Re: Need Help with Car

[Guest guest]

Diane: The source of the fungi infiltration into a vehicle is often from one

or two areas or both. First the air conditioning unit may have leakage and

therefore a buildup of mold which congregates and is released into the air

every time the unit is used, this may also apply to the heater unit. I

would suggest that you have a certified air/heat servicing mechanic check it

for you. The unit can be decontaminated. Second is the carpeting. If you

have a cracked windshield or rubber moulding that is not seated properly

this can cause leakage and it only takes 24-48 hours to cause major fungal

problems to develop. Your sinus problems could very possibly be due to

fungal exposures. Last year at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, over two

hundred patients were evaluated for fungal/bacterial exposure in controlled

testing of sinusitis. 96 percent were found to have 2.7 or more different

fungal exposures and over 40 different types of fungi were discovered

throughout the testing. Only 4 percent were affected by bacterial

exposures. This has been suspected as the case for years, but this

particular testing confirmed the suspicion. I would suggest that you contact

an environmental or occupational physician and have a MAST test performed.

The test is a blood serum type that tests for 13 different types of fungi.

Request the Environmental IgG #15 panel, and if your doctor does not know

what that is, have him/her call me direct. Doug Haney (916)

972-8873/Medcorp68@...

>From: Diane Knoth <dknoth@...>

>Reply-egroups

>egroups

>Subject: [] Need Help with Car

>Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 16:24:37 -0700

>

>I'm hoping there's someone on this list that can help me, as I recently

>found some mold in my car, and I'm not sure how to get rid of it.

>

>First off, I need to say that I've suffered from chronic headaches for

>over twenty years, and have only just found out through several

>operations

>and CAT scans that it seems to be from recurring sinus blockage. What

>is causing *that* I don't know, but I've only had this car for five

>years but I'm worried that this will make things worse.

>

>Anyway, the past couple of months I've been getting symptoms like

>diarrhea, which at first I and my doctor thought were the after-effects

>of some antibiotic treatments for the sinus blockage, but now I'm not so

>sure. Then I noticed my sweat and urine smelled " odd " sometimes, and

>occasionally I'd have shortness of breath. My headaches would sometimes

>turn into a sharper pain, although that usually wouldn't last long, but

>I'm getting abdominal pains too. These symptoms would come and go, so

>I

>would think I was getting better and then they'd be back again.

>Unfortunately my chronic headaches are there *all* the time; I haven't

>been pain-free since I was a teen. But the other symptoms all started a

>couple of months ago. My headaches are debilitating enough, and it's

>hard on me when I'm ill with something else.

>

>Well, my husband and I found mold in the truck of my car the other

>day. It's where the spare tire is, the wooden board that covers it is

>moldy. And the car seemed to smell similar to that odd smell that was

>occasionally coming from me! Does anyone know what kind of mold this

>could be, and more importantly how to get rid of it? I was going to

>replace the board with a plastic one, and see how much of the carpet I

>can take out of the trunk. Is there something I could use to fumigate

>the car. Unfortunately I live in a townhouse and don't have a garage to

>air out the car in, although if I could persuade my husband that this

>was serious enough, I could take the car to his mothers and work on it

>there.

>

>Is this something I should be worried about? Now I'm afraid to drive my

>car! :-( Help!

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[Guest guest]

Diane Knoth wrote:

> I'm hoping there's someone on this list that can help me, as I

recently

> found some mold in my car, and I'm not sure how to get rid of it.

Diane - over the past few years, there has been a lot of discussion

on the " Immune List " a group discussion sponsored by MCS Referrals

and Resources - see http://www.mcsrr.org

about mold in our cars. Check out their archives for detail. Their

webmaster, Cyndi Norman might be able to point you in the right

direction.

My question is: just how much time do you spend in your car? Do you

really think it is the source of your health problems or perhaps just

a factor? Living in a townhouse, you have no control over the

maintenance of all the other units, or the condition of the roof - do

you? Unless you are in your car for hours every day, I would look at

the townhouse first, your office second, and then, worry about the

car.

Check out the files section of our group and you will find specific

articles about investigating for mold (for the do-it-yourselfer). I

would also go visit the homes of the neighbors on both sides of you

and take along a friend with a good sense of smell. Why? Glad you

asked:

When Marc and I returned from Maine two summers ago, we were struck

by the odor of our own home. Apparently, it is like working in a

print shop or any place where you become " conditioned " to the fumes.

After a while you don't notice it and when people come in

asking " hey, what is that smell? " you reply, " what smell? " Well, we

started sniffing around with our newly reactivated " sniffers " and

found two spots where we thought odors were coming from - one was

under our frig, which we moved out from the wall and cleaned

thoroughly. The other odor was coming from the closet in the hall

where I had stored all my work clothes. Now, I haven't been able to

work since August 1993 and some of my suits were never cleaned - just

stuck into a plastic suit bag - but you could still smell them 5

years later - yuck!! I was worried that I'd brought mold spores home

from the Leon County Courthouse and had almost convinced myself

otherwise until I smelled them on my clothes. Out, damned suits!

After thinking about this, I remember coming home from the office and

holding my infant son for hours while still wearing these clothes.

We don't even want to GO THERE!

Barbara