CASSEN TESTING LABS industrial hygiene

ir quality problems encountered in different environments (e.g. ambient, indoor & industrial) can be very different in nature or can be very similar. For example, occurrences of odours, which play a major role in most air quality complaint cases, can originate from any of these environments from similar or widely different volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Annoying and irritating odours can arise and cause problems both at home as well as in the work place. They can be attributed to paints, cleaning products, vehicle exhaust, sewer gas industrial emissions, vapour intrusion, construction materials as well as tobacco smoke. Odorants are generally created by organic compounds and can pose as a significant irritant.

Typical Air Quality Problems Faced by OH&S Professionals Odour complaints including transient odour Health Complaints:

•	Eye, throat and skin irritations
•	Headaches
•	Allergic reactions

Bad air quality complaints due to VOCs released:

•	From new or contaminated building materials, new furnishings, mould growth, occupant activities, etc.
•	Into the workplace through various industrial processes, commercial & other activities
•	Into ambient air from industrial processes, commercial & other activities

Migration of VOCs into buildings through:

•	Contaminated soil from chemical spills
•	Building on contaminated waste sites

Through many years of extensive research, CASSEN Testing Laboratories has developed various techniques to characterize odour-related air quality problems attributed to volatile organic compounds especially those with very low odour thresholds.

We offer many different ‘Open Characterization’ packages to fit each client’s individual needs. Please view a list of our specialty Odour Investigation packages below:

•	Open characterization of VOCs
•	Odorous compounds (Volatile Fatty Acids, Aliphatic Amines, Low Molecular Weight Sulphur Compounds and Carbonyl Compounds) determination
•	Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds
•	Nicotine from Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS)
•	Oleoresin Capsicum (Pepper Spray)