Elke Blodgett on thu 9 nov 00
Response to Darvy Ortolano:
Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2000 18:34:58 EST
From: ACTSNYC@cs.com
Subject: Re: studio exhaust (fwd)
I> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2000 07:05:31 -0600
> From: Darby Ortolano
> Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: studio exhaust
>
> I have just begun teaching at a community college that just built a new
arts
> wing and included a ceramic studio facility. The main working room is
about
> 1000 sq. feet and has an entire wall of floor to almost ceiling glass
windows.
> It is heated and air conditioned through ducts which drop down from the
> ceiling, blowing directly into the room. There are no doors leading to the
> outside, the windows do not open and the room has no exhaust system. <
Ask the building manager for the ventilation mechanical drawings. Any new
building must have plans like this. If there is air blowing into the room
you need to know where it is coming from and how much is recirculated and how
much is fresh air. The plans should show you drawings of the whole system and
there may be components which are not obvious to you.
If there truly is no exhaust or openings to the outside--then you are
right--there is no ventilation.
There also should not be a feeling of air currents in the room. These create
more dust than they move. Air movement in ceramics studios must be very
steady and even so that dust is not raised.
>
> The kiln room has two kilns which are vented to the outside with
Envirovents.
Sounds good. Go look at where they exhaust and make sure there are no
building openings (windows, doors, vents, etc.) near them through which the
emissions can return to the room.
>
> We are buying our clay and prepared glazes but still there is a
considerable
> amount of dust generated by just working in and reclaiming clay and
glazing.
> Invariably there are any number of white footprints leading down the
carpeted
> hall from the ceramics room. It has become a very active place. <
Carpet! Geez. Now you can track silica and toxic metals all over the
school. That's nice.
> I have already mentioned to my department chair that having no ventilation
> is a health problem. I am looking for advice and information from the
group
> as to what to recommend they (the college) do about this. <
Do not recommend any corrective systems. You are not an engineer or
industrial hygienist and will only get yourself into more trouble.
Administrators love people who do this because then they just "delegate" the
problem and tell the poor teacher to figure out what they should do. An
engineer should not tell you how to create ceramics, and you should not tell
the engineer how to do ventilation.
Instead, stick to pointing out the problem and tell them they need a
consulting industrial ventilation engineer to fix such a situation. And make
sure they know you do not mean a heating and air-conditioning engineer which
it sounds like was the type that designed this mess.
> I imagine we are
> breaking OSHA regulations, but do not know what they are. <
Unfortunately, the OSHA regulations are only "after the fact." They don't
specify ventilation systems, they only require that workers not be over
exposed to silica and many other substances. You have to do air sampling to
prove the ventilation is a failure.
Why don't you provide a snail mail address and I'll send you something on
ventilation planning that might be helpful with regard to the OSHA rules? It
also talks about the liability that architects and engineers have when they
design systems that don't work. That might get someone's attention.
> What would/could
> be a solution to this situation? From the little I know I believe the room
> should have been designed with a floor drain and an exhaust system built
low
> on the wall so that dust does not rise. This room is ground level with no
> basement underneath although there may be a crawl space. <
Just concentrate on the fact that the system is not providing ventilation.
It's not your job to figure out how to fix it.
> Thanks in advance to all. I look forward to your expert responses! <
How far are you from Chicago? I just got back from a "Health in the Arts"
conference held in Chicago and sponsored by the University of Ill-Chicago
Department of Public Health. There are quite a few people I might suggest
you talk to. Maybe you should contact me directly and I'll connect you up
with some of these folks. They should be very aware of the problems with
your system.
Monona Rossol
ACTS
181 Thompson St., #23
NYC NY 10012-2586 212/777-0062
ACTSNYC@cs.com
answering:
> Darby Ortolano
> Murphysboro, IL
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