References & limits — Gaia Solutions

Papers

Every claim on this site that rests on published work is listed here with a DOI that resolves. If one of them doesn't, tell us and we'll fix it or withdraw the claim.

Tea tree oil inhibits growth, and the effect fades

Tested against two common indoor fungi on agar over seven days, tea tree oil outperformed vinegar, ethanol and two hospital-grade disinfectants. The same paper records the effect declining by day 14, and concludes that spores inside porous material may go dormant rather than die. That is why we return quarterly rather than annually. Cited on AC cleaning and Mould.

Rogawansamy S, Gaskin S, Taylor M, Pisaniello D. An Evaluation of Antifungal Agents for the Treatment of Fungal Contamination in Indoor Air Environments. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015;12(6):6319–6332. doi:10.3390/ijerph120606319

Bacterial loads in Dubai classrooms, with computer labs worst

Sampling across three international schools in Dubai found airborne bacterial counts at several times the reference value the study worked to, and computer labs measurably worse than ordinary classrooms — which the authors attribute to windows and doors kept shut. Cited on For buildings.

Jung C, El Samanoudy G, Alqassimi N. Indoor air quality in educational institutions: a comparative study of VOCs and bacterial contaminants in Dubai schools. Front Built Environ. 2024;10:1478681. doi:10.3389/fbuil.2024.1478681

Standards and frameworks

These are documents we work toand scope against.

Dubai Municipality DM-HSD-GU119-IAQ Technical Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality, issued by the Health & Safety Department. The framework we report buildings against.

Dubai Municipality EIAQI The Environmental Indoor Air Quality Index — a per-building composite calculated from sensors inside it. Both the real-time and the reporting index, as published.

Mould remediation ANSI/IICRC S520 Where growth is in the structure rather than the AC system. We help specify work against it; a remediation contractor carries it out.

Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification. ANSI/IICRC S520, Standard for Professional Mold Remediation. 4th ed. 2024. Available from the IICRC; not an open-access document.

What our data cannot tell you

Four limits, in one place, so you don't have to find them scattered across the service pages. Each one is a reason to read a number carefully rather than a reason to distrust it.

Lumped TVOC A trend, not a verdict Total volatile organic compounds is a single figure standing in for hundreds of substances with very different effects. A rise is worth investigating. A number on its own says nothing about which compound, or whether it matters.

Mould smell Not a spore count Our score comes from a model reading a metal-oxide sensor array, not from identifying compounds or counting spores. It can tell you the air smells like active growth. It cannot tell you the species or how much, and no monitor at this price can.

Absolute levels Shape over number Our devices are factory-calibrated and sensors drift with age. The shape of a curve, the timing of a peak and the direction of change after work are reliable. A single concentration quoted against a limit is not, which is why we don't quote one.

Who we measure Not a random sample Monitored properties are subscription clients — homes and buildings where someone was already concerned enough to install a sensor. Our fleet describes our clients. It does not describe Dubai, and we don't present it as if it did.

If you find a mistake

A citation that doesn't resolve is a bug, and we treat it as one.

Two fabricated references reached an early draft of this project, which is why every DOI on this site is checked automatically before anything is published and why the list above is short rather than padded.

If you follow one of these and it doesn't go where we say it goes, tell us and we'll correct the page or drop the claim.

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