Here's some comments to consider about cleaning your home.

 

From Marriam Webster's dictionary found on AOL:

Main Entry: bio·haz·ard

Pronunciation: 'bī-O-"ha-z&rd

Function: noun

: a biological agent or condition that constitutes a hazard to humans or the environment; also : a hazard posed by such an agent or condition

 

Bio-hazards in or context:

The term "bio-hazard" is, in part, a contextually (condition) understood term because a substance that is "bio-hazardous" in one circumstance is not quite so in another. Human feces in a toilet is both offensive and bio-hazardous, but in these circumstances the feces is safely contained; on an elementary school room's water fountain handle, the same material could be deadly for some children under certain circumstances.

 

Bird Feathers

In my opinion, bird feathers are not inherently bio-hazardous unless infested by lice or harmful micro-organisms which may come into contact with the unsuspecting. Feathers, as I recall, are often used in pillows, in any case. 

 

Public Health

Still, for purposes of public health (considering that we do live in the age of an Avian Flue and such), the feathers and droppings in your home should go in a black plastic bag for disposal to the county landfill, just like other animal waste that is dry. Also, as I have been advised, any liquid or fluid-like substances of a biological nature can safely go down the sanitary sewer, the toilet, unless these substances have a laboratory history indicating sterilization first..

 

Safe Cleaning Practices

Ventilation (respirators required) , vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing and rinsing are my preferred approaches to cleaning heavily soiled and cluttered homes.

 

During and after removing the home's contents, open-air ventilation is important to help remove airborne debris and to help expose embedded unknowns to the light-of-day. So keeping the windows open is important, and it is even more helpful to place a few fans around windows and doors to vent outwardly.

 

Carpet

Carpeting is the largest ventilator in a building, so I remove carpet and carpet padding, but leave the carpet tack-strip when the home is empty or nearly empty. (When nearly completed with the job, I offer to spray "Kilz" over the tack-strip.)

 

Surfactants

After the ceiling, floors, walls, and cabinets have been cleared of debris by sweeping and brushing, I usually use Pine-Sol and Simple Green solutions to scrub and rinse surfaces, including the floor. These surfactants are easily located in local stores and do not carry the allergy burdens of exotic, professional chemicals.

 

Rinsing

I use a garden hose to rinse these same areas unless the weather is cool and damp, in which case I use buckets of hot water and sponges to rinse these areas; wet vacs are used to remove excess moisture, which is poured down the toilet. 

 

By now the fans can be placed to blow inward to create a drying vortex in the building.

 

Whenever chemicals are found that are by their nature hazardous, like paint, I leave to the customer to place in the hazardous waste cycle ran by the county. Bio-hazards that cannot be flushed down the toilet, and if too large for the toilet (sanitary sewer system), goes in a red bag for placement in the bio-hazard cycle via Medident or Stericycle.

 

With some forethought and much care and concern for health and safety, home owners and others can perform the same methods that I have listed above and elsewhere regarding your property in Torrance, California.

 

Regards,

Ed Evans

Biosafe