Toxic terrors

[Guest guest]

Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia

Steve Meacham

October 15, 2007

http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/toxic-

terrors/2007/10/14/1192300583592.html

Dr Dingle is lying in bed contemplating all the things that

need fixing in the home. " I've already opened the windows and

doors, " he says, reassuringly. " There's a lovely breeze, so I'm not

going to get sick. "

Dingle should know - he makes a living lecturing people about how

their health can be ruined by letting small domestic problems grow

into large ones. He knows many Australians get seriously ill because

they don't ventilate their houses properly or check air-conditioning

systems for bugs.

Now Dingle, associate professor at the school of environmental

science at Perth's Murdoch University, is set to become one of

Australia's more unlikely reality TV characters. At least he looks

the part, with his theatrical braces and bald head. " They're my

public speaking trademarks, " he laughs. " Braces, bald head and

juggling. People come up to me 10 years later and say, 'You're the

guy with the braces.' They don't say, 'You told me something that

saved my life. " '

Dingle and former student and fellow lecturer Cedric Chong form an

unusual dramatic duo, visiting people's homes with an armoury of CSI-

type gadgets to answer one worrying question: is your house killing

you? That's the title of their seven-part series, beginning on SBS

on Wednesday. Unlike most reality TV concepts, this one isn't

borrowed from Europe or the US. Dingle says it's the idea of

associate producer Lyons-Reid in Adelaide - and there's

already interest in it overseas.

It's easy to see why. Each of the seven families who invite the

cameras in feel safe within their homes, yet Dingle and Chong's

investigations reveal all are being made ill by them. " Every house

has a problem, " Dingle says. " Most Australians have far too many

chemicals and pesticides in their homes because they think they're

doing the right thing. But they don't associate those chemicals with

getting sick. "

Take photographer Walton, whose poignant story is told in

episode three. For two years, he tried to shield his flood-prone

pole house in the Gold Coast by building a fortress of treated pine

terraces and decks around it. Yet the family doesn't feel well.

When Dingle and Chong are called in they discover why. Heavy metals

from the pine are leaching into the ground. The Waltons, as the

narrator is fond of saying, " are living in a toxic time bomb " .

So are the Hatfields, who figure in the opening episode. All five

family members have serious breathing problems or skin allergies.

Part of the problem is staring them in the face - the cocktail of

chemicals the father uses in his workshop under the house for his

sign-writing business.

The other villain, however, is less obvious. It's mould, and Dingle

and Chong show that the house is riddled with it. It turns out a

leaking pipe has regularly flooded the bedrooms. The Hatfields chose

to endure it, not realising that beneath the carpet lies the source

of the spores that are wrecking their lives.

The reaction of the mother is fascinating. Despite the fact that the

investigators' discoveries may lead to significant improvements in

the family's well-being, she refuses to believe their home can be

the cause of all their worries. You sense there's a touch of shame -

does anyone really want the world to know their house is so mouldy

that rooms need to be rebuilt?

What's more, she has endured so much over the years - her husband

suffers serious mood swings as a result of the steroids he takes for

chronic asthma - she can't believe something so avoidable can be to

blame.

Not that she's alone. " In the Sydney house [episode four], there was

mould everywhere, " Dingle says. " It was visible, not hidden. It was

so dangerous that the second time we visited we had to put

protective equipment on for our own health. But the people living

there thought it was normal. "

Is Your House Killing You? begins on SBS on Wednesday at 7.30pm.

[Guest guest]

What channel is sbs? same as PBS?

tigerpaw2c <tigerpaw2c@...> wrote: Sydney Morning Herald -

Sydney,New South Wales,Australia

Steve Meacham

October 15, 2007

http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/toxic-

terrors/2007/10/14/1192300583592.html

Dr Dingle is lying in bed contemplating all the things that

need fixing in the home. " I've already opened the windows and

doors, " he says, reassuringly. " There's a lovely breeze, so I'm not

going to get sick. "

Dingle should know - he makes a living lecturing people about how

their health can be ruined by letting small domestic problems grow

into large ones. He knows many Australians get seriously ill because

they don't ventilate their houses properly or check air-conditioning

systems for bugs.

Now Dingle, associate professor at the school of environmental

science at Perth's Murdoch University, is set to become one of

Australia's more unlikely reality TV characters. At least he looks

the part, with his theatrical braces and bald head. " They're my

public speaking trademarks, " he laughs. " Braces, bald head and

juggling. People come up to me 10 years later and say, 'You're the

guy with the braces.' They don't say, 'You told me something that

saved my life. " '

Dingle and former student and fellow lecturer Cedric Chong form an

unusual dramatic duo, visiting people's homes with an armoury of CSI-

type gadgets to answer one worrying question: is your house killing

you? That's the title of their seven-part series, beginning on SBS

on Wednesday. Unlike most reality TV concepts, this one isn't

borrowed from Europe or the US. Dingle says it's the idea of

associate producer Lyons-Reid in Adelaide - and there's

already interest in it overseas.

It's easy to see why. Each of the seven families who invite the

cameras in feel safe within their homes, yet Dingle and Chong's

investigations reveal all are being made ill by them. " Every house

has a problem, " Dingle says. " Most Australians have far too many

chemicals and pesticides in their homes because they think they're

doing the right thing. But they don't associate those chemicals with

getting sick. "

Take photographer Walton, whose poignant story is told in

episode three. For two years, he tried to shield his flood-prone

pole house in the Gold Coast by building a fortress of treated pine

terraces and decks around it. Yet the family doesn't feel well.

When Dingle and Chong are called in they discover why. Heavy metals

from the pine are leaching into the ground. The Waltons, as the

narrator is fond of saying, " are living in a toxic time bomb " .

So are the Hatfields, who figure in the opening episode. All five

family members have serious breathing problems or skin allergies.

Part of the problem is staring them in the face - the cocktail of

chemicals the father uses in his workshop under the house for his

sign-writing business.

The other villain, however, is less obvious. It's mould, and Dingle

and Chong show that the house is riddled with it. It turns out a

leaking pipe has regularly flooded the bedrooms. The Hatfields chose

to endure it, not realising that beneath the carpet lies the source

of the spores that are wrecking their lives.

The reaction of the mother is fascinating. Despite the fact that the

investigators' discoveries may lead to significant improvements in

the family's well-being, she refuses to believe their home can be

the cause of all their worries. You sense there's a touch of shame -

does anyone really want the world to know their house is so mouldy

that rooms need to be rebuilt?

What's more, she has endured so much over the years - her husband

suffers serious mood swings as a result of the steroids he takes for

chronic asthma - she can't believe something so avoidable can be to

blame.

Not that she's alone. " In the Sydney house [episode four], there was

mould everywhere, " Dingle says. " It was visible, not hidden. It was

so dangerous that the second time we visited we had to put

protective equipment on for our own health. But the people living

there thought it was normal. "

Is Your House Killing You? begins on SBS on Wednesday at 7.30pm.

---------------------------------

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