Depending upon the level, location, use and extent of remediation required, the remediation needs to be done with appropriate levels of protection. Persons handling materials, contents and debris from a mold remediation are exposed to elevated mold levels. Mold can spread just as when you blew on the dandelion that turned white and saw the tiny seeds go everywhere. PPE or “Personal Protective Equipment” needs worn by those exposed to airborne mold during work.
At a minimum, workers need protected with masks. In higher mold conditions or closed areas, gloves and suits may also be crucial and necessary protective equipment.
If an area of remediation has disturbed materials, the area being cleaned needs contained from spreading disturbed mold through other areas of the building envelope. Contaminated materials need to be wrapped and carried out of the building while enclosed or wrapped to prevent mold contaminated materials from harming others.
In areas of significant disturbed mold contaminated materials, the area of work may need protected with an airlock. This is usually simple, overlapping plastic doors that appear like the scene you may remember from the movie "ET the Extraterrestrial. This is called containment.
In situations where there is concern and risk that disturbed mold may be drawn from the disturbed area into the other areas of the building, the work area needs placed under negative air pressure. That means the air is drawn from that area and sent to the exterior.
Forced air heating systems are another place that needs professionally considered to avoid moving mold through the rest of the building. Ductwork may need sealed within work areas to avoid the furnace or AC blower pushing mold through the building while the unit is operating.
Another aspect of the professional mold remediation job is air scrubbing. Mold spores go into the air. That process is accelerated when mold is disturbed during work. As that mold is floating in the work area can be collected onto a filter in the piece of equipment called an air scrubber. This is a highly efficient air filter designed to capture the small particles such as mold.
Post Remediation Verification Testing at the End of Remediation At the end of the work, you should have proof that the work was effective in removing the mold. This is done by conducting a "clearance test" also known as a PRV, short for "Post-Remediation Verification" Accepted procedure is that clearance testing should not be conducted by the remediator.to avoid the “fox counting the chickens in the chicken coup.”
Selecting the right professional for your project can be a scary challenge. It is a very important task with the health of occupants of the mold contaminated building depending upon the work of possibly unknown strangers.
For links and additional information about finding help for mold remediation, go to: www.Envirospect.com/FailedRemmediation
The sad truth is that many mold remediation jobs fail and leave the customer with an empty wallet and a home that is still unhealthy. Mold has often grown back within weeks or months of a treatment. The mold remediators that do not do a good job count on several factors.
It is shocking to find that after thousands of dollars of treatment many homes still have mold visible in areas such as behind baseboards, behind walls, in ductwork and on contents that were not treated. Those remediators are counting on the customer not recognizing the remaining mold.
What the Bad Mold Remediators Want you to Believe
We all pretty much trust the claims on the label of Lysol Disinfectant Spray. In bold letters is says that it has a 99.9% kill rate for germs, bacteria and mold. Heck, they wouldn’t make a false claim, would they?
Picture that we go into a dirty, dusty room and spray everything with a mist of Lysol. Fast forward two weeks. The dust, dirt and other debris is still there. Maybe we even add a little food debris on the kitchen counter and table.
Do you for one minute believe that any home will be germ free three weeks after being sprayed? Simply spraying or fogging with a mold product is not enough to make a home or any other building an acceptable level of mold for more than a few days or weeks.
It’s the Preparation That Makes the Difference
The most economical and healthy approach to mold remediation in a building is to complete remediation of all mold contaminated areas and sources of contamination in the initial project. An independent expert in the building science of mold should do an assessment for two reasons. One reason is the added expertise in finding mold and creating the plan to keep it from coming back. The other is that it will provide a customer the information to know which mold remediators proposal is right for the property. You want enough work done to make sure the property stays mold free and mot more work or expense than is necessary.
Selecting a Remediator and Treatment System
Identifying and removing materials and contents that can’t be cleaned is the first step. Deep cleaning of organic debris and dust is critical to success. HEPA cleaning, wiping and disinfection of surfaces is required for most remediations to be successful and lasting. Do not settle for spraying or fogging without preparation.
There are numerous mold treatment systems available that encompass a wide range of chemicals of varying toxicity. Some chemicals that have superb effectiveness are very dangerous to health and safety. The goal is selecting a treatment system that can fully kill mold and yet be safe for residents and mold technicians. The additional important criteria are that the residual chemical should have a degree of continued effectiveness and yet be safe for occupant and pet exposure.
Make sure that product label instructions are followed. The use of an enzyme-based treatment system is often a great choice. In any instance, the chosen treatment system should be applied according to directions by technicians utilizing proper procedures and personal protective equipment. All systems of mold treatment include application of chemical products that should be done by trained professionals to assure both safety and effectiveness.
Indoor air humidity and to be less than 40% to 50 %, and all cavities and surfaces free of wetness. All water leaks and events need corrected. The conditions that allow mold growth must be avoided.
UPMC and its linen supplier, Paris Cleaners Inc., have finalized a settlement agreement with six plaintiffs in a yearslong lawsuit in connection with a fatal mold crisis in 2014 and 2015 that prompted a federal investigation.
Documents filed with the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Tuesday indicate that the plaintiffs — who represent the estates of deceased UPMC patients Che DuVall, Daniel L. Krieg, John R. Haines, Katherine E. Landman, Lyle C. Dearth and Marita Madsen — reached a settlement with UPMC and Paris Cleaners. Documents containing details of the settlement were filed under seal and are not available to the public.
“Happy New Year” is a message brought to you by dozens of “start your diet” ads in every modern form of media. TV, radio, print and social media advertisers will endlessly pitch ways to slim down and get healthy by buying their programs.
We are keenly aware of the health risks of a bad diet. On the other hand, we are often less aware that we have people with debilitating and often undiagnosed illnesses such as CIRS and MCS due to environmental illness. We are exposed to air borne contaminants that cause cancer, respiratory disease, asthma and countless other afflictions.
We look to the New Year for a fresh start and better times. Why not include our indoor air quality in that time of renewal?
Functional Medicine has evolved to help diagnose environmental illness, but we need to avoid those exposures in our homes. “Avoidance” is now considered an important medical treatment. The problem is that we need to know what to avoid in this world of more and more pollutants in everyday household items.
Indoor air health risks include dust, mold, bacteria, volatile compounds from fragrances and cleaners, formaldehyde, pet dander, dust mites, radon, carbon monoxide and a host of other exposures. Our energy saving technologies have reduced the fresh air in our homes while at the same time manufacturers have added toxins to thousands of consumer and construction products.
We often don’t realize that common house dust is home to mold, dust mites, bacteria, pollen and allergens. Accumulated dust just sneaks up on you day by day, year by year. It hides in carpet, cabinets, books and your furniture. When a person is ill, it’s more difficult to do regular cleaning which makes a bad dust and particle problem worse.
The process of professionally cleaning a home is referred to as “deep cleaning” and is an important tool in mold remediation and reducing many environmental toxics including lead. It should be done using containment, specialized exhaust equipment, air filtration and personal protection for the people performing that work.
Many mold remediation firms shortcut proper treatment and simply spray or fog using toxic chemicals without first cleaning mold and allergens from surfaces. Failing to clean and remove the existing contamination is a primary cause of continued environmental illness after failed remediations.
Secrets to Reducing Dust, Mold and Allergens
VOC’s and Other Indoor Air Toxins You Actually Buy and Bring Home
We live in a world of chemicals. Some are products to clean, some to make things smell, some to make things work better and others to make our homes look pretty. Many of these thousands of chemicals can make some of us very ill.
Synthetic fragrances are in almost every cleaning or laundry product, air fresheners or personal care product. They are often added to packaging to entice consumers to select a product. The organic chemicals are not tested for their effect on people or listed on the packages. Select any product that has an odor and look up the MSDS for that product. In almost all instances internet search will reveal a list of chemicals you will not be able to pronounce or know how they will affect your health.
Furniture, cabinets, flooring and plastic materials usually have chemicals that off-gas in the home. Everything from plastic children’s toys to artificial Christmas trees can be a source of lead dust. Many cosmetics and personal care products have been found to have asbestos and almost all have VOCs.
Secrets to Reducing VOC Contamination
Walk through your home and check for water leaks and mold. These can sneak up on any homeowner. A tiny leak can cause a big mold problem over time. The earlier leaks are found, the less damage they cause and the easier they are to correct.
The most susceptible areas for mold in the home include finished basements, crawl spaces, areas with dirt floors, interior french drains, attics, areas with any leaks and areas that are not heated in cold weather. Homes with foam insulation systems and energy star construction are also extremely likely to harbor hidden mold. Professional mold assessments are a good idea if you have any of these conditions and any family members with health issues.
Improve Your Home's Environment in the New Year
These suggestions will make you feel better in your home. It is your castle and should be the very best it can be. Take a couple of weekends and pick from the list of chores that can make your home healthier.
Functional Medical Doctors often suggest initial testing in a home by using dust tests known as ERMI or HERTSMI. When you visit the blogs and group Facebooks of mold sensitive patients, you will find long discussions with much confusion about these dust tests.
ERMI (Environmental Relative Moldiness Index) is one test that is not often used or understood. ERMI is the product of the modern miracle of DNA technology. The EPA owns the patent on the process and limits its use to approved labs. The EPA also states that their approval of the technology is only “experimental.”
HERTSMI is a related version of the test. The name is an acronym for “Health Effects Roster of Type Specific Formers of Mycotoxins and Inflammagens” For the purposes of this article, both tests are referred to as ERMI.
However, there are many studies and anecdotal evidence of the benefit of the test results for patients with CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Respiratory Disease) There are also some very interesting, but limited studies that high ERMI scores correlate with high lactate in the brain. High lactate correlates with cognitive problems. It may be that identifying high ERMI score conditions may be useful in treating some diseases. These are still very preliminary studies and require more research.
Let’s do the Pros and Cons before we talk about how this technology works.
Pro:
ERMI can give very targeted specific specialization for target molds that can have an influence on health
ERMI can give evidence of the historic (new or old mold contaminations) mold conditions in a building.
Historic evidence of long term exposure vs short term exposure can be useful for medical practitioners
Con:
ERMI does not quantify all of the types of mold, it only identifies the 36 species of targeted molds originally specified in the DNA profile. There is no way to identify the age of the dust collected, making it impossible to actually know how long there was a mold issue. ERMI does not help to isolate the source of the mold contamination to aid in any required remediation or the success of a remediation.
Overview of the process
A sample of dust is taken using a specialized dirt trap. The dirt/dust/debris is to be collected by using a vacuum cleaner hose hooked up to a specialized air filter. An alternative system is a smaller cassette and a standard air sampling pump. The sample is supposed to be drawn from a roughly 2 square yard carpet area in either a living room or bedroom.
The sample is sent to an EPA licensed lab. The lab takes the dust from the dirt trap and puts it through a filter to isolate the small, mold size particles. (Think spaghetti in a strainer, only microscopic in size)
Those particles are put into a tube with a known amount of Geotrichum candidum
and the DNA is beat out of the mold spores with microscopic beads called “bead pellets.” That mush is then filtered and the sifted genetic stuff is mixed with a buffer solution. It is then dumped into a solution called “Master Mix” and put through a series of temperature controlled reactions.
If you are wondering the technical name for the magic chemistry we are doing, it is MSQPCR or Mold Specific Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction
Now remember that known quantity of Geotrichum candidum that was in the mix? That is the reference basis that can be used to compare the assays (checking process) for each of the target molds (molds that they are looking for). The checking process is done with a “Sequence Detector” (which is identifying DNA sequences)
Once the 36 target molds are identified, the 26 in the WDB (Water Damage Building) group are measured and are compared to the common or outdoor group of 10 molds.
The reason for the look at the ratio of the two is that the exact quantity of each mold is not determined by this test. The size of a sample could be small or big, based upon the amount of dirt we swept up. We can’t figure out by counting pieces of DNA if there is a little or a lot of mold in the building. You get the point. We don’t know how much mold is in the building from an ERMI test.
What we do know is that if most of the mold DNA is the outdoor molds, then there is less mold growing in the house. If there is a whole bunch more of the indoor mold than the exterior, oops, there is a lot more mold growing IN the house than coming in from the OUTSIDE.
Scoring is done on a scale of -10 to 20. The higher the number, the more mold that is from growing inside the house in the tested building area. That ERMI Score number is a “sort of number,” not an exact measure. It is based on a limited number of tests from a limited geographic area. Hence reference to it as a “Relative Score.”
That folks, is what this ERMI and HERTSMI testing is about. It is amazing technology but has a very limited application. It can’t quantify mold contaminations or the success of any remediation efforts. According to the EPA, ERMI is an “emerging technology”. They further state that ERMI is still in the experimental stages and is not approved for medical diagnostic use. Then there are Mycotox tests such as those offered by Great Plains Laboratories that test a patient’s urine to diagnose mold toxins. That test can identify the types of mold creating a patient reaction, but not the source. Yep, you can see why there’s confusion.
In thousands of homes and on social media posts across the land, you saw the annual notice heralding the end of summer vacation: “Summer is over and the kids are back in school”. Some will cry, some will cheer, some will only shrug their shoulders. No matter what we do or say, every school year, the emotion, and the back to school sales come to an end and attention shifts to the students actually being in school. Click Here to Download a Copy of Published Article
The bottom line on this is that parents DO NOT want their child sick because they go to school. Our schools that have mold are like the “Jaws” movies. Just when you think it is safe to return, we find out that it is “not so safe.”
When we experience any school environmental issue such as mold, it can be front page headlines, TV, talk show fodder and Facebook news feed material.
Environmental issues in schools are not “just another student health issue”. These problems are a public relations nightmare, a staff human relations mine field, a facility management challenge, a budget buster, a political fiasco and a liability time bomb.
Signs of Mold in School
If a school is flooded or has leaks that are not quickly cleaned up, there will be mold. Whether it is a roof leak, plumbing leak or any other area of wet surfaces, you can count on mold growing.
Parents should take a look around their child’s school. Water stains are the target to look for. Fuzzy or splotchy areas are the bullseye in the search for suspected mold. These can be in almost any area of a building anywhere from the highest ceiling to the lowest floor. In addition to the visual indicators of mold presence, odor can be indicator. When the odor of mold is in the school or on a child’s clothes, books, papers or possessions, mold should be investigated as a source of the offensive smell.
Sewage backups, leaks and all floods also have a host of water borne diseases and contaminants. When these occur, a professionally conducted disinfection must be conducted even when mold is not visible. Even a little dust left in an obscure corner after the flood is gone can enter through a cut in a student’s hand or their lungs long after the water is gone if the areas has not been disinfected.
Mold is a Science Project
Though not part of the approved school curriculum, mold that is found in the school is really a science experiment. Anywhere on earth that there is food and water, something will grow. It can be the deepest ocean or highest mountain. It can be the north pole or south pole or anywhere in between. That scientific fact is that books, paper, wood floors, drywall, dust, or any other material or any other substrate that can grow mold will grow mold within 48 hours of leaks or high moisture occurring.
The first step in preventing recurrence of mold is determining the conditions that were mold conducive. If mold grew in a school over the summer because the air conditioning was not run, or there are roof leaks, or any other reason, it will return if the cause of mold is not corrected.
Failure to correct the underlying cause of environmental hazards as well as the hazard itself, is a waste of money, and serves to mislead parents, administration and faculty into believing that the school mold environment is safe. In school we learned to consider both cause and effect. The same applies in the process of creating healthy indoor air quality.
Schools Can Get Help to Keep our Children Safe from Mold
The EPA provides great online tools available to learn the issues and solutions to mold problems. These are great general guidelines, but can’t address individual conditions. Mold problems are often complicated by being the result of several underlying conditions that require expertise in multiple construction fields.
Unfortunately, learning to use and to then implement these tools is often much tougher than obtaining them. Professional assistance is a good option to get an environmental awareness and mold prevention program up and running properly. Once established, existing staff can usually keep the program running.
Usually an indoor air quality (IAQ) program process starts with an initial site assessment, or information gathering session. The environmental risks are evaluated and appropriate tests then conducted. These could include mold and allergen testing. If there was flooding or sewage backups, testing for a number of common infectious diseases should be added.
An educational staff can’t be expected to have the full knowledge to implement a program, but often, once in place, the good health of school occupants can be maintained through the corrections and adjustments made in the facility. There are several companies that have assessment and monitoring programs that include a yearly Indoor Air Quality Certificate for posting after the assessment and completion of any appropriate testing and corrections.
So let’s travel back in time to the 1950’s. The kids are bringing home friends and, well, mom needed to find a place for the kids to go. Someone figured out that the basement is already there, ready for action. Add a little paneling and a couple of weekends work and maybe a pool table, and the kids would have a place to gather. With the possible addition of a six pack, the plan also worked for the adults and their friends. Welcome the basement game room to modern living.
Click Here to Download "A Homeowners Guide to Finishing a Basement"
Sixty years later and the basement is still the cheapest place to add living space to a home. Today’s basements are “not your daddy’s game room” They are now often elaborate and expensive endeavors featuring wonderful products and materials that were science fiction in the 1950’s.
Today there are homes still under construction that are already growing fuzzy mold. Expensive does not mean “free from mold.” This year I have found two under construction homes over $750,000 in sales price that already had mold at an unhealthy level. Start with the normal moisture in building products and add that to “Energy Star” tight construction and you have the perfect petri dish.
As in most things, preparation is the most important place to start a project.
Look for water coming through the wall. White power, yellow stains or black areas on basement walls are the result of water penetration. Fix the cause. Water behind walls will result in mold, termites, carpenter ants and rot to materials. It is also easier to locate and correct the water problem before walls and ceilings are installed.
Test for moisture coming up from the floor. The simple trick is to securely duct tape the perimeter of an 18”X18” piece of clear plastic to the floor. Come back in 3 days. Look at the plastic. If water droplets have collected under the plastic, the water problem under the floor needs corrected before moving forward
Test for radon and natural gas leaks before finishing the basement. In addition to making the basement a healthier environment, it will be easier and often less expensive to fix before the basement is finished.
Move water and gas valves so that they can be used. They are installed for a purpose. You do not want to learn that purpose when water is running through a wall or ceiling.
Plan for all of the features you want in the room. Your plan should include any future changes that may happen in upper levels. Installing plumbing, wiring and heating for a future bath or other renovation will be easier when you have basement access.
Check local codes. As one example, many codes and municipalities require the installation of a second method to exit the home from a finished basement. There are manufactured large window and window well assemblies that allow people another path to leave the basement. Many appraisers can’t add the value of a basement space as living space without that additional exit. Adding that feature can add thousands of dollars to the sales price.
Avoid the Most Common Mistakes in Finishing Basements
Allow enough room around the hot water tank and furnace for both servicing and replacement. You will not like your plumber removing a section of wall to change your hot water tank.
Plan your rooms so that electrical panels are not located in clothes closets, bathrooms or stairwells. That is an electrical code requirement.
Allow for floor drains to be located where the traps can be filled with water. Sewer odor is a common problem if a trap dries out under a carpet.
Provide for comfortable heating, cooling and fresh air. Call a professional for that part of the project. Most home improvement contractors and DIYers don’t have the experience or knowledge to make basements comfortable year around.
Add enough lighting. Consider adding enough light fixtures to create a bright environment. Even if you call it a “man cave”, dark rooms are not pleasant and inviting.
Solve moisture problems without adding interior French drains if possible. If an interior french drain is installed, seal the system. Do not install sheet vinyl, not matter how cheap and easy it is to do. These floors trap moisture underneath the surface. The floor then turns gray with stains from moisture.
Modern Tricks and Products for Better Basement Living
Material selection for the basement can make the difference between having an enjoyable family living area in the basement or a dreaded dark and smelly place.
Frame walls with steel studs instead of wood studs. It is not really so scary to use steel studs. They are easy to cut and screw together. They are better in basements because they are not a source of food for termites or mold.
Do not install the new walls directly against the foundation. Allow an air space of an inch between your new walls and the foundation. That air space allows trapped condensate to vent out from behind walls.
Use a wall finish such as fiberglass drywall. Traditional drywall, including MR (Moisture Resistant) board supports the growth of mold. Some of the fiberglass faced drywall products are DensArmor and Greenglass Board.
Raise the wall finish and any wood trim about 3/8” up from the floor. This avoids the wicking of moisture up a wall if a leak occurs.
Select a floor material that is resistance to water breakdown or mold. Some examples would include carpet that is Olefin yarn based as opposed to other yarn systems. Avoid carpet pad. When you think about it, carpet pad is really a sponge that will hold dirt, odors and mold
Read the instructions on all flooring before purchasing. Yes, I know that reading directions is a tough task. An example of why this is important is the popular composite or laminate flooring. Some of these materials specify “not for use in a below grade application.” Others require specialized underlayment or procedures for this use. Ceramic or solid vinyl flooring products such as Traffic Master are examples of good products for basements.
When installing flooring, use adhesive suited for damp areas. Saving money on adhesives can be an expensive mistake
Cover plumbing pipes with foam insulation. Also insulate ductwork if you have air conditioning. Think of the glass of ice water on the table on the 4th of July. Covering pipes is like putting them in a Styrofoam cup instead of a sweating glass. You do not want dripping of pipes and ductwork.
In the end, if a basement is not a comfortable place to go, it has little value. That is unless you want to grow mushrooms in your very own basement cave.
The first time it happened was almost 30 years ago. it still gives me the shivers. It was like watching a Real Estate train wreck. The sales commission whistle was blowing, and the buyer was on that train to owning a moldy home.
Let’s be clear. Some people don’t react to or get sick from mold. Mold exposure is a little like Russian Roulette. If it is you, or your family that gets sick, mold is a big deal. Click Here To Download A PDF Copy of Article As Published
Back to that first-time mold nightmare. I was inspecting a finished basement with nasty black mold in a closet and behind the basement walls which were open in that closet. This was in the room that the home buyers we're going to use as a bedroom for one of their children.
Mold testing proved that the visible mold was Stachybotrys. That’s the mold you would know as “toxic black mold”. There was enough mold in the home that you could smell it from the top of the basement steps, so finding the mold was not difficult or a surprise.
Instead of suggesting that the mold be remediated, the realtor hired another inspector who declared that “testing isn’t necessary because mold is present in all buildings”. He did a visual inspection and wrote a letter saying that mold is common and not a concern. I'm not suggesting that every realtor or seller tries to ignore environmental hazards to get to their commission, but some do. Most Real Estate professionals understand environmental hazards and do everything possible to protect their buyers’ health.
The buyer being convinced to buy a home with mold issues scenario has played out in front of me many times over the last decades. About 4 weeks ago, one of those times was a dad and a daughter who were sick in their home. Their family had moved into that home 2 years before our meeting. They showed me an almost identical letter declaring “no problem” from that same inspector as the one from 30 years ago. Despite that letter, they had mold and it was a problem.
The Other Scenario to Fear is Remediators Treating the Home Without Correcting the Cause of the Mold
If mold grows on a piece of bread, and you scrape the mold off, the mold will grow again. This is science and the same conditions results in the same results.
Knowing that principal, another inspector I know forwarded me a letter from another real estate deal. The letter stated that treatment was performed. The remediator wrote a letter declaring his own “visual inspection showed no need for further testing.” Testing after treatment is usually done to show that treatment was successful. It’s important for everyone to understand and recognize when environmental issues are not being properly handled. Despite the remediators letter, there was visible mold in that home after remediation.
I suggested that my colleague test the home for his clients. My advice included checking the home the night before the scheduled testing to make sure that the home was not being “aired out” ahead of the test so that it would pass. It turns out that the seller had all the windows open when the house was checked the night before the scheduled testing.
The foundation leaks that caused the mold were not corrected and the mold was still visible. The seller tried to cheat on the test. Even if the mold level was temporarily reduced, it will be back because the leaks weren’t addressed.
People do get sick from mold and the mold and its consequences become the new owner’s problem the day of closing.
The Most Common Conditions that Cause Mold in Homes and Other Buildings
Our bodies try to protect us as apart of the universal plan. If something doesn't taste, feel or smell good, it's usually not healthy for us. The idea that a house smells bad only because it's been closed-up for a while is just not true.
In many instances, a seller will work hard to cover up or disguise environmental problems.
Many people take comfort and believe that all home inspectors will look for and recognize mold or other environmental hazards. The sad truth is mold and other environmental hazards are not considered part of the standards of practice for home inspectors. It is tough to know what you don’t know, and inspectors are not an exception to that rule.
There is always a cause for an odor in any Home or Building. Some of the things other than mold include:
The bottom line is that if there is an odor, staining, history of prior problems or everything is covered up with fresh paint, the best polices are to not consider a property, or hire an independent environmental expert you can trust.
Imagine struggling with an unexplained illness that robs you of normal life. You go from traditional doctor to traditional doctor and still no answers other than it must be your imagination. This isn’t science fiction. It is real people, real life and may even be you or your loved one.
For too long, people have unknowingly eaten, inhaled, drank and absorbed toxins that are often hidden in everyday products and the vary air and water we need to live.
Big business and government have told us not to worry, they will keep us safe. We are told that we can trust the food, water and air. They tell us the multitude of energy waves they beam through our bodies won’t hurt us. They did the same with asbestos, lead paint, radon and the drinking water in Flint Michigan.
There is new hope and healing for the millions of people affected with environmentally created health problems. CIRS, MCS, chemical toxicity, autoimmune disease and sensitivity to electro-magnetic forces are some of the illnesses. For many individuals, the health problems are the result of compromised health due to chemotherapy, organ transplants, and other illnesses that attack the bodies’ ability to heal.
Modern chemistry has brought us tens of thousands of untested new chemicals mixed in combinations to create hundreds of thousands of new exposures. If the product doesn’t have a toxin as a key ingredient, manufacturers often add toxic chemicals to create a pleasant odor.
What we have been doing is not enough to protect our health and the health of our children It is not OK to keep dosing environmentally ill individuals and ignore the source and causes. It is unacceptable to dismiss environmental illness as imagined or unimportant.
People are the sum of their genetics, health history and exposures. We accept that some children can find a peanut deadly, but have a difficult time understanding that other exposures can be deadly.
It is time for qualified Functional Professionals to work together to identify the causes of environmental health, find ways to avoid the toxins and help the people affected by environmental hazards to heal.
Functional Health Professionals
It is not enough to give people pills to treat the symptoms of environmental illness instead of the illness itself. Functional Health Professionals identify the cause and source of illness. They prescribe testing that can confirm what is the cause of illness. The source of illness can range from the food we eat to the air we breathe.
When food is the source of illness, they prescribe diets to improve health. When environmental factors are the issue, they refer patients to Functional Environmental Professionals to test and evaluate the source of toxins. Mold is the most common source of environmental illness.
The Functional Health Professional’s next steps are to provide advice to avoid the risk and medical care detoxifying and healing patients.
Functional Environmental Professionals
Functional Environmental Professionals (FEPs) explore the wide range of sources of environmental health risks. Mold is the most common problem. Toxic exposures can be found in drinking water, building materials, construction defects, HVAC systems, or from the activities of every-day living. Health risks can be from daily or occupational activities, frequented buildings or even outdoor sources. Testing is done to confirm the source of an exposure and then it is important for the FEP to identify and report on the changes needed to remediate the risk and avoid its return. Educating the client in avoiding future exposures is important to recovery. All buildings and their exposures are a science experiment. We all know that if we do not change the conditions of the experiment, the results will be the same. Identifying the changes that are required to keep a building healthy is a critical part of the assessment that requires a qualified Functional Environmental Professional.
Functional Remediators
It is not enough to spray a chemical in a building and declare that everything is better. Functional Remediation Professionals (FRPs) understand that there is not a single magic spray or pixie dust that remediates every building. When you clean your kitchen counter, you wipe the food and debris that is the food of bacterial and viruses off the counter. Just picture if you sprayed Lysol on the kitchen counter without cleaning up the food debris for the next couple of weeks. Yep, Lysol has a 99.8% kill germ claim, but that is not enough to spray a house without cleaning up the bad stuff where the contaminants are living. It is critical to test a patient’s reaction to treatment products before they are applied. This is especially true in one that is occupied by chemically sensitive or environmentally ill individuals. Functional Remediators follow the protocols of Functional Environmental Professionals that include containment, negative air and air scrubbing. Just as the dandelion will spread its white seeds when blown on, contaminants can be spread through a building during remediation. Improper remediation can make an unhealthy building even more toxic.
The Healthy Infusion Program Brings Functional Professionals Together
It is not enough to treat symptoms of illness. We should have healing.
It is not enough to test for an environmental risk. We should strive to correct the cause or reduce the exposure and its return.
It is not enough to spray a “one size fits all” chemical and declare a building free of toxins. We must treat with sensitivity to the occupants and using methods to contain exposures during treatment. We must change the conditions that cause a toxic environment.
Functional Professionals are a team that is focused on identifying the underlying conditions and improving the causes and conditions that can be improved.
Simply put, the Healthy Infusion Program is designed to bring the functional professionals together to address the source of environmental hazards and the path toward good health.
Where do we go From Here?
We know that our modern world has created many environmental risks that can affect each person differently. We need to understand the complexities of the life today and not dismiss the concerns of those that are affected by elements of our changing, complex and often toxic environment. We need to work together to provide the best outcomes for environmentally ill individuals.