Achievement

Second-year IGERT trainees Matt Earnest (Environmental Engineering) and Sonny Rosenthal (Advertising) collaborated on a study of near-field (close proximity) human exposure to toxic chemicals emitted from cleaning products during their direct application. Matt focused on model development, and he and Sonny both contributed to determination of realistic cleaning scenarios, including cleaning product characteristics, cleaning locations, area of application, and air exchange rates. Sonny has a particular interest in how the public learns about indoor air issues and how best to convey relevant information to the public. As such, he is focusing on model results and how they can be used to better educate the public about how to avoid exposure to toxic chemicals during the use of cleaning products (beyond precautions stated on product labels). Matt and Sonny will soon present their findings at Healthy Buildings 2009 in Syracuse, New York.