Presenter Bio: Martin Schwan
Martin Schwan has a degree in chemistry and performs industrial hygiene, hazardous materials surveys, mold assessments, code consulting, and insurance investigation services throughout Alaska. Mr. Schwan is a former ICC plans examiner and fire inspector/investigator and a current board member and past resident of the Alaska Central chapter of the International Code Council. He has served on every IFC and IBC Non-Structural code review committee since 2000 for the Municipality of Anchorage. Mr. Schwan is also on the ASTM D22 committee on Air Quality and on the D37 cannabis committee and is a member of ACGIH and BOMA. Mr. Schwan is the Indoor Air Quality Associations Alaska liaison and is the chair of the IAQA annual conference technical committee. He has co-presented three pre-conference workshops with Moldy Mike Meyers on mold assessments and remediation, and previously presented Uniquely Alaska: IAQ Challenges in the Last Frontier and To Sample or Not: Fungal Assessment of Alaska Man Camps and co-presented Assessing Water Damage For Insurance Claims at previous IAQA conferences. Mr. Schwan has also designed a series called Mold in the Built Environment which he presents in Alaska communities. Mr. Schwan’s background in chemistry included working as a benchtop research chemist in the Graphics Research Laboratory for 3M Company and as a solid-state laser crystal researcher for Scientific Materials. Mr. Schwan is a certified AHERA Building Inspector and Lead Risk Assessor and has provided industrial hygiene services throughout Alaska to include worker exposure assessments to chemical and biological contaminants, and electromagnetic radiation.
Presentation Description:
In this presentation we will discuss mercury-containing flooring commonly found in school gyms and multipurpose rooms throughout the United States. Mercury exposure in school gyms has potential health effects that are not widely discussed, and our goal is to provide awareness so school districts can assess the need for managing potential mercury vapor exposure to students, staff, and teachers.
We will discuss the history of mercury catalyst in rubber flooring, the manufacturers who used it, and the regulatory exposure limits to airborne mercury vapors. We will present a case study of several schools that were tested and remediated, and we will provide guidelines and recommendations for testing including number of samples and analytical methods, disposal, and clearance criteria