Air Quality
Analysis
The relationship between the use of a building as a workplace and the occurrence of discomfort and symptoms that meet the definition of a disease is a fact that can no longer be questioned. The main cause is the possible contamination of the air and the ducts of the air treatment system.
This problem is exacerbated by the construction of buildings that recycle air with a low proportion of fresh air from outside in order to increase their energy efficiency.
Changes in a person's health status due to poor indoor air quality can manifest themselves in a variety of acute and chronic symptoms as well as in the form of a number of specific diseases.
Air Quality
Indoor
When more than 20 % of the occupants of a building complain about the air quality or show clear symptoms, the phenomenon known as sick building syndrome can be said to exist. The problem is manifested by the appearance of physical problems in some of the users.
In recent years, knowledge of the pollutants present in indoor air and the factors contributing to the deterioration of indoor air quality has advanced considerably. Technical work includes the analysis of micro-organisms present in indoor air, which can cause infectious and allergic problems. Legionellosis is one of the most relevant cases of disease caused by a micro-organism in the indoor environment.
Other infectious agents, such as viruses that can cause acute respiratory diseases, are also detectable indoors, especially if the occupancy density is high and there is significant air recirculation.
At Conycal Laboratory we have the necessary techniques, equipment and qualifications (Senior Technicians in Indoor Air Quality TSCAI) to analyse the air quality and hygiene of air conditioning systems according to the requirements of RITE 2013, which includes periodic maintenance tasks for the control of the Indoor Air Quality of buildings whose installed thermal power exceeds 70 kW.
La revisión de los conductos se debe hacer de acuerdo a LA NORMA UNE 100012:
- Inspección visual de los SVAA.
- Medición de contaminación microbiológica (en aire y en superficies).
- Medición de materia particulada ( polvo inerte y fibras)
La revisión de la CAI SEGUN LA NORMA UNE 171330 incluye:
- Inspección y evaluación higiénica de los sistemas de climatización.
- Mediciones: confort térmico, tasa de ventilación, iluminación, campos electromagnéticos, partículas en suspensión, …
- Medición de factores químicos: concentración de monóxido y dióxido de Carbono, Compuestos orgánicos volátiles (COV), ozono, formaldehido,..
- Análisis y medición de contaminación microbiológica (en aire y en superficies), bacterias, hongos…
In the final phase of our air quality control and monitoring work, we draw up a TECHNICAL REPORT that includes recommendations for improvement and possible corrective measures. We also provide our clients with a Certificate of Conformity of the Indoor Environmental Quality of the inspected building. If you need information, advice or a quote in this field, please do not hesitate to contact our sales team who will be happy to help you without obligation.
Operating theatres_
Air Quality
At Conycal laboratory we are experts in contamination control in surgical areas. We are certified under ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environmental) covering all our air quality sampling activities, explicitly including health and hygiene audits in the hospital sector.
We have the necessary equipment and approved personnel (Senior Technician in Indoor Air Quality by FEDECAI, Senior Technician in Industrial Hygiene) to carry out the verification work of all relevant aspects to be controlled in surgical areas with the maximum guarantees and reliability.
Our reports are based on the applicable standards and are developed in accordance with the strictest recommendations.
The basic standards that affect this field are:
- UNE 171340 Validation and qualification of controlled environment rooms in hospitals.
- UNE 100713 Air conditioning installations in hospitals.
- UNE 100012 Hygiene of air conditioning systems.
- UNE EN ISO 14644 Part 1,2,3,4 and 5: Clean rooms and controlled annexed premises.
In order to maintain the operating theatre as the most biosecure area within the surgical area, it is essential that the direction of the air goes from the cleanest to the dirtiest areas (transit corridors). Adequate structure and facilities must be available to ensure air quality in an operating theatre.
Regular checks by qualified technicians are the only way to ensure biosafety. Among the checks to be carried out is to ensure that the operating theatre maintains a positive pressure. This prevents the entry of outside air, and therefore potentially pathogenic micro-organisms.
Other parameters to check are:
- Air conditioning parameters o Calculation of renovations/hour o Temperature and RH Validation of absolute filters.
- Classification of the room
- Microbiological control
- Air flow configuration
- Staff discipline
- The analysis and control of all of them will allow us to verify the environmental quality in the operating
- theatres.
Cleaning rooms_
Control
Clean rooms are strictly necessary in various production and research processes.
There are various fields in which it is necessary to have an atmosphere free of particles and/or micro-organisms. For example:
- the microelectronics industry
the food industry or
the pharmaceutical industry.
The factors that need to be controlled are those that can affect the manufacturing or production process, namely:
- Analysis and counting of micro-organisms to avoid contamination of sterile materials.
- Limiting and controlling the entry of contamination and/or particles into the "exclusion" zone.
- Avoiding cross-contamination, which can occur for various reasons.
- Cleanrooms are classified from ISO 1 to ISO 9 in ISO 14644-1 according to the number of particles measured.
Currently, the sectors that must control contamination in their cleanrooms (semiconductor manufacturing, medical facilities, pharmaceutical industry and food industry) rely on conycal to carry out measurements in accordance with the applicable standards, as well as to certify compliance with the adopted standards.
It must be borne in mind that no two cleanrooms are the same, as different space conditions, acceptable room classifications and, of course, also investment and operating costs require individual solutions. This is the idea on which the technical effort of the conycal team is based.
For all of the above reasons, regular checks to assess whether the filtration is working properly and the air quality is as desired is the only reliable way to control cleanrooms.
Conycal technicians take the relevant factors into account when carrying out cleanroom inspections or certifications:
- Legal requirements, regulations and application standards (ISO 14644, EU GGMP, etc.).
- Another fundamental factor to take into account is the needs and uses of the cleanroom. For this reason, the type of tests and revisions are agreed with the client according to the objectives set.