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Disaster Advice Glossary
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Disaster recovery and restoration can be veiled in mystery to the many who have not undertaken specific training. This glossary explains technical terms to assist both report writing and the understanding of those technical terms so often misunderstood.
Definitions
| Absorber: |
A mechanical device such as a dehumidifier which collects and contains liquid from the absorption of water vapour. |
| Absorption: |
A process whereby a porous material extracts one or more substances present in an atmosphere or a mixture of gases and liquids, accompanied by the material's temporary physical and/or chemical change into another material. Education Note: Absorption in water damage building materials is the temporary entrapment of moisture into porous and semi-porous building materials, such as carpets, pad, drywall, and cellulosic insulation. See Absorb, Absorbency, Absorption |
| Absorption Chiller: |
A heat operated refrigeration unit that uses an absorbent (lithium bromide) as a secondary fluid to absorb the primary fluid (water), which is a gaseous refrigerant in the evaporator. |
| Absorption Loss: |
Water losses that occur in wet building materials that are not retrieved during the restorative drying process. Absorption loss can be described as the unknown water quantity which dispersed and flowed in a building and was not recovered. |
| Absorption Rate (Initial Rate of Absorption): |
The weight of water absorbed by a building material that is partially immersed in water for one minute, five minutes or ten minutes. The absorptive weight increase (as compared to dry weight) is expressed in ounces of water weight per minute, five minutes or ten minutes. |
| Acoustic Materials: |
Building materials which absorb sound and noise, such as carpet and acoustic tiles. Education Note: Most sound absorption materials, besides being good sound insulators, are also highly absorbant, and they are capable of retaining unwanted moisture and humidity after a water damage. |
| Acoustic, Acoustical: |
Building materials containing, producing, arising from, actuated by, related to, or associated with sound absorption. |
| Adiabatic: |
Changes in matter (material) which take place without the transfer of heat. A condition in which there is no change in the measurement of temperature (where there is no gain or loss of heat), but there can be a change involving the expansion or contraction of a material without the loss or gain of heat, the change of entropy. An example is the curing of concrete or mortar, or in a water damage building where wood floor expand because of water and not a a result of heat. Education Note: in other words, when heat is added or withdrawn from a material the material generally experiences changes in temperature, pressure and volume, and sometimes a change of its physical makeup. These changes severely involve the absorption or the release of energ, which may be regarded respectively as positive nergy increments, and there is an algebraic sum of which is equivalent to the quantity of heat either supplied or removed id the material could be provided with perfect thermal insulation so that no heat could enter or leave it, then any change requiring energy, which might take place within the material, would necessarily be effected at the expense of energy by the other internal changes. But a rise of temperature might be caused by heat generated in compression. processes of this sort, unaccompanied by any transfer of heat across the insulating boundaries of the material, are said to be adiabatic. In reverse, the adiabatic processes are also isentropic, that is, they take place without change to entropy. (A hardwood floor expands due to water as a liquid of vapour that cause the cells to dilate, resulting in wood expansion, and over time, the wood releases the water and vapour, resulting in the hardwood floor to relax. Was there a change in temperature (heat) which caused the wood to expand or contract? Sometimes not. The same is true for wet walls and partcleboard damage from contact with water, resultingin the swelling and damage to the material). Adiabatic processes, though hardly realized in practice by a water damage or restorative drying technician, are often considered in thermodynamic reasoning. See Entropy |
| Adsorbent: |
The incorporation of a liquid or energy absorbed into another substance. Absorbent of a substance can be a permanent change to the building material, such as sewage contamination, fire, odour or pesticide exposure. Education Note: For example, the rate of absorbency of drywall to absorb a substance or a vapour will, most likely, cause permanent damage to the drywall material. Note: 'Absorbent' means to melecularly bond together. See Absorbent, Absorption |
| Asphyxiant: |
A substance or chemical causing suffocation by removal or exclusion of oxygen, preventing oxygen absorption, or preventing oxygen use in the tissues. |
| Atmospheric Hazards: |
Atmospheric hazards are any airborne hazard in air. Health and Safety Note: Most atmospheric hazards are inhalation hazards, but atmospheric hazards are airborne ingestion and skin absorption hazards, radiation, flammable, gas, vapor, mist, chemical and atmospheric explosion hazards. Atmospheric hazards include too much or too little oxygen in air, and airborne pollutants that are easily inhaled. |
| Blown Acoustic Ceilings: |
The adhesive and acoustic material sprayed on to a ceiling, giving the ceiling an even appearance and better sound absorption. Prior to 1980 and as late as 1994, some of the blown acoustic ceilings contained asbestos. |
| Damp-Proofing: |
a) Moisture impervious tar-like materials that are applied to concrete on the outside foundation side protecting the structure from absorbing unwanted moisture and moisture vapor. b) Control measures using chemical treatments on concrete or masonry to retard the absorption or transmission of water and water vapor. Liability Note: Damp-proofing sealers seldom provide the desirable effect for which they are intended, or the results which were contracted. Contact the manufacturer or distributor of the product for written warrantees and guarantees incase the product fails. As a contractor, make sure the products that are used and installed, are installed in strict accordance with product labelling. |
| Dehumidifier: |
a) An air cooler or washer used for lowering the moisture content of the air passing through it: b) An absorption or adsorption machine designed specifically for removing unwanted moisture from air. Adjuster/Contractor Restorative Drying Note: Dehumidifiers may be similar in function and design, but they are not alike when it comes to restorative drying of wet buildings. Specially designed dehumidifiers are often required to dry wet buildings properly. Commercial size dehumidifiers are equipment capable of removing from 15 to 100 gallons of humidified moisture in air per day. Although a dehumidifier may function properly in a wet room, the dehumidifier may not effect the dehumidification process of a wet wall, ceiling or subfloor. The dehumidification of wet walls for example, requires special techniques and equipment to dry the wall cavity properly, and the equipment must do so within a reasonable time before mold growth occurs. See Desiccant Drying, Psychometrics, Refrigerant Drying, Restorative Drying |
| Deliquescence: |
The absorption of moisture from the air by certain salts in plaster or brick, resulting in damp spots to appear like crystalline deposits, or damp spots that appear to be darker than the surrounding material. |
| Effective Concentration Dose: |
The amount of organisms after exposure or absorption, and metabolism, which causes an accelerated decay or decomposition of building materials. Usually moulds cannot be seen, but in concentration dose they become visible. |
| Evaporator: |
In an HVAC heat exchanger, in which the medium being cooled, usually air or water, gives up heat to the refrigerant through the exchanger transfer surface. The liquid refrigerant boils into a gas in the process of the heat absorption. |
| Exposure: |
a) The contact of harmful agents between humans, animals and their environments. b) The contact with a chemical, biological or physical hazard. Health Note: Exposure in water damage remediation is the contact with a foreign substance that causes injury and illness. Nails, wood and metal splinters, tack strips, cuts, abrasions, puncture wounds, injection, inhalation and absorption are all exposure related injuries. |
| Hazard Identification: |
The determination of a possible adverse health effect. It is the identification of agents, their frequency, and duration of exposure which may lead to adverse health effects. Health and Safety Note: Hazard identification is the identification of all suspected conditions that may pose inhalation or skin absorption hazards that may be immediately dangerous to life or health, or other conditions resulting serious harm or death. Hazard identification shall be identified early on in the survey and evaluation phase, and it should not be found unexpectedly resulting in exposures to employees. Examples include, confined space entry, harmful atmospheres, potential explosive situations, visible vapor or fume clouds, or environments where biological indicators are present. Hazard identification means any obvious hazard or potential hazard which a qualified person deems to be a known or suspected hazard to human or environmental health. |
| Immune-System Toxin: |
Any toxin, including fungal toxins, which are allowed to enter the body through inhalation, ingestion or absorption, and has effected the immune system or has the ability to damage components of the immune system. |
| Impermeability: |
A characteristic of some building materials to hold off and retard moisture and vapour absorption and adsorption. Impermeable building materials are designed to limit the passage of water, gases, vapours and other fluids. See Moisture Impermeable Building Materials, Permeability, Permeability Factor |
| Moisture Impermeable Building Materials: |
A characteristic of some building materials to hold off, retard, delay and impede rain water, high moisture and moisture vapour absorption, for a given period of time, while allowing the building material to microscopically breathe. Moisture impermeable building materials are generally limited to materials which are known to retard rain water and water vapor effectively, as calculated by industry standards, outlined in ASTM guidelines. See ASTM, Impermeability |
| Tear Gas Exposures: |
Toxic gas exposures from police and riot-type tear gas. Health and Safety Note: Seldom will emergency response water damage technicians come in contact with tear gas. But in several instances, technicians have been asked to cleanup tear gas exposures with their cleanup equipment. No technician or adjuster should enter a tear-gas contaminated building without proper respiratory and skin protection. Health Note: 1) Tear gas can effect technicians and adjusters from ingestion, inhalation in nasal passages, and absorption on skin. 2) Seldom is tear gas considered a medical emergency or a medical concern. 3) Yet, depending on the type, concentration and severity of exposure, the health of the technician or adjuster, the health concerns may result in a immediate medical emergency. 4) Skin and respiratory reaction to airborne tear gas is almost immediate. 5) CN/CS/CR/OC tear gases residue and powders are white in color. 6) CN/CS/CR tear gas are not-stable when heated. 7) Tear gas is generally dispersed as powder-like aerosols having a chemical dispersion reactivity to an environment from their explosion. 8) Once the agents have been dispersed into a building, the agents react violently in the presence of humidity, higher temperatures, some oxidizers and a combination of factors. 9) All of the tear gas agents have low solubility in water but they can be dissolved in several organic solvents. Hydrolysis of CN tear gas for example, is very low reacting in water solution, even when alkali is added. On skin, it is best to flush continuously with cold water. CS tear gas on the other hand, is rapidly hydrolyzed in water solution , having a half-life at pH 7 is about 15 min. at room temperature (65 to 70 ?F, and 30 to 45% Rh), and react extremely rapid when alkali is added (half-life at pH 9 is about 1 min.). 10) As remediation technicians, you must be extremely careful in adding alkali substances to skin, since they can add to dermal discomfort and skin damage. Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate) is best used as an adsorptive and cleaning agent on skin. |
| Vapourization of Fire Department Water: |
During a building fire event, the fire department uses large amounts of water from fire hoses to reduce and eliminate the flame and the flammable source. Contractor Note: The heat from a fire in an enclosed atmosphere, will allow a stream or spray (fog) of water to expand up to 1,700 times its mass from the waters original dispersion size. This results in liquid water to turn into steam water droplets, then the droplets are changed into a moisture vapour state. (With extremely hot-heat, water from a fire hose immediately goes to the vapour state). With heat, vapourized water and cooler building material surfaces, the building materials absorb the water vapour rapidly, and often the water vapour is actually forced into porous cells of the building matrix through advection and conduction. Dehumidification of a wet building from a hot-fire is complicated by the radical dispersion of vapourized moisture molecules in building materials, along with the atmospheric stresses brought about from heated forces of increased air volume. See Absorption, Advection |
| Water Stains: |
In water damage mitigation, it is the permanent damage condition brought about from surface water as its move upward into a material. Education Note: Through capillary action, once the material has absorbed surface moisture, the spot where absorption stops, results in a water mark, if the building material or fabric is allowed to dry. Some fresh water marks can be eliminated if the material, typically a fabric, is immersed in water, or it becomes totally wet on all sides. For example, the lower wet portion of a drape which can be completely removed and immersed in water, then carefully rung out and placed and sealed in a plastic bag. The drape must be immediately sent to a dry cleaner. Liability Note: Make sure you have the customers written permission and they understand up-front, this method is only an attempt to salvage the material from permanent water staining, and you have determined the fabric material is structurally sound and worth attempting salvage. See Capillary Action, Wicking |
| Wicking: |
a) The upper movement of water in a water damage building that is absorbed by capillary action. b) A condition caused by surface water as it moves upward into a porous building material through absorption and capillary action. See Capillary Action, Water Stains |
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