Indoor Allergens Exposure and Sensitization

Indoor Allergen Conference

October 7, Tampa, FL – In recent years, awareness about the issues related to indoor allergens have become more prevalent and challenging. This can be attributed to changes in lifestyles, more information readily available online and even the building designs themselves. These allergens can not only induce medical symptoms such as a runny nose, itchy eyes, weakness, chills and body aches, but they also pose a serious environmental risk from a hygiene point of view. Some common allergens predominately found indoors include, but are not limited to: dust, mites, cockroaches, mice, rats, mold, pet dander, fibers, pollen grains, and plant trichome. The continuous research and evidence from scientific data has been revealing that exposure and sensitization by these allergens may affect quality of life in a negative way.

Recently, a workshop entitled “Allergens: Science, Health Effects and Innovations” was organized at Charlottesville, VA by Indoor Biotechnology. Dr. Rajiv Sahay, Ph.D., CIAQP, FIAS, Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory Director, participated in the conference.

“These interactive courses are very important and integral for information exchange and hands-on training.” Dr. Sahay stated, “They provide significant advances in several areas of research and diagnostics for indoor allergens that can be utilized for the welfare of allergy suffers.”

Some focal discussion topics included allergen sample collection and techniques, immunochemistry of allergens, molecular biology, crystallography of new allergenic proteins, immune response, epidemiology of asthma and the role of allergen avoidance.

Microbiological Laboratories

Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory analyzes various types of samples collected from the indoor environment for identification and quantification of indoor allergens. By doing so the lab provides detailed reporting to individuals, Industrial Hygienists and Building Sciences Professionals so that they can develop the correct plan of action to manage and/or remediate a building of harmful allergens.

Homeowners and other building occupants who wish to test for allergens can utilize a do-it-yourself test kit to collect samples which are then sent to a laboratory, like EDLab, for analysis and reporting. These type of DIY kits are available at www.indoorairtest.com.

About Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory
Founded in 1994 in Clearwater, Florida, EDLab provides comprehensive analysis and services, utilizing state of the art equipment, in the areas of microbiology, aerobiology, allergen assays and microscopy. Throughout the years they have analyzed hundreds of thousands of environmental samples from collected from varying locations worldwide.

For more information on EDLab please contact Dr. Rajiv Sahay at (800) 422-7873 ext.304, or visit www.edlab.org.

About Pure Air Control Services, Inc
Alan Wozniak founded Pure Air Control Services, Inc. in 1984 as a small mechanical contracting firm. Today, the firm sets the industry standard for indoor environmental quality diagnosis and remediation.
Pure Air’s nationally performed services include: Building Sciences Evaluation; Building Health Check; EDLab a CDC ELITE lab; Environmental Project Management; and Mold Remediation Services, among other indoor environmental services.
The company’s expanding client roster includes the FAA, General Services Administration (GSA); Allstate Insurance; CBRE, Carrier Air Conditioning; NAVFAC, DOT, USACE, US Army, and many other Fortune 500 companies, school boards, and city, state, and county governments, making Pure Air Control Services the reliable industry leader.

Pure Air Control Services was honored in the 2016 Inc. 5000, as well as the 2016 Florida Gulf Coast 500.

For more information on Pure Air Control Services call at (800) 422-7873.