11779 replies to this topic

[sdwright.vic]

BTW... They never responded to my email where I basically told them that they were responsibly for this mess and not the province. Imagine that. 🙄

[sebberry]

 

Sebberry, is it alright with you if I start a list of this term's issues on the first page of this discussion? It happens to be your post.

 

Thus far we have:

• the introduction of an affordable housing initiative that will require developers to allocate 15% of homes as below-market rentals in market condo and rental projects
• the cancelling of the Crystal Pool replacement project at Central Park
• City's cannabis retail storefront requirements clash with provincial requirements over opaque glass in Old Town

 

 

All good!

[G-Man]

Okay what is going on? Is it April already????

https://www.timescol...what-1.23516303

[Nparker]

...Mayor Lisa Helps said there are a number of people who are reportedly unable attend city hall because of the poor air quality. “So maybe people with certain sensitivities find the air quality to be a problem in city hall, so staff have initiated this body of work in response to the accessibility working group’s request,”...

The inmates have truly taken over the asylum. 

The greatest barrier to my ability to attend city hall is the excess amount of crazy that permeates the place.

[Baro]

It's entirely possible a building of that age might actually have something legitimately troublesome going on with its air.  Molds, old ducts, off gassing old mid-century building materials and paints.  Or it could be a bunch of people with mostly psychosomatic conditions like "electromagnetic sensitivity"...

[Cassidy]

I'm in there frequently, up - down - new chambers building - old building ... engineering - I've never sensed or smelled anything at all untoward.

It's a bunch of B.S. dreamed up by people who want attention to be paid to them,  and money spent on them.

 

They don't have to (and indeed don't) have a reason beyond the above.

[Mike K.]

I wouldn’t be that quick to discount it. Sensitivity to odours can be a debilitating condition which can cause immediate and crippling reactions among people sensitive to specific scents.

It’s like a peanut allergy or a bee sting allergy for some, and no word of a lie exposure can land them in the hospital.

Considering the building’s age there could very well be certain cleaning chemicals or other odours that are not sufficiently ventilated or materials in the building are triggering a sensitivity for some people.

Unless you’ve been exposed to this condition it’s hard to understand how a subtle smell can pose such a challenge.

[spanky123]

^ I agree with Mike. Some people are legitimately unable to work in certain spaces. I have seen it several times over the years. The problem though is that I have never seen an air quality assessment actually accomplish anything for them. If there is dust or mold or anything else circulating then lets clean that up, but usually individual sensitivities are due to chemicals, fragrances or odors that aren't part of an air quality test.

[shoeflack]

I don't know why you guys are so surprised about the air quality issue. Have you seen our past and current council? Nothing but a bunch of toxic, dead air in those chambers...^{I'll see myself out...}

 

Seriously though, to Mike's point, a former colleague had pretty severe sensitivity to odours. Not something I would wish on anyone. It can be quite crippling.

[Coreyburger]

I wouldn’t be that quick to discount it. Sensitivity to odours can be a debilitating condition which can cause immediate and crippling reactions among people sensitive to specific scents.

It’s like a peanut allergy or a bee sting allergy for some, and no word of a lie exposure can land them in the hospital.

Considering the building’s age there could very well be certain cleaning chemicals or other odours that are not sufficiently ventilated or materials in the building are triggering a sensitivity for some people.

Unless you’ve been exposed to this condition it’s hard to understand how a subtle smell can pose such a challenge.

 

I had an ex-gf who had pretty bad chemical/perfume allergies. It was like threw a switch when she went through a smelly environment - she would be chatting away and then would just fall silent. And if the air at night wasn't clear enough, she would wake up tired and the whole cycle would just worse.

 

Overall, we don't pay enough attention to indoor air quality. It is often quite bad and has huge impacts on everybody, not just the sensitive.

[Mystic-Pizza]

I had an ex-gf who had pretty bad chemical/perfume allergies. It was like threw a switch when she went through a smelly environment - she would be chatting away and then would just fall silent. And if the air at night wasn't clear enough, she would wake up tired and the whole cycle would just worse.

 

Overall, we don't pay enough attention to indoor air quality. It is often quite bad and has huge impacts on everybody, not just the sensitive.

 

Indeed, these problems have increased in society over the last decade or two to numbers that have never been medically recorded before, and it's no mistake as to why this is happening. People are developing allergies they have never had before, asthma rates are on the rise big time etc.  I personally blame much of it on our processed food supply (which makes up 90%) of it and everything we eat and drink.  Anything in a can, or in a package, or even things that are in jars have additional chemical additives and flavor enhancers, color enhancers, artificial sweeteners, chemicals that keep things softer for longer, etc. added to them that previously were not added. Then we have the metals in our outside air that we breath in etc.  All of this combined is causing a mass increase in the development of allergies in people.

 

I myself have had mild asthma for years, but this year it has worsened to levels I have never seen before. I am now on heavy duty asthma medication for the first time in my life that I have to take every day. I never had this issue before this year. Last Summer when we had the bad smoke, for the first time my reaction to it was so strong I literally had to stay indoors for days. That never happened any previous years...even with the smoke (or whatever it was)  I have also notices a strong development of sensitivity to odors and smells that now trigger my asthma etc.  What can we do? Indoor air filtration systems just don't cut it the way they are supposed to.

[Bob Fugger]

It's a bunch of B.S. dreamed up by people who want attention to be paid to them,  and money spent on them.

 

It's not, chief.  Mrs. Fugger suffers badly from this. I visited her at work one day and this coworker of hers who just doesn't care about the scent-free office policy walked past her, doused in cheap perfume.  Her eyes started to water and she started sneezing.  And then the headache came on, which lasted long past she got home.

 

I don't need to walk a mile in her shoes to understand, but it might help you.

[rjag]

We bought our first home in 1991 it was a brand new townhouse at Interurban and Wilkinson (middle of nowhere back then)

 

My wife started getting hives and breathing difficulties after a few months. Went to the Dr and sent for tests etc, they came back and said it was the new puppy and she was allergic and should take anti-histamines every day or get rid of the dog. 2 months later no change. We spent a weekend doing a deep clean and lo and behold when we flipped our mattress it was covered in mold spores. 

 

Turns out our new place was so airtight that there was no air exchange even though we had bathroom fans that were set to 50% humidity etc...that also explained the sweating windows etc. Pulled the carpets up and they were covered in mold as well.

 

Ripped everything out, installed better fans and learned to have a window open and the problem resolved itself. 

 

We had no idea, we were so young and didnt understand what was going on

 

That was a close call as we were seriously considering it was her or the dog and I didnt have the heart to tell her that I would miss her when she left...

[Mattjvd]

I had an allergy to an air freshener that the hotel I used to work at used. If left inside without the doors open for a breeze, I would become violently ill during my shift. Took a few unpleasant days to figure out what was causing it.

[Nparker]

Will this same council apply as stringent demands on air quality in the pot smoking lounges for which they are also advocating?

[Rob Randall]

It's not, chief.  Mrs. Fugger suffers badly from this. I visited her at work one day and this coworker of hers who just doesn't care about the scent-free office policy walked past her, doused in cheap perfume.  Her eyes started to water and she started sneezing.  And then the headache came on, which lasted long past she got home.

 

I don't need to walk a mile in her shoes to understand, but it might help you.

 

Eh, could be worse.

[Bingo]

It's entirely possible a building of that age might actually have something legitimately troublesome going on with its air.  Molds, old ducts, off gassing old mid-century building materials and paints.  Or it could be a bunch of people with mostly psychosomatic conditions like "electromagnetic sensitivity"...

 

Didn't they hang a few folks up in the clock tower, and bury the bodies in the basement?

[LJ]

Well North Americans love that new car smell, but automakers shipping cars to China have to deodorize them or they wont sell.

[sebberry]

Ok, we're getting a little OT here, but there's a great documentary on Netflix called Stink (https://stinkmovie.com/) that looks into the ways companies hide all sorts of ingredients in their products.  

 

Maybe Jeremy should be lobbying to get rid of the "fragrance" labeling loophole instead?  It's probably just a small handful of ingredients causing the majority of problems anyway.  If we can solve that, we wouldn't need scent-free workplaces.  

[RFS]

How about Vegas where they pump expensive perfume oils through the ventilation system?

https://m.lasvegassu...-scent-science/