Office air quality affecting employees and profits

AQA's free webinars offer information on
air quality indoors and ways to improve it.

We recently attended a free webinar offered by Air Quality Academy about the indoor air quality issues faced in offices.

Not only can there be VOCs, chemicals, mold, particles (and dust), bacteria and viruses, but the long-term or even short-term effects of this type of exposure were something of an eye opener.

Many people spend 40 hours or more in the office each week, often close to electronic equipment, big photocopiers and printers and no say in how the air quality is handled.

They can experience eye nose and throat irritation, respiratory problems and many more health effects that not only affect them personally but also have an impact on the company’s bottom line.

The pollutants can also come from building materials, furnishings, paint, personal care products and perfume, air fresheners, harsh cleaning products and other sources.

How to improve air quality in offices

When offices are well ventilated practicing source control, exposure may not be so bad, but most ventilation systems don’t provide enough fresh air for the number of people on the floor.

That’s when air filtration becomes an invaluable tool.

The webinar delved into the most commonly used air filters and gave a brief description of how they worked.

Turns out the off-the-shelves air purifiers you can buy in the big department stores only offer half the protection because they usually feature only a HEPA filter (the best for particle filtration, but no effect on VOCs, chemicals and odors).

A good office air purifier does need a lot of activated carbon as well, a message we have been spreading, too.

Office air cleaners need activated carbon and HEPA filters

In fact, Electrocorp’s air cleaners for offices feature some of the largest adsorbent surface areas in the industry, the longest-lasting activated carbon filters and best overall protection from indoor air contaminants.

Electrocorp has even designed special air cleaners for office printers that feature a custom-built source capture attachment covering the exhaust of big photocopiers and printing machines, drawing the air through activated carbon + HEPA filters and removing the chemicals and particles before they can spread.

For more information on office air cleaners, contact Electrocorp. For more information on IAQ webinars, contact Air Quality Academy.