{"73182":{"#nid":"73182","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Environmental Test Facility Improves Indoor Air","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs scientists learn more about the potentially harmful effects of indoor air pollution, nations around the world are imposing increasingly strict regulations on chemical emissions from furnishings, paints and building materials.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing a new room-sized environmental test chamber, more than a dozen smaller chambers and a mass spectrometric center able to measure ultra-trace concentrations of airborne chemicals being emitted from products, scientists at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are helping manufacturers meet those international standards to minimize emissions.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We can help manufacturers address regulatory issues,\u0022 said Charlene Bayer, principal research scientist in GTRI\u0027s Health and Environmental Systems Laboratory.  \u0022Because U.S. manufacturers sell their products worldwide, they must meet emission regulations imposed by nations in Europe and Asia.  We make the measurements companies need to improve their products.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the testing helps manufacturers of indoor furnishings select components that have lower emissions.  It also helps textile and apparel companies choose fabric finishes that both survive cleaning and minimize emissions.  And it helps makers of paints and other wall coverings select biocides and other chemical constituents with the least impact on the indoor environment.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELarge enough to accommodate humans or animals, the new 27.5 cubic meter environmental chamber will also allow researchers to study broader concerns - including the impact of low-level indoor air pollutants on productivity and human health.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There is an emphasis now on developing high-performance schools, and part of that will be to measure how changes in indoor air quality improve the performance of children,\u0022 explained Bayer.  \u0022By studying how emissions from normal furnishings affect children performing classroom tasks, you can estimate what might happen if you reduce the emissions.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETests involving humans will be carefully designed to avoid exposing subjects to potentially harmful levels.  The research will also be done under close medical supervision, with cameras and a special windowed door to monitor subjects inside the chamber.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond helping manufacturers improve their products, the new facility may lead to a better understanding of what compounds cause problems and how indoor pollutants form.  There is evidence, Bayer said, that the chemistry inside buildings is more complex than previously thought.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0027s known, for instance, that ozone produced outdoors during summer months enters buildings in significant amounts.  There, the powerful oxidant may react with volatile organic compounds emitted from indoor furnishings to create a chemical soup that includes compounds not originally present in the furnishings.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The chances are very good that it\u0027s not the emissions we know about that are really bothering people, but rather the compounds that result when the emitted chemicals react with ozone,\u0022 Bayer said.  \u0022That could be quite significant in urban areas like Atlanta that have high levels of ground-level ozone.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe large chamber can simulate real-world environmental conditions inside buildings.  Coupled with the sensitive mass spectrometers, that allows those low-level chemical reactions to be studied in detail.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We really have to look at the interactions between chemicals and the changing indoor air chemistry,\u0022 Bayer added.  \u0022That\u0027s something we can now do because we have the room-sized chamber.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond an improved understanding of indoor air quality, GTRI\u0027s environmental chambers can also be used to calibrate a broad range of new sensors being developed.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We can put sensors into a well-controlled environment that simulates real conditions,\u0022 Bayer said.  \u0022We can expose the sensors to carefully-controlled levels of individual compounds, as well as to combinations of compounds.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso under development is a vest-based instrument for measuring the airborne emissions that can affect children with asthma.  By correlating exposures with attacks, the vest will help researchers better understand the factors that lead to asthma problems.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn all, GTRI operates 15 environmental chambers that range in size from just 135 milliliters up to 27.5 cubic meters.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESamples taken from the chambers are analyzed by four mass spectrometers designed for different types of identification.  For example, one instrument is used to analyze light gases such as carbon dioxide, which is produced by the respiration of living organisms such as bacterial and fungi.  Another system is designed for proteomic and other biomedical research.  The instruments can measure as low as femtogram quantities of chemical compounds.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe facility also includes other instruments, including gas chromatograph\/mass spectrometer combinations.  For testing the efficiency of air filtration systems, Bayer uses a smoking machine that helps simulate a smoke-filled environment.  The test facility also analyzes the efficiency of other equipment designed to clean the air.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond the expertise and facilities in GTRI\u0027s own labs, Bayer can call on researchers in Georgia Tech\u0027s academic colleges - as well as collaborators at Emory University, Georgia State University and the University of Miami Medical School.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Combining these capabilities, we can focus on the far-reaching and difficult issues,\u0022 she said.  \u0022The linkage to academic researchers and to these other schools gives us tremendous abilities to study complex issues.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-385-0280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Charlene Bayer (404-894-5361); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:charlene.bayer@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Echarlene.bayer@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Victor DeJesus (404-385-3081); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:victor.dejesus@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Evictor.dejesus@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech helps manufacturers reduce emissions that contribute to indoor air pollution"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A new environmental test facility at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is helping manufacturers of furnishings, paints and building materials meet increasingly strict regulations on chemical emissions that can impact indoor air quality.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech is helping improve indoor air quality"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2006-03-10 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:34","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2006-03-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2006-03-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"73183":{"id":"73183","type":"image","title":"Researcher and mannequin","body":null,"created":"1449177979","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:26:19","changed":"1475894673","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:33"},"73184":{"id":"73184","type":"image","title":"Researchers prepare samples","body":null,"created":"1449177979","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:26:19","changed":"1475894673","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:33"},"73185":{"id":"73185","type":"image","title":"Environmental test chambers","body":null,"created":"1449177979","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:26:19","changed":"1475894673","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:33"}},"media_ids":["73183","73184","73185"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/hesl\/index.html","title":"The GTRI Health and Environmental Systems Laboratory"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}