Then, of course, the root cause could have been the employee who left Chrysler to go to IBM and then decided to pursue higher education at North Carolina State, leaving a trail of old fruit along the way. Sorry, couldn't resist! :-) Mark Mark I. Grossman, CIH, CSP Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken Kretchman"To: Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2011 2:07 PM Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Odor > Interesting.. I'm ex-IBM and had the exact "moldy orange" experience > listed below here at NC State. Only different is the desk was in a > complex lab area. These can certainly be tough to pinpoint. > > Some of these can be quite a task to pinpoint. Dry traps, wet > insulation, etc ... A number of years ago we blew theatrical smoke into > the waste line vent pipe on the roof of our chemistry building after a > frustrating run of fugitive odors and had facilities personnel moving > through labs in the building to spot emissions. We found more that one > area with compromised waste drain plumbing. > > > > > Kenneth Kretchman, CSP, CIH > Director, Environmental Health and Safety > NC State University > Raleigh, NC 27695-8007 > 919-515-6860 (p) > 919-515-6307 (f) > ken_kretchman**At_Symbol_Here**ncsu.edu > > > >>>> Alan Hall 7/27/2011 1:49 PM >>> > > Rachel, > > Since it is a microbiology laboratory, have you considered any of the > biological organisms that contribute to the problem of "Athlete's foot" > (some are odoriferous fungi) that might be being grown/incubated? Could > there be some cultures of such in there? Certainly, many "moldy" odors > are actually from biological organisms. Could it in fact be that "dirty > socks" are actually dirty socks (as in someone's overlooked gym bag)? > > I'm reminded of a case at a major IBM facility a friend of mine > investigated some years ago of "sick building syndrome" in an office > area that turned out to be a "lost" mouldy orange buried beneath > paperwork in a worker's lower desk drawer (after an expensive IH > evaluation of multiple worker odor complaints had already been done). > > Just a thought. > > Alan > Alan H. Hall, M.D. > Medical Toxicologist. > > > > > Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:57:04 +0000 > From: patty.olinger**At_Symbol_Here**EMORY.EDU > Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Odor > To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU > > > > > > > Hi Rachel, Obviously from the responses you’ve received there could > be several possibilities. Dry traps are usually a good one to start > with. If you (and your facilities and research staff) have exhausted > all possibilities there is also something called “dirty sock > syndrome”. Google it and you will see many reference and > discussions. Here is a link with an explanation. > > http://www.foxservice.com/austin/knowledge_base.asp?ID=1291219433792&_perPg=40&view=articles&_category=Residential%3A%3AAir%20Conditioning%20%26%20Heating%20&_filterField=Categories > > > We recently had an issue that people described as dirty socks, sewer > gas, etc. After several months found the odor by reviewing the floor > plan of the building and following the pipes in the walls. We found a > couple of uncapped pipes that were no longer in use. > > Good luck, > > Patty > > > Patty Olinger, RBP > Director EHSO > Emory University > 1762 Clifton Rd., Suite 1200 > M.S. 0940-001-1AB > Atlanta, GA 30322 > 404-727-5690 office > 404-727-9778 fax > www.ehso.emory.edu > > > How are we doing? Please take a minute to complete our survey: > http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MRVTPBV > > TEAMWORK...Our Path to Excellence > > > > > "Harrington, Rachel" wrote: > We have a strong “dirty socks” odor present in one of our micro > labs. It’s a pretty typical lab using media and cultures, etc. and > we are systematically removing everything and deconning but this odor is > persisting. I know I have smelt this chemical before, maybe back in my > undergraduate days, but it is really a sickening odor. Any ideas? Any > help is greatly appreciated. Thank you! > > Rachel E. Harrington, MPH, CHMM > Director- Office of Environmental, Health and Safety > Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science > 3333 Green Bay Road > North Chicago, IL 60064 > 847-578-3420 work > 224-622-4244 mobile > 847-775-6548 fax > LIFE IN DISCOVERY > > > > > This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of > the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged > information. If the reader of this message is not the intended > recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, > distribution > or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly > prohibited. > > If you have received this message in error, please contact > the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the > original message (including attachments). > >
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