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during the "white powder" awareness phase we answered hundreds of "white powder" calls at Chrysler. I tried (unsuccessfully) to get powdered donuts banned.< /P>

Bill Watt

From: "Debbie M. Decker" <dmdecker**At_Symbol_Here**UCDAVIS.EDU>
To: < /B>DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 12:45:46 PM
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Odor

Personal Fave:  during t he "white powder" heightened awareness several years ago, I responded to a call about a white powder that had contaminated a student backpack.  I arrived on scene to find a very frightened young person, her professor and classmates, milling about waiting for "someone" who could "do something."< BR>
I asked her where her backpack was and she pointed to her backpack, against the front wall of the classroom, under a blackboard (you can see it coming).  Had she noticed any white powder on her backpack before cla ss?  No, not until this class.  And then I gently pointed out tha t she had dropped her backpack under the blackboard and the white powder wa s probably chalk dust and she could just dust it off.  No, she didn't want to chance it.  I explained to her that I was happy to take her ba ckpack away and put it into the incinerator drum we had at the haz waste fa cility for these types of situations.  But once she made that decision , she would not be able to access her backpack and it would be shipped to U tah, to the fiery furnace.

Taking a deep breath, she decided it prob ably was chalk dust and that taking away her backpack wouldn't be necessary .  Brave girl.  :-)

-----Original Message-----
From: D CHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Ken Kretc hman
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2011 8:55 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDUSubject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Odor

popcorn actually..late afternoon after long day .. respond to a call of
burning odor.. travel across long buil ding to office of complaint.  He
says it smells like burnt popcorn and takes me to the office door of
where he feels the smell originates.. knock at door and person answers
door with bag of popcorn in hand.

Top notch IH work ..   Sorry I could not resist either and we all have
a million stories like this one but certainly better things to do a s
well so my apologies for continuation..

Kenneth Kretchman, CSP, CIH
Director, Environmental Health and Safety
NC State UniversityRaleigh, NC 27695-8007
919-515-6860 (p)
919-515-6307 (f)
ken_kre tchman**At_Symbol_Here**ncsu.edu
 


>>> Mark Grossman <qed**At_Symbol_Here**WES TNET.COM> 7/27/2011 8:33 PM >>>
Then, of course, the root ca use could have been the employee who left
Chrysler to go to IBM and the n decided to pursue higher education at
North
Carolina State, leavin g a trail of old fruit along the way.

Sorry, couldn't resist!   :-)

Mark

Mark I. Grossman, CIH, CSP
Briarcliff Manor, NY 1 0510

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Kretchman" <ken_ kretchman**At_Symbol_Here**NCSU.EDU>
To: <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
Sent: Wednesd ay, July 27, 2011 2:07 PM
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Odor


> In teresting.. 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< BR>> insulation, etc ... A number of years ago we blew theatrical smoke< BR>into
> the waste line vent pipe on the roof of our chemistry build ing 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 Univ ersity
> Raleigh, NC 27695-8007
> 919-515-6860 (p)
> 919- 515-6307 (f)
> ken_kretchman**At_Symbol_Here**ncsu.edu
>
>
>
> ;>>> Alan Hall <ahalltoxic**At_Symbol_Here**MSN.COM> 7/27/2011 1:49 PM >&g t;>
>
> Rachel,
>
> Since it is a microbiology l aboratory, have you considered any of
the
> biological organisms t hat contribute to the problem of "Athlete's
foot"
> (some are odor iferous fungi) that might be being grown/incubated?
Could
> there be some cultures of such in there?  Certainly, many "moldy"
odors< BR>> are actually from biological organisms.  Could it in fact be t hat
"dirty
> socks" are actually dirty socks (as in someone's over looked gym
bag)?
>
> I'm reminded of a case at a major IBM f acility a friend of mine
> investigated some years ago of "sick build ing syndrome" in an office
> area that turned out to be a "lost" moul dy orange buried beneath
> paperwork in a worker's lower desk drawer (after an expensive IH
> evaluation of multiple worker odor complaint s 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=E2=80=99ve receive d there
could
> be several possibilities.  Dry traps are usua lly 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=".  Googl e it and you will see many reference and
> discussions.  Here is a link with an explanation.
>
>
http://www.foxservice.com/a ustin/knowledge_base.asp?ID=1291219433792&_perPg=40&view=arti cles&_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. Afte r 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 l uck,
>
> Patty
>
>
> Patty Olinger, RBP
&g t; Director EHSO
> Emory University
> 1762 Clifton Rd., Suite 1 200
> M.S. 0940-001-1AB
> Atlanta, GA 30322
> 404-727-569 0 office
> 404-727-9778 fax
> www.ehso.emory.edu
>
&g t;
> How are we doing?  Please take a minute to complete our sur vey:
> http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MRVTPBV
>
> TEAMWOR K...Our Path to Excellence
>
>
>
>
> "Harring ton, Rachel" <rachel.harrington**At_Symbol_Here**ROSALINDFRANKLIN.EDU> wrote:
> We have a strong "dirty socks=" odor present in one of our m icro
> labs.  It=E2=80=99s a pretty typical lab using media and cultures, etc.
and
> we are systematically removing everything an d deconning but this odor
is
> persisting.  I know I have sme lt this chemical before, maybe back in
my
> undergraduate days, bu t it is really a sickening odor.  Any ideas?
Any
> help is g reatly appreciated.  Thank you!
>
> Rachel E. Harrington, MPH, CHMM
> Director- Office of Environmental, Health and Safety
& gt; 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 DISCOVE RY
>
>
>
>
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