College campuses across the country are instituting green initiatives and signing aggressive carbon reduction goals to become better stewards of the environment. However, there’s evidence that these initiatives can be easily derailed by some of the largest energy users on campuses: laboratories. That’s because the primary method for reducing energy usage in labs involves modifying the ventilation – a change that can raise safety concerns. These concerns typically, and understandably, can lead to a standstill. Institutions don’t want to make changes that potentially put researchers and students ..read more

Climate change’s impact is increasingly framed as a public health issue, as it becomes clear that health, age, location, and access to resources can hamper people’s ability to prepare for and respond to extreme weather events. This recognition is casting a stronger light on health systems’ role in contributing to climate-altering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Worldwide, the health care sector’s footprint accounts for as much as 4.6% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the United States, health care contributes to an estimated 8.5% of such emissions. In pursuit of their mission t ..read more

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) guideline formally recognizes four biosafety levels. These levels describe increasingly stringent containment practices for use in facilities that work with biological agents. Yet certain Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) facilities make the decision to voluntarily adopt enhanced practices or containments, often known as Biosafety Level 2+ (BSL-2+) protections. With this higher level of protection comes a lot of questions, from both researchers and communities. By understanding the fa ..read more

The COVID pandemic demonstrated the essential role that ventilation and filtration can play in airborne pathogen mitigation and ensuring healthy indoor environments. Guidance on the appropriate levels of ventilation and filtration were generally established in the early days of the pandemic and were based on flushing rates required to reduce indoor airborne particle levels. In its new standard Control of Infectious Aerosols (ASHRAE 241-2023), ASHRAE sets out to provide clear guidance that organizations of all types and sizes can follow in the event of future viral outbreaks. The document forma ..read more

After many delays, the revised USP General Chapter 797 providing guidance on sterile compounding will go into effect on November 1, 2023. While pharmacies have been aware of the update and preparing to meet it for some time now, one change is proving to have unexpectedly significant complications that must be addressed by cross-hospital teams. The revised chapter sets a requirement for monthly disinfecting with a sporicidal disinfectant on all surfaces. It’s a change that was already included in USP 800. Many facilities have already begun using products comprising peracetic acid, acetic acid ..read more

Preventing Infection From Unexpected Sources Happens With Clear Communication Healthcare facilities have made huge strides in improving infection prevention and control, yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that, on any given day, one in 31 hospital patients may acquire a healthcare-associated infection (HAI). No matter how effectively an organization plans to mitigate common causes of HAIs, there remains the risk of exposure to unexpected or difficult-to-root-out pathogens. Eliminating these less well-known risks can be tricky. It requires careful planning and clear commun ..read more

Construction presents significant infection risks to patients within any healthcare facility. Virtually every construction project generates dust that can carry fungal spores into patient areas, if construction areas and air from those areas are not appropriately isolated. This dust can prove deadly to sensitive immunocompromised populations. While healthcare construction professionals have become adept at the methods to contain contaminants within these sites, 24/7 monitoring provides invaluable peace of mind, given that even small lapses in containment could impact adjacent sensitive patient ..read more

Products such as thermometers, thermostats, fluorescent light bulbs, and some electrical switches have long been known as potential sources of mercury. In recent years another mercury-containing product – polyurethane flooring – has garnered public attention and concern. Some polyurethane or rubber-like floorings manufactured from 1960 to 1980 contained mercuric acetate. These floors are most often found in sports settings (e.g., gymnasiums, running tracks) but also can be found in industrial plants and hospitals – wherever a cushioned, all weather, non-slip surface would be needed. Some of th ..read more

Interest in potential hazards of EtO has increased in recent years in large part because of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) reassessment of EtO’s toxicity and its April 2023 proposals for handling and emissions of EtO. The aim of this post is to provide producers, users, regulators, communities, and others with information that contributes to their views on management of EtO and public health. We focus on existing knowledge about the ways that people can be exposed to EtO and the magnitude of those exposures.   Background In the 1980s, research on EtO exposure and toxic ..read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how building owners, managers, and occupants think about buildings and their importance in supporting human health. Properly constructed and operated buildings can support health, well-being, productivity and can even serve as a place of refuge from the increasing occurrence of adverse environmental events such as smoke from wildfires, or exposures to viral particles such as COVID-19. Although we can recognize the many benefits associated with a healthy building (we use the term “healthy building” to connote meeting specific operational parameters consistent w ..read more