Schools

Since 1997 Chemical Free LLC. disinfecting and deodorizing service has been treating the sick building syndrome in Southern California at banks, real-estate , apartment buildings, restaurants, offices and now public and private schools., locker rooms ,wrestling training and practice rooms, kitchens, gyms and lunch eating areas. The one area that the janitor's can't reach are the ventilation ducts in the classrooms. This is where the airborne contaminates hide. Pollen, cold and flu, spores and more. Year after year they continue to collect and when the heaters are turned on they re-incubate and become airborne again infecting the students and teachers. When a teacher is out due to sickness the district not only still pays the teachers salary but also has to pay for the substitute teacher. When a student is sick the schools do not receive funds for the missed day. The goal is to send our teachers and students to school in an environment cleaner, safer and chemical free of cleaners and pesticides. The Chemical Free service can begin to wean our schools off the chemical cleaners found in the class rooms and athletic departments. Here are to examples of that service with test results.
Deodorizing of Schools, Locker Rooms, Gyms and Classrooms

What causes odors? Socks, jocks, sweats, etc. What causes these things to smell? Bacteria. It is no secret why locker rooms smell. Since the FDA approved Ozone for the treatment of fish, meats, poultry, fruits and vegetables, Ozone is becoming the number one choice for disinfecting and deodorizing. Why? Because it is generated on site, it leaves no residue of chemicals, and it can be applied in air or in water. The only bi-product is pure oxygen. Ozone kills bacteria on contact, the list just goes on and on. But one of the main reasons for the school application is, in high traffic places like public and private schools we can take care of a class room and the ventilation systems from airborne and surfaces like desk ventilation ducts, carpet and so on in a matter of about 20 minutes. So this can save time and labor, and reduce absentees.

How do we do this. First we close all doors and windows and turn on the air conditioner. Vacate all plants, humans and animals. Then we hook up a Ozone gas line to the intake of the air system that circulates the air in the room. A hand held monitor is used to register the parts per million of Ozone in the air and when we reach the allotted amount we shut down the Ozone system and let the room soak for about 20 minutes. When we enter the room we are wearing special breathing gear. Large fans are used to move the Ozone around the room forcing it to bounce off the surfaces and get into nooks and crannies and eliminate airborne contaminates that cause colds and flues even in the ducting system. When somebody sneezes that can carry through the air and end up in the ducting vents. Then in the winter the teacher turns on the heater and the heat incubates the bacteria and it becomes airborne back into the classroom and the kids and teachers breath the air and everybody gets ill again. Ozone treatment can keep this contaminating and revolving condition down easier, faster and cheaper than having the maintenance engineers at the schools and do it with NO chemicals for the kids to react to. Consider this. How much would it cost in time and money to have one or two professional cleaning people go into one class room and disinfect the ventilation system, wipe down all the desk tops, chairs, walls, doors, windows and everything you can see and not see with Lysol, chlorine bleach, disinfectants, mops, soaps, Windex and any other cleaning products that eliminate these cold and flu causing contaminates? The Chemical Free treatment service can do all the above better, faster and with NO CHEMICALS in about 20 minutes and about $10.00 - $20.00 per class, depending on the size of the classroom.

In February 2002 Chemical Free did a pilot study at Temecula Valley High School in cooperation with the varsity wrestling coach Alpert. Before we got started the parameters and target problems were discussed. Ring worm was one of the most contagious problems due to the contact nature of the sport. This virus is ground into the wrestling maps on a daily basis. Locker room odors were next on the list. Virus, bacteria, spores, etc. have become immune to most chemical solutions and continue to grow. Not so with Ozone, it kills on contact, that is why the FDA has approved it for sanitizing in the fish, meat, poultry, fruit and vegetable industries and not just that but for surface sanitizing in the processing of these products. Chemical Free did three pilot treatments on three Sundays in February. We did a complete washdown with ozonated water in the locker room, showers, bathrooms, and wrestling mats. Coach Alpert was very cooperative in giving us free rein of his facility. It seemed to me he was willing to try anything to control something that controlled him and his team. If you were found to have ringworm spots on your body you would not wrestle in competition or practice. I was unaware of this problem in this sport until I went to what they call the Last Dessert Dinner held before each season for the team before they start the training and diet plan. You see my son Josh was on the freshman team. This problem is nationwide in this sport and worse on the east coast. Josh would come home from practice and tell me how many teammates had been sent home because of ringworm. It was a daily problem. If the kids were not careful they could transmit it to the classroom and other kids. This is what prompted Chemical Free to start this program.

The Pilot Results
After the first Sunday the coach only reported one case of ringworm and the testing for the virus showed a reduction of 10/5 power before and after was less than 10/1 power. The washdown of the locker room and gassing of the building showed that the odor was eliminated and bacteria test showed 10/7 power before and 10/0 power after the treatment. The wash down for odor carried over very well into the next week showing a very high kill rate of bacteria and odor. Temecula Valley High boys locker room is now probably the cleanest and most odor free locker room in the nation and it was done with NO CHEMICALS or mops. It was done with ozonated water, large squeegees and Ozone gas.