I wrote an extensive piece for our magazine, Habitat Quarterly, and now is the time to share it with you. I also posted it in the Articles section at 1800gotmold.com. Here’s a snippet:

The warmer weather allows us to open the windows and let the outside in again. During the winter months, we enjoy very little fresh air in our homes. In fact, in the name of energy efficiency, we seek to eliminate any and all infiltration, unwittingly allowing toxins and allergens to build up fundamentally unabated. These particles and gasses are the potential makings of allergies, asthma attacks, sinus infections and general malaise. While it might be great for your heating bill to keep things buttoned up tight, there’s a potentially much greater price to pay: your health.

It’s important to note that many of today’s most prevalent illnesses have been linked to poor indoor air quality. Chronic sinusitis, which affects 37 million Americans, is largely due to mold exposure, according to a 1999 Mayo Clinic Study. Similarly, of the 23 million asthmatics in the country, at least 4.6 million cases are mold and dampness-related according to EPA/Berkeley Labs. A recent Brown University study even showed a strong connection between depression and an indoor environment in which mold and dampness were present.

It’s not just about mold, though. Modern construction materials and furnishings are loaded with chemicals such as formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. Over time, these chemicals evaporate, or “off gas,” into the air which you and your family breathe in day and night. That “new home” or “new car” smell is actually comprised of chemicals that we should strictly limit our exposure to, but most of us don’t. In fact, the average American spends 90% of her time indoors. What does one do?

If this interests you, go read the whole thing here. And happy spring!

I’m writing this article because I am constantly faced with this preconception that getting rid of mold somehow involves killing it first, as if you have to sneak up behind it and snuff it out before it knows you’re there. Yes, this stuff can be dangerous, but not like that.

You see, most homeowners and contractors feel that if you kill mold, by spraying or fogging some EPA-registered chemical, that you’re going to make the job easier or more effective. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The purpose of mold remediation, as described in the IICRC S520 Mold Remediation Standard, is to restore an affected property to a “normal” condition. Here’s what’s involved. It’s really simple.

1. Fix the water problem.
2. Isolate the work area.
3. Remove affected materials that cannot be cleaned, such as wallboard, insulation, ceiling tiles, carpet, carpet padding and other porous items.
4. Clean the remaining surfaces that can be cleaned such as wood, glass, metal, plastic, concrete, tile, etc., using HEPA vacuums and good, old-fashioned, elbow grease. Chemicals need not be involved.
5. Scrub the air with HEPA filters.
6. Verify microscopically that the air and surfaces no longer contain abnormal levels of fungal material.

Mold remediation isn’t about killing mold, it’s about removing it and fixing the water problem. Even if you “kill it,” dead mold is still allergenic and potentially toxic, according to the EPA. Leaving behind dead mold doesn’t do you any good. In fact, all you’re doing when you use a biocide is adding another toxin, an additional step and more cost. It’s not a shortcut, it’s a boondoggle.

Are we trying to make the house healthier or sicker? Many of the products sold as biocides/antimicrobials/fungicides are more dangerous than the mold and its byproducts. Do you really want to trade one toxin for another?

The funny thing about biocides is that many of them are water-based, and the active ingredient evaporates relatively quickly. Bleach for example, is 3% sodium hypochlorite and 97% water. When you use bleach during mold remediation, the sodium hypochlorite dissipates rapidly, leaving behind what? Water! Congratulations, you’ve just added water to a water problem. Spores will settle on the dampness you leave behind, eat the dead mold you didn’t remove, and grow right back again. Nice, eh?

Not only are you adding an additional, unnecessary toxin to your home or workplace, you may also be stimulating the mold to produce more of the very thing most people worry most about when they have a mold problem: mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are the toxins some molds produce from time to time. There is strong evidence that chronic exposure to mycotoxins is less than ideal for human health. Research has also shown that mycotoxin production can actually be stimulated by fungicides.

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There are a few circumstances when biocides are prudent and should be considered, like when bacteria is a concern, such as after sewage spills or certain kinds of floods, and in certain circumstance involving individuals with compromised immune systems.  Other than that, the vast majority of mold remediation cases should be free of chemicals and killing agents.

We as a society have already done immense damage to ourselves and to the environment with our obsessive use of antibiotics, antimicrobials, herbicides, pesticides and other poisons. In addition to the damage it can do to us as individuals when misused (which is almost always the case), these compounds are also creating new microbes that are resistant to the very poisons we lavish upon them, making stronger heartier foes in the microscopic world. Is this really what we want?

Finally, there’s a constant desire by contractors and homeowners to apply antimicrobial paints and finishes to surfaces during remediation. This is another unnecessary and wasteful step. Most of the antimicrobial value of these paints dissipates in a matter of months, leaving behind nutrition to support fungal growth if the right amount of moisture is present. In all cases, the mold won’t return without moisture. So adding a coating isn’t necessary if it’s dry. If it’s wet, the mold will return no matter how much antimicrobial paint you apply.

At the end of the day, there’s only one truly effective antifungal. It works every time with no adverse reactions, and it never dissipates. It’s called anti-dihydrogen monoxide, or anti-DHMO.  To understand it, you must first understand its opposite. DHMO is a very simple compound, comprised of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. It’s otherwise called H2O or, by us laypeople, water.

In other words, keep things clean and dry, and you don’t need chemicals, and you won’t need to hire us. But if you do find yourself trying to make sense of what steps to take next when you think – or know – you have a mold problem, we’re here to help.

Whether it’s used as storage with a staircase and a door leading to it, or is merely the space between roof and ceiling, filled with trusses, and accessible only via a trap door in a closet, an attic is a critical part of a home’s respiratory system. This means that ventilation – correct ventilation – is essential to the attic’s health.

We recently published a comprehensive article on this subject in our seasonal magazine, Habitat Quarterly. Here’s a clipping of it:

As we all remember from eighth-grade science class, warm air rises in a building. In a case where there’s a lot of moisture in that warm air, when it finds its way into a cold attic, the water in the air will bead up on the cold interior surfaces of the roof like it would on a glass of iced tea on a hot summer day. During really cold periods, this condensation will actually freeze, making some attics an unintended winter wonderland.

In such circumstances, the exposed nails will transform into icicles overnight, and when the sun comes up, the roof warms, melting the icicles, causing it to drip rusty water droplets onto the floor. This cycle of moisture accumulation on the dusty wooden surfaces of the attic is enough to create an environment conducive to mold growth. Sometimes this takes decades, sometimes only one season. Depending upon how severe the problem is, the damage can range from some minor surface mold, which can be easily cleaned, to complete rot and degradation of the sheathing, requiring a new roof to be installed. Not fun.

The story gets a lot more exciting from there. To read the rest of the article,  you can go to our online edition of Habitat Quarterly or jump over to our repost here on 1800gotmold.com.

There have been numerous studies aimed at answering this question and, while no single study tells the whole story, taken in aggregate they confirm much of “common knowledge.”  It’s enough, at least, to silence the “mold deniers,” those who scoff at the idea that indoor mold exposure can make people sick. That is, if they’re paying attention.

It’s really a matter of indoor air pollution, which the US EPA says can be up to 100 times worse than the outdoor air in the dirtiest cities. And that’s mainly because our homes and buildings don’t breathe like they used to; they’ve been made too airtight, in the name of energy savings.

Here’s a clip of an article we published in the Fall 2009 issue of our seasonal magazine, Habitat Quarterly:

Indoor air pollutants commonly include skin and hair cells from people and any animals in the house (aka “dust”); volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by various plastics, adhesives, textiles, finishes and cleaning products. Also in the air are mold spores, mold parts and microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) produced by mold. If there is mold growth in the house, these substances will continue to intensify.

Some molds also emit substances called mycotoxins. A good example is penicillin, the first antibiotic, which was derived from the mycotoxins of the penicillium fungus, a common mold. Most modern antibiotics are derived from, or based on, mycotoxins. Ironically, medical science knows little if anything about what those mycotoxins might do to people. But they know they’re deadly to bacteria.

As homes in the US became more airtight and energy-stingy, they also became more prone to moisture problems. Just as there’s no such thing as a waterproof watch (they’re “water resistant”), there’s no such thing as a waterproof house. Water will find its way in, either through leaks, plumbing failures, spills, or as water vapor that condenses when conditions are right.

With that invading moisture comes the rising probability of mold growth, and the risk of the indoor air becoming a far greater threat to health. Medical science has begun finding the links between indoor mold growth and our health, and doctors are beginning to recognize that home indoor air quality is a factor that must be investigated for their patients who don’t respond to treatment.

Mold assessment experts tell us that even blind spaces such as wall cavities, crawl spaces and attics can gain moisture via condensation, and mold can grow unseen. All mold needs is relative humidity of more than 50%, the same temperature range people can tolerate, and food, meaning anything organic, such as wood, paper, fabric, and even dust.

To read more about the scientific studies that have been done to indict mold as the culprit in many human illnesses, you can read the original article here, or the reposted version here on 1800gotmold.com.

Why does this happen? It’s primarily because you’ve decided to save money by turning off the heat and/or AC. This turns the house into an incubator for mold. Think of a sandwich in a plastic bag left outdoors. We published an article on this topic in last summer’s edition of our seasonal magazine, Habitat Quarterly. Here’s a snippet:

The problem lies in the fact that the house gets closed up when not in use and in the interest of saving money on utility bills, the heat is turned down or the air conditioning is turned off. At first blush, this seems like a prudent thing to do. Why waste money heating or cooling an empty place?

Here’s why: One mold remediation project often costs way more than a year’s worth of utility bills, often more than several years. Plus, you’ll find the odor has infiltrated your upholstered furniture, rugs, carpets, drapes. It will all have to go.

What’s the solution? Dehumidifiers and minimum heat and AC. You’ll find the details here, or in our repost of the article on 1800gotmold.com here.

In last summer’s edition of our seasonal magazine, Habitat Quarterly, we published an article detailing what to do after a flood. It seems now would be a good time to revisit that piece and perhaps give a few folks on the east coast a chance to absorb something other than water. Here’s a snippet:

When floods hit cities and commercial buildings whose owners have healthy bank accounts and adequate insurance, it’s almost entertaining to see the action after the water recedes. Machinery and crews of workers hit the scene immediately, tearing out soggy materials, scooping out mud, drying out structures with huge fans. In the vast majority of cases, these buildings end up being restored to as-new or better condition. Ensuing mold problems are rare.

In surrounding residential neighborhoods, often at lower elevations and especially those not so well heeled, the cleanup process is much slower, and mold problems become increasingly likely. The most extreme example, of course, is New Orleans after the levees broke during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Many homes there are still not restored, and many never will be. Mold is as common in New Orleans as sourdough bread in San Francisco.

Mold does not give you much time to react after a flood – even a small one. You have 24 hours to get wet things out of the house and dry out the remaining structure, or it’s a virtual certainty you will have a bumper crop of mold. Mold has been tied to various health conditions such as asthma, chronic sinusitis, allergies, bronchitis and even depression.

Whether your flood is caused by nature, a plumbing failure, a sewage leak or a roof defect`, the first priority is safety, and the second priority is getting the water out. The New York State Health Department has compiled a comprehensive list of tasks and precautions, which we offer in its entirety (with our notes – italicized) here.

If this information is useful to you, you can read it in the online version of Habitat Quarterly here, or where we reposted it on 1800gotmold.com. Either way, we hope it helps.

Moisture is the key ingredient in indoor mold problems. If you can control moisture, you won’t have a mold problem. So if your roofing, siding, windows, plumbing and ventilation systems are all without issues, what you have left is relative humidity, a term that describes the amount of water in the air relative to the amount of water the air could hold at its current temperature.

We published a detailed article on dehumidifiers in the summer 2010 issue of our seasonal magazine, Habitat Quarterly. We also reposted it here on 1800gotmold.com, so you can read it in either place.

Here’s a snippet:

Although your air conditioner does behave like a large dehumidifier, often it can’t keep up with the infiltration of humid air from outside, especially in very humid climates. In other cases, dehumidifiers are needed in spaces which aren’t affected by your heating or cooling systems, such as crawlspaces. Plus, you still need to control humidity during the nine months when your AC is not running, especially in basements and other scenarios prone to dampness, such as houses built on wooded lots.

So, if you have a dehumidifier, are you using it correctly? And if you don’t have one, should you? Read on and find out.

Dr. Tichenor’s experience-based opinion is backed up by a 1999 Mayo Clinic study, which concluded that 96 percent of chronic sinusitis is caused by mold. We’re talking about 15 percent of the population here, a group of people who are plagued by this misery and spend countless hours and dollars trying to get it resolved.

The good doctor recently authored an article in our seasonal magazine, Habitat Quarterly, which you can read here, and we recently reposted it here on 1800gotmold.com. Here’s a snippet.

We are not sure why some people are more sensitive to mold than others and consequently develop these mold-related episodes of sinusitis.  One of the theories is that these people have more exposure to mold in their environments, while other theories hold that they are due to the use or abuse of antibiotics.

In a situation in which patients have had mold exposure in the environment for an extending period of time, this extended exposure can cause patients to have this immunological overreaction. This reaction may or may not be due to a true allergy, but in some patients who have more severe problems with fungal sinusitis, we know that they will improve if they are treated the same way patients with more severe allergies are treated: with allergy immunotherapy, which will desensitize them to the molds that they have problems with.  We also know that the fungi we may find in the sinuses are the same ones that are found in the environment.

One of the treatments Dr. Tichenor also mentions is “irrigation,” which we talked about in a previous post here. Of course, for someone with longstanding chronic sinusitis, the do-it-yourself approach may not be adequate. On the other hand, it can do no harm, and we have seen it work for friends and family.

Of course, it you try the nasal irrigation route on your own and it doesn’t work, you’ll want to see Dr. Tichenor, or a doctor a lot like him.

Either way, as we’re fond of saying, mold is nothing to sneeze at.

The highly respect Mayo Clinic announced in 1999 that a clinical study it conducted found that 96 percent of all chronic sinusitis is caused by mold. That doesn’t mean mold growth in the sinuses, merely the presence of mold spores causing a reaction in the mucous membrane that doesn’t go away until the fungal irritant is removed. So I’m here to tell you how to remove it.

It doesn’t matter whether you have chronic sinusitis, or you just inhaled a snootful of dust, pollen or other irritants that have you sneezing and blowing. My go-to remedy is the venerable “neti pot,” used by Vedic healers in India millennia ago and still in use today.

We published a pretty comprehensive article on this in the Summer 2010 issue of our season magazine, Habitat Quarterly, and we recently reposted that piece here on 1800gotmold.com. Here’s a snippet:

Lots of people who don’t suffer from sinus problems, and who aren’t yogis or even aspiring to become one, do this and love it, but anyone predisposed to this kind of ailment might want to consider this as a normal part of their daily hygiene. Like most preventive measures originating out of Eastern wisdom, this method is dismissed by many physicians. Others are simply unaware of it. A few are strong advocates, such as Dr. Wellington Tichenor, MD, in New York City, who also happens to be a rarity in other ways too. His patients never stop raving about him.

One fair warning: Because it uses salt water, your world will smell like the seashore for a little while after a flush. It’s not unpleasant and, trust me, it goes away pretty quickly. You might want to get yourself a little sandbox and take your shoes off to complete the illusion.

This is especially true if you use a fireplace or wood stove, according to a study done for the American Thoracic Society.

Of course, wood smoke is not the only hazard. Previous studies have show the same kind of inflammatory damage to cardiovascular cells from vehicle emissions. So now if you burn wood, it’s a double whammy.

But you don’t have to get rid of your wood fire; just get a good HEPA air purifier and keep it running. Then you’ll be toasty and healthy all at once. Makes me warm all over just to think about it. Of course, it’s June and 90 degrees outside, so I’m already pretty warm.

We published a detailed article about this study in our seasonal magazine, Habitat Quarterly, and we’ve reposted that article here on 1800gotmold.com, so if you want the rest of the story, take your pick.