controlling the smell of your pharmacy

[Guest guest]

My herbal pharmacy (bulk herbs in glass jars) is in the same room I do

acupuncture and massage. The whole room and all the laundry smells like

herbs (particularly Bai zhi and Mu xiang). Does anyone know of good methods

for controlling the herb odor? I find it pleasant, but people think I'm

weird. I'm considering an air purifier, but the cost of replacement filters

is exorbitant, & I don't even know how effective it would be. Any essential

oils or other neutralizers people have found work well? Disposable

noseplugs for patients?

[Guest guest]

An ozone-type air purifier would help -- expensive to start with but no

filters to change, and it might also clean the air of other airborne

pathogens that might affect your patients.

 

Julie

[Guest guest]

Yes, Alpine Air is the brand that I have -- and another advantage is that if

you practice where you live, as I do, this product removes cooking smells

from the air, so when patients arrive the next morning, they don't know you

had salmon for diner the night before. Mine was about $700, it depends on how

many SF you are trying to purify.

 

Julie again

[Guest guest]

Hi Peter,

There are a number of ozone machines out there that work well at controlling odors. They work well for moxa smoke, at least when you walk in your clinic the next day you don't smell the previous days moxa treatments. I have not tried it my clinic, but a friend did a three day trial with one and said it worked well. At the Oriental Medicine 2000 conference in Providence there was a booth selling these things. The company was Alpine Air Purification System, they are a multi-level org. so heads up for that, but the product is supposed to be good. Anyway, the number for the folks from Providence is (401)467-4726, they may be able to put you in contact with someone in your area that can allow you to try it out for a couple days. I also noticed Sharper Image is selling something similar, in the ad it cleared a room full of smoke in a short period, I have no experience with them. The nice thing about both these units is that there is no filter to be changed, but they aren't cheap I think somewhere between $200-$500. There may be other companies out there selling comparable units. FYI- I am in no way affiliated with any of these companies.

 

Hope this helps,

Sean

 

======================

 

Sean P. Doherty, M.Sc., M.S., L.Ac., DNBAONashua Natural Medicine76 Northeastern Blvd., Unit 36ANashua, NH 03062ph(603) 579-0956fax(603) 579-0957Healthcare for the whole family...Naturally!

 

Peter Borten [innergate]Thursday, October 05, 2000 5:08 PM Subject: controlling the smell of your pharmacyMy herbal pharmacy (bulk herbs in glass jars) is in the same room I doacupuncture and massage. The whole room and all the laundry smells likeherbs (particularly Bai zhi and Mu xiang). Does anyone know of good methodsfor controlling the herb odor? I find it pleasant, but people think I'mweird. I'm considering an air purifier, but the cost of replacement filtersis exorbitant, & I don't even know how effective it would be. Any essentialoils or other neutralizers people have found work well? Disposablenoseplugs for patients?Chinese Herbal Medicine, a voluntary organization of licensed healthcare practitioners, matriculated students and postgraduate academics specializing in Chinese Herbal Medicine, provides a variety of professional services, including board approved online continuing education.

[Guest guest]

Dear Peter,

Any time people come to my store, they said, " It's

really good smell, I feel good with swell of herbs " , It's show that the

sick people want to smell herbs. If you destroy the herb's smell, then they

do not have any idea of where they are going to. To me, I come to the

Chinese herb store, I do not smell any of them, I would not buy it. I use to

grind the herbs and after I grind them, I open a little to allow the air

come trough the herbs, then I cover the herb with the material, fabric for

the herb has enough time to settle down from grinding, then I take them out

of the grind, in that case I do not have to breath the herb in to my lung or

spread out to the air. I do 99% on grinding herbs to my patients than

cooking.Because, my patients like to take powder herbs than cooking, they

want the powder so they can carry with them to work.

Nhung Ta

 

-

Peter Borten <innergate

 

Thursday, October 05, 2000 5:07 PM

controlling the smell of your pharmacy

 

 

> My herbal pharmacy (bulk herbs in glass jars) is in the same room I do

> acupuncture and massage. The whole room and all the laundry smells like

> herbs (particularly Bai zhi and Mu xiang). Does anyone know of good

methods

> for controlling the herb odor? I find it pleasant, but people think I'm

> weird. I'm considering an air purifier, but the cost of replacement

filters

> is exorbitant, & I don't even know how effective it would be. Any

essential

> oils or other neutralizers people have found work well? Disposable

> noseplugs for patients?

>

>

>

> Chinese Herbal Medicine, a voluntary organization of licensed healthcare

practitioners, matriculated students and postgraduate academics specializing

in Chinese Herbal Medicine, provides a variety of professional services,

including board approved online continuing education.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Peter-

I have a HEPA filter but dislike running it with clients- it creates

drafts and is noisy, so I use it at night and between clients. The

Enviracare filter comes with two HEPA filters- one of which has an

odor-removing CPZ inner core and is better for this use. Changing or

rinsing the exterior activated charcoal prefilter frequently also helps,

since that gets the most direct exposure and will prolong your expensive

HEPA filter life. (I learned this from a client's MLM air-filter

marketing tape which suggested doing so if the salesperson demonstrated

it in nail salons.) Ionizing filters are variable in what they remove-

even the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze, so I don't think that will solve

your problem.

 

I've noticed that I have to keep some herbs in jars with especially tight

lids, or to tightly bag them before putting them into jars. (Double

jars is an option if you can find the right set of jars. Some activated

charcoal in the outside jar might help.)

 

I also keep shallow bowls of activated charcoal, volcanic zeolite and

apple cider vinegar on the shelves in my office where they get some air

circulation. The zeolite can be recharged by periodicaly placing it out

in the sun. The charcoal lasts a fairly long time, then is composted and

I refill the vinegar. ( I have no idea how the vinegar works, but have

had several asthmatic friends significantly cut their asthmatic episodes

by keeping bowls of the vinegar around their houses, so I adopted it.)

 

And eliminating carpets and surfaces that can hold the odor also helped.

 

Karen Vaughan

CreationsGarden

***************************************

Email advice is not a substitute for medical treatment.

" Faith and doubt both are needed - not as antagonists, but working side

by side - to take us around the unknown curve. " - Lillian Smith

 

On Thu, 5 Oct 2000 14:07:33 -0700 " Peter Borten "

<innergate writes:

>My herbal pharmacy (bulk herbs in glass jars) is in the same room I do

>acupuncture and massage. The whole room and all the laundry smells like

>herbs (particularly Bai zhi and Mu xiang). Does anyone know of good

ethods

>for controlling the herb odor? I find it pleasant, but people think I'm

>weird. I'm considering an air purifier, but the cost of replacement

filters

>is exorbitant, & I don't even know how effective it would be. Any

>essential oils or other neutralizers people have found work well?

Disposable

>noseplugs for patients?

>

 

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