September 1st, 2014 10:30 PM by Dan Howard
No matter how old you are, you have certainly heard, and probably said: It's not the heat, it's the humidity. This year has been a time of high humidity, but not a lot of heat. It's also been a season of allergies, rashes, increased asthma, swollen eyes and other health irritations.
If you have been feeling" yucky", the contaminants made worse by dampness could be the reason. This dampness can come from humidity, leaks or hidden condensation. It may surprise you to know that the medical community has discovered that dampness can make most contaminants worse. Understanding why this happens in your home can be worth a look for you and your family's health and comfort.
You may think that when we talk about your health and dampness in your home, we are simply talking about leaking basements and mold. That could not be further from the truth. According to AAAAI (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology) studies, "dampness" inside of buildings is responsible for a host of increased illnesses.
High moisture can increase the presence, viability and transmission risk from:
Insects
Dust Mites
Pollen
Bacteria
Viruses
Germs
Off Gassing of Toxic Chemicals
and of course, Mold
When it comes to your health and dampness, it has been difficult to get the medical community, their patients and home improvement professionals to understand each other. The medical professional focuses and talks in terms of health and the body, but not construction.
The homeowner cannot describe hidden problems and complicated building and chemical issues to the medical practitioner. Heck, how can they talk about these issues that building scientists are just now beginning to understand?
The contractor hired to build and remodel buildings does not understand the 290 page Public Health Study document prescribing environmental goals relating to a healthy home.
Reducing dampness reduces the levels of contamination. The technical medical term for reducing the level of health risks is "Avoidance." Simply put, as examples, if you have allergies, reduce the cause of elevated allergens, if a patient has a condition making them susceptible to a particular mold, it needs remediated to be avoided. "Avoidance" needs considered for hundreds, if not thousands of contaminants.