Hand-held air testing devices commonly used by some firefighters and contractors do not accurately identify specific chemical levels. An earlier study showed the styrene levels were sometimes wrong by a thousandfold.

With the wave of infrastructure projects coming, it’s clear that controls are needed to lower the risk that people will be harmed.

Our research points to several actions that residents, companies and health officials can take to keep communities safe.

We advise residents to:

Close all windows and doors, fill plumbing traps with water and leave the building during pipe-curing operations, especially when children are in the building.

Report unusual odors or illnesses to health officials or call 911. Seek medical advice from health officials, not the contractors or pipe owners. Evacuate buildings when fumes enter.

Companies can minimize risks too. They can:

Stop the cooking process when fumes leave the worksite to lessen the spread of contamination and exposures.

Use resins that release less air pollution than standard resins.

Ask federal agencies to evaluate hand-held air testing device use.

Capture and treat air pollution from the process. While this has not yet been done at scale, it is straightforward and would be a fraction of the overall project cost. This waste will be hazardous because of its toxicity.

Public health and environmental agencies should also get engaged. Federal agencies know that the practice poses health risks and can be fatal to workers. California and Florida recognize in safety documentation that bystanders could be harmed. But, so far, few steps have been taken to protect workers’ and bystanders’ health.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. The Conversation has a variety of fascinating free newsletters.

Read more:
Intense heat and flooding are wreaking havoc on power and water systems as climate change batters America’s aging infrastructure

Fixing America’s crumbling physical – and human – infrastructure: 3 essential reads

Andrew J. Whelton receives funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Federal Highway Administration, and Purdue University. He was named in patent 11486530, which pertains to the technologies for capturing, identifying, analyzing, and addressing emissions that are potentially hazardous to the environment and humans. The invention was developed with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation.