Presenter Bio: John Springston
Jack Springston has over 34 years’ experience in industrial hygiene and occupational health. He has been a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) since 1993, and is one of less than 50 active CIHs who also hold a sub-specialty certificate in Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). He has also been a Certified Safety Professional since 1999. Jack is currently the Industrial Hygiene Services Manager, Branch Safety Officer, and Training Director for Atlas Technical in New York City, Albany, and Long Island. Jack received a BS Degree in Environmental Biology from LIU/Southampton College and a MS Degree in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences from Hunter College. He is a Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and past-Chair of AIHA’s Indoor Environmental Quality, Biosafety & Environmental Microbiology, and Continuing Education committees. Jack currently serves as the Vice Chair of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienist’s (ACGIH) Bioaerosols Committee and has authored and co-authored several chapters for the upcoming 2nd Edition Bioaerosols Assessment and Control book.
Presentation Description:
Bioaerosols include airborne compounds such as fungi, bacteria, spores, pollen, mites, and viruses, but also can include cell membrane components, metabolites, and byproducts of cells that may or may not be viable. International interests in bioaerosols has increased rapidly since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, but the assessment and control of bioaerosols is a much broader discipline than just mold and viruses. In 1999, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) published its seminal book on the subject, “Bioaerosols Assessment and Control.” After more than 20 years, the book has finally been thoroughly overhauled and updated. This presentation, given by the editors of that book, is a general overview of the topic of bioaerosols that begins with a review of potential health effects, a discussion on hazard and risk assessment, the establishment of a hypothesis regarding the potential presence or absence of bioaerosols, purpose and development of a sampling plan, an overview and limitations of interpretation of environmental sampling data, and lastly a brief discussion on controls.