Bacteria Testing
The indoor air of occupied buildings typically contains higher concentrations and more types of bacteria than outdoor air. This phenomenon is due to the fact that most bacteria are human shed.
There are however, bacteria which are found in the general environment and which in certain cases can amplify within a building and produce disease. Examples are:
Legionnaires Disease
Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis
Pontiac Fever
The bacteria which causes these diseases can proliferate within a buildings water system. When the water is aerosolized, exposure and infection are possible. The Center for Disease Control estimates that 25,000 cases of Legionnaires disease occur in the United States each year and that the fatality rate is between five and thirty percent.
Simple testing on a scheduled basis of the buildings water systems, coupled with an ongoing preventative maintenance program is the most efficient way of limiting the potential for these exposures to occur.
EHI personnel can collect samples within the system and provide analysis for the Legionella Bacteria. EHI is also capable of collecting air samples for the Bacterium.
Other bacteria such as gram negative bacteria within an indoor environment may suggest the presence of a source that would be considered unusual in clean, properly ventilated buildings. EHI can test for these types of bacteria in air, bulk and dust samples.
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