House of Commons (ventilation). Report on an investigation of the ventilation of the debating chamber of the House of Commons / by Dr. M.M. Gordon.

  • Great Britain. Office of Works and Public Buildings.
Date:
1905-06
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: House of Commons (ventilation). Report on an investigation of the ventilation of the debating chamber of the House of Commons / by Dr. M.M. Gordon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/286 (page 6)
    The quality of the air. Bacterio- logically. Chemi- cally. Physically. Bacterio- logically. 6 favourable to the growth of bacteria of the class in question if they are present in the air, and are being deposited therefrom during exposure of the plates. — designed to collect them. In addition to means adopted for the detection of bacteria from mouth and bowel, a detailed search for pathogenic micro-organisms has been made in course of the present enquiry, and the results in this connection are fully described in sub-section 5 of the bacteriological report. The chief results of the examination of the quality of the air will now be described. (A).—Air entering the inlet. The first matter necessary to be considered in reference to the existing system of ventilation of the Debating Chamber is the quality of the air at the: inlet. There can, I think, be no doubt that the air of the terrace is remarkably fresh to the subjective senses, and that therefore it is as well suited for the supply of the Debating Chamber as any in the neighbourhood of the building. A series of bacteriological observations of air entering the inlet showed. that rainfail had a distinct influence on the abundance, or otherwise, of bacteria of all sorts to be obtained from it ; the number of bacteria deposited by the incoming air being diminished in wet weather. No evidence was obtained of. the presence of particulate contamination derived from the mouth in air entering the inlet. It was found, however, that air entering at the north inlet was liable — to be polluted by material of intestinal origin—probably horse-manure—derived. from the boots of persons walking over the grating on the terrace fixed above the inlet in question. With this exception, the air at the inlet showed exceedingly little evidence of being charged with particulate impurity of a kind. we at present recognise as liable to be associated with matter that can convey disease. Dr. Hurtley made a very thorough chemical examination of the air entering the inlet and has fully dealt with the results obtained by him. He found the air to be normal for town air as regards oxygen and carbon dioxide. Ozone was absent, and tests led him to conclude that even were small quantities of ozone present in the air at the inlet they would not reach the Debating Chamber. For the rest, he found traces of substances that in appreciable amount would certainly be injurious, though they were present in such small quantities as to be probably harmless to a normal human being. The single exception he makes to this statement is with regard to organic matter, and he does so on the ground that it may contain pathogenic micro-organisms. The bacteriological results which I record supply the requisite information upon this matter. An important observation was made by Dr. Hurtley with regard to the purifying action upon the air exercised by the fine rainlike spray in occasional use at the inlet for moistening the air. Dr. Aitken’s observation with regard to the number of dust particles in the air at the inlet led him to infer that its quality in this respect was good, for the air of a town. (B).—Air entering the Debating Chamber. During debates, the number of bacteria deposited from the air of the Equalising Chamber showed a marked increase at certain points corresponding to gratings in the roof thereof which constitutes the floor of the Debating Chamber. The excess of bacteria at these points was due to showers of debris falling through the gratings from Members’ boots. The increase in the bacterial deposit from this cause was most marked below the portion of the centre gangway between the Bar and the Lobby door at that end of the Debating Chamber, and, to a less extent, behind the Speaker’s Chair and below the side gangways. No evidence was forthcoming that the air of the Equalising Chamber below the