Denatured Alcohol used by Window Installers at Interior

Brooks, this seems out of the IEQc4 scope to me. A similar question has come up before about paint stripper.

In one sense, there is no specific criteria for this, but there are a two ways to reference this from a IEQ best practices: 1) utilize the list of "unacceptable ingredients", 2) as one might say that that it falls under cleaning, you may wish to utilize the criteria as set out in the EB:OM Green Cleaning best practices. Also, this becomes of serious relevance if you intend on performing IEQ testing for the building - these "untracked" elements are often what is that cause of not meeting the VOC testing.

I agree with the above comments. There is no specific category in the credit structure. While this is a high-VOC material, it evaporates quickly and should not cause any lingering health problems inside the building. The first wine spill once the building is closed and occupied will also cause ethyl alcohol emissions. I'd be more concerned if they had used a solvent with a poor toxicity profile like xylene, toluene or MEK. From a worker safety perspective, inhalation of ethyl alcohol can cause transient narcotic effects as is the case in alcoholic beverages, but it should have no long term impacts. Beyond controlling exposure through cross-ventilation or substituting materials, the primary hazard factor with ethyl alcohol is flammability of vapors. If using indoors, electrical ignition sources such as fans must be turned off and pilot lights should be extinguished. If they need to get air into the space, have the fan outside pushing in to keep vapors from migrating through the motor. Sealants can be a pain to remove. I hope you are able to source a less hazardous alternative.