System
Ground) so that it reaches the moisture layer (typically 12 inches is plenty) and
inserted into the voltmeter "Common" connection. Then touch the other lead to the
Electrical System Groundhold and measure for AC Voltage. Anything more than about
1/2 Volt (500 milliVolts (mV)) is significant. This author has seen, at different
locations, values as high as 5, 15 and 25 volts.
- What is an acceptable level of Stray Voltage?
That depends on who you ask.
As little as 100 mV can be felt by animals and human kids. Where it introduces deviance
from normal behavior, such as cows not wanting to be milked, it produces an economic
burden. Therein arise lawsuits of the farmer against the utility, and each stick to their
guns, claiming the other is the only one at fault. But really, if any human can feel it,
or if animal behavior is altered by it, it is an annoyance that should be investigated and
corrected.
- Can there be Stray Voltage separate from the electric system?
Yes. A few years
ago, in Caronia, Sicily, there were extreme examples of stray voltage where pieces of
cable on the ground would catch fire, and various electronics would fail. The railroad
and the electric system were investigated and not found to be the problem. It appears
that even geologic stress can cause amounts of voltage great enough to cause damage.
- How relevant is stray voltage apart from the electric system?
While the Earth
is used by all as the zero-voltage frame of reference, the Earth can be at extreme values
distant from zero volts. Due to cloud formations passing overhead, weather related phenomena,
geologic stress, solar-magnetic-disturbance-induced ground currents, the voltage at any one
point in the soil can be hundred, or thousands, of volts different from another spot. Because
of this and the dangers involved, most of the bulk electric power transfer system is operated
ungrounded, except for the low voltage side, and that is merely a local ground. The
residential power distribution can be ungrounded (4800 V), or grounded (most other voltages).
Where we measure, and are concerned with, stray voltage / current phenomena, we are dealing
with "local" problems, whose range is at most a few miles of convoluted wire or pipe ways.
The normal Earth-related stray stuff is natural, and cannot be controlled, but since we
exist at an infinitesimally small spot compared to the planet, it does not bother us. The
Electric System-related stray stuff is unnatural, can kill, alter animal behavior, cause
economic hardship
- How do you measure Stray Current?
This is a lot trickier, because you now have
to consider that current flows through the ground as well as metallic structures. Generally,
to measure stray current, you use the same trusty good quality voltmeter, and use a coil
between the "common" and "voltage" input measuring for AC voltage. The voltage detected
will be a function of the magnetic field strength (a direct result of current flow) through
the coil. Obviously, just any coil will not do, because we would all come up with different
numbers. So, standardized meters are available that incorporate the meter and coil, and
they are called Gaussmeters (a Gauss is a measure of magnetic field strength (the Europeans
use Teslas where 100 nanoTesla = 1 milliGauss (100 nT = 1 mG))).
- What levels of Stray Current are relevant?
The Earth's background produces
about 500 mG of magnetic field, which is mostly DC except for minuscule ripple on it,
somewhere below 30 cycles per second (Hertz (Hz)). This background is essential to life.
In contrast, the addition of about 4 mG at 60 Hz, doubles the rate of Leukemia. While the
rate of Leukemia is rare, and doubling it still keeps it rare, if it happens to you, all
bets are off. If Leukemia is not reached, scores of other disease may become part of your
life. So the lowest the contribution of Alternating Magnetic fields, the better. If the
source produces a wide-area field that you cannot walk away from, you have a real problem.
If the source produces a small dimension field such as a small appliance, then its relevance
is quite low. Wiring errors and system interconnections can cause wide-area fields, and
these can be corrected, by someone who knows what he is doing.
- How are Stray Voltage and Stray Current related?
The classical formula says
that "current times the resistance it flows through equals the voltage". At this point the
obvious vanishes, because current flow through dirt, through wires, through metal pipes,
through concrete, through inonized water, etc. Since the resitances of all of these differ,
and the current flow differs (sometime moment by moment), stray voltage detection and
relevance assignment can be quite difficult. However, when some system behavior patterns are
known, values can be expected to vary predictably, and relevance assignment becomes much
easier. Depending on the individual counsultant / investigator's knowledge of those
foundational patterns, his / her conclusion will be as money you can take to the bank,
or, dirt.
- How can Stray Current cause problems in water?
As an example, if a wooden pier
has power and lighting, and if the Stray Voltage on the Electrical System Ground is
sufficient, a person in the water near the ground-to-water contact point will be exposed
to voltages that diminish as he / she gets further away from the contact point. If the
difference in voltage from one side of the body is substantially different from that on the
other side of the body, the person will feel a shock, and / or be electrocuted.
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Electro-magnetic
Fields,
Or Energy based: (everything else
other than Stray stuff)
- What is "Body Voltage" (BV)?
In absence of any artificial
voltage, and referenced to Earth Ground, it should be Zero. Unfortunately,
contemporary living environments are rich with electric gadgets, and every power cord
emits voltage right through the plastic insulating jacket, so it's not surprising to
find BV as high as 2-15 Volts.
- How do you measure Body Voltage?
With a good quality voltmeter,
whose input impedance is 10 megaOhms. Use a long lead (30 - 50 feet) tied at one end
to a peice of metal stuck in the soil so that it reaches the moisture layer (typically
12 inches is plenty) and inserted into the voltmeter "Common" connection. Then
hold the other lead with your hand and measure for AC Voltage.
- What are typical or "safe" values of Body Voltage?
In a home wired
with metal-clad wiring the value should be around 50 milliVolts (mV), whereas in
a home wired with Romex or Knob-and-tube the values will be around 500 to 5000 mV.
There is no "safe" level, but values of 50 mV or lower are much safer than 500 to
5000. The most recognizable reaction is loss of sleep, or unusual sleep patterns.
- What Pulses exist within the Human body?
In absence of any
artificial voltages, the body functions with pulse-trains (individually known
as "Action Potential", as noted in most college-level Biology books) within
the muscle and nerve structures to propagate Indication and Control of various
organs necessary for life. Their frequency varies with the level of activity.
- What is the Resistance of the Human Body?
Externally, electrical
contacts would experience from a few thousand to several hundred thousand Ohms (a
measure of opposition to current flow). With High Resistance, there is low
conductivity, and vice versa. The External Resistance is decreased significantly
by surface moisture and mineral content (such as salt from sweat). Internally, the
body is composed of an electrically highly conductive ionic mixture.
- What type of shielding can I use against EMF, steel, lead, etc.?
Kryptonite is the most effective material. I have this from a reliable source . . .
But really, the shielding depends on the character of the field.
If it is a Magnetic field, then the shield needs to easily magnetizable (muMetal),
and able to enclose a large portion of the field. If a motor is the source, then
any required opening left for cooling may negate the effectiveness of the shield.
Replacement with a better design may be the only solution. However, if the field
geometry is large, shielding can be useless.
If the field is anything else than a Magnetic one, then anything conductive can be
used as a shield, provided it is properly grounded (to a source of very low voltage,
like the Earth).
If the field is Radio Frequency, then dissipative (not conductive) shielding is in
order.
- What is Conductive, Dissipative, or Insulating?
Conductive = able to carry electrons easily, like a wire.
Insulating = unable to carry electrons easily, like glass.
Dissipative = something between the two extremes above.
- I’ve heard that wiring needs to be paired and twisted for less EMF, is that
true?
Proper wiring (without errors) is always paired (supply and return in
the same cable). But even proper wiring, when compounded by wiring errors is
effectively no longer paired, because currents will now flow in unintended paths.
With proper wiring and no errors, Magnetic fields will only exist within a few inches
of a cable carrying current. Add wiring errors and such a field will now span dozens
or hundred of feet.
Considering Electric fields, even paired wiring without errors, will emit a
considerable amount of such field for several feet from the cable (unless shielded,
such as Metal-clad) because the cable contains one wire at 120 volts, and one or more
at zero volts, averaging 60 volts, making for a very efficient source of Electric
fields.
Twisted Pairs are a design feature to reduce the reception of interference on
cables affected by a wide-area field. The thinking (proven true) is that as the cable
pairs twist over distance, their exposure at one point will be cancelled by another
point where the wire pairs are physically reversed. When this is applied to source
wiring, one is implying that the field will reverse and provide less of an effect on
a human. While the field may reverse, the human is not a piece of wire, so reversal
of the source field every few feet does not eliminate the biological impact on the
human. Therefore, "pair twisting" is a myth, as far as biological importance.
- I have too much EMF in my house, what do I do?
Close your eyes, and
click your heels twice . . . But really, even Oz could not fix it if he didn’t know
what type of field he was dealing with.
There is a common pattern of most individuals referring to Alternating Magnetic
Fields exclusively as EMF.
EMF, short for Electromagnetic Field(s) encompasses:
Steady-State Magnetic Fields,
Alternating (constantly reversing) Magnetic Fields,
Steady-State Electric Fields,
Alternating Electric Fields,
Fast Frequency Wideband Fields (with fast rise and/or fall times),
Radio Frequency Fields,
Light rays, and distortion thereof,
X-rays,
Radioactive particle and ray emissions
So if and when you might consider having too much EMF in your living space, you need
to be very specific as to what EMF you are talking about, to get real help.
- I have too much EMF in my house, and my electrician seems helpless on how to
help.
Most electricians, unfortunately, are only versed on voltage and current
on a wire, not in free-space. Although they could be the best-qualified individuals
to help you, this information is not part of their knowledge base, and most are too
busy making money to investigate, or try to do anything about, “fields”.
- I've just moved and one of my neighbors has a Ham radio. How do I find out how
much impact it has on me?
I, or anyone else with the appropriate tools, would
have to set up shop in your home for a week or so, and monitor on a 24-hour basis to
determine: 1) what frequencies are being used to transmit, 2) how long the time duration
of transmit is, 3) how much power is being transmitted, 4) what kind of modulations is
being used, and whether the Ham is using 5) directional equipment, which would vary the
three-dimensional power distribution. Then some conclusions could be made. Alternately,
you could ask him / her for these details, as most Hams are nice people, and they're
most helpful to those in need.
However, when placed in perspective against the
backdrop of possible problems indoors that could dwarf the Ham signals, the relevance
of the Ham emissions may be moot.
- I've heard that EMF above 2 is bad. Is that so?
There is a common
misconception that anything above a 2 is bad. But 2 whats? The media and the scientific
community have steered public focus onto Alternating Magnetic Fields, which are caused
by current flow. So when this author hears a client stating that they've just bought a
multipurpose newfangled instument and they read 2 on it, and they're ready to panic, I
am forced first of all to educate, and then set the various contributors in perspective.
The things that in and of themselves are either: 1) causative agents of disease, or 2)
promoters are: A) Alternating Electric Fields, B) Alternating Magnetic Fields, C) Wideband
Emissions [at many frequencies simultaneously], and D) Radio Frequencies.
Of the above, the least predictable are Radio Frequencies. There may be somewhat
predictable people usage patterns that cause general overall background increases, but if
measurements are made and a new transmitting array is installed nearby a week later, all
previous observations may become moot. Some sources are: Radio and TV broadcasts, Cellular
phone services, WiFi (wireless Internet links), baby monitors, etc.
Wideband Emissions are characteristic to Lightning, Spark Plug ignition systems, dimmers,
motor speed controllers, DC motors, etc. The uniqueness of these emissions is that they can
interfere with the central nervous system directly, and for a person who is sensitive enough,
relief can be immediate when something is disconnected or turned off.
Alternating Magnetic Fields are directly caused by current flow, but more specifically by
current flow that is not immediately adjacent to a return current flow in the opposite
direction, causing wide-area fields. Using a desk lamp as an example, there are two currents
flowing in the cord, one To the bulb, and the other From the bulb. Their being so close causes
effective cancellation such that field detection is only possible within a few inches of the
cord. Wire separation such as in overhead power lines can cause this phenomenon. This you have
no control over. Redundant neutral connections to mask problems in a flawed system can cause
this phenomenon. You can eliminate this after integrity verification on related equipment.
Indoor wiring errors can cause this, with an unpredictable "flavor", in that a switch may be
operated and a field instantaneously appears or disappears. You can eliminate this by testing
the circuits at the breaker panel and with wire tracing and correction (without opening walls,
in most cases). Appliances and transformers can cause this, but by being point sources they are
of low relevance, unless a lot of time is spent in their immediate vicinity. Magnetic fields
are expounded at some length at www.emfrelief.com/emf.htm
Alternating Electric Fields are simply produced by the voltage on the wiring. In an outdoor
overhead power line there may be a concern or not, depending on whether the line is WYE or Delta.
There may be a much greater concern indoors due to structural cavity wiring. Romex and
Knob-and-tube are prolific producers, and your option is primarily remote control to de-energize
wiring in sleep areas. Appliance wiring, especially by the bedside, is of great concern due to
its extended influence. Electric fields are expounded at some length at www.emfrelief.com/emf.htm
Any and all of these conditions can be found in any house across the land. Even a casual glance
at the above will disclose that all of these signals are changing with respect to time, some of
them very rapidly, whereas in an earlier topic item it was pointed out that there are "static"
systems that we are also exposed to. Alternating being causative agents, or promoters of, disease,
while Static ones being necessary for a healthy life.
- How far from electric appliances and their Electric fields is Safe?
In a typical home
wired with Romex or Knob-and-tube (somewhere around >90% of all home in North America), an
Electricifed Birdcage effect is set in motion, where the different bars (disconnected from
each other) are energized to voltages of different polarity. Within this realm, moving away from one
source one gets closer to another. So measuring field intensity from an appliance to determine a
"safe" distance may be moot, especially if moving away from the appliance you find yourself standing
only a few inches above energized wiring in the floor below you . . . In a home wired with Metal-clad,
or other form of Shielded wiring, it can be noted that the Electric field from an appliance and its
power cord extends out some 4 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters) with significant intensity. This being said,
having anything energized by the bedside is a definite no-no. Similarly, for wiring within the walls,
since sheetrock is transparent to alternating electric fields, if you have a wire traversing
immediately behind the head of the bed, moving the bed a foot or so away from the wall may be a
lifesaver. Caveat: most appliances are ungrounded. That is, they use only two wires. These
(the cord and the appliance) are prolific producers of electric fields. Appliances that are
properly grounded have the case of the appliance tied to electrical ground, and if the appliance
is in front of the power cord (as say, in the case of a refrigerator), it will serve to shield from
the cord's electric field. A noticeable field may however, be detected on the other side of the wall.
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