Toxic Mold & Disease

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All Press Releases for February 22, 2002

Toxic Mold & Disease

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/2/prweb34018.php

Asthma has increased 300 percent in children in the past ten

years. Research by WHO, in Germany, finds prostate cancer, breast

cancer, and other cancers increasing due to mold-related problems.

Asthma has increased 300 percent in children in the past ten years.

Research by WHO, in Germany, finds prostate cancer, breast cancer,

and other cancers increasing due to mold-related problems.

Mold is the number one health problem with one in every three

persons affected by mold and one in ten with a severe problem

related to mold. These can range from the common cold, tonsillitis,

otitis, sinusitis, bronchitis, asthma, and pneumonia, to cancer.

Check your home's humidity levels; buy or borrow a hygrometer and

watch the changes in R.H. that occur throughout a typical day in

different rooms of the house and over the heating season. To inspect

your home for mold growth, winter is the best time except for

basements which should also be inspected in the summer. With a

flashlight and some simple tools, go through the entire house, both

inside and outside, searching for moisture damage and mold growth

and their potential causes.

The Stachybotrus species of mold is dangerous; it will start growing

in 80 percent humidity but, once established, can grow at 55 percent

humidity. This mold can develop from the decay of building materials

and is much harder to control. If more than ten square feet develop,

it is advised that a professional clean it up. When you see a small

speck of mold, that's only part of the problem - the remainder being

inside the walls.

'Frog Page' is a manual of the health of the environment and states

that frogs are declining because of mold.

Some of the causes of mold are brush and trees within 30 feet of the

building; venting the clothes drier inside the home; furniture

against outside walls; old fill, causing building movement leading

to cracks causing water ingress; concrete will wick up water even to

several feet above ground; ventilation not directed outside, such as

the kitchen range hood, which should be vented outside; plants and

aquariums; drying clothing indoors; standing water, such as keeping

cold water in the kitchen sink; hot tubs; using several gallons of

water to wash floors.

'Sick Building Syndrome' is caused by moisture and mold growth. It

migrates through foundations up from the soil. A dehumidifier is not

the final answer as it only does the air and not the walls. What is

required is a combination of ventilation, circulation, and heat.

Carpenter ants and termites will smell moisture from miles away and

they only attack damaged wood.

Ventilation alone won't help a crawl space. In the summer the vents

bring in warm, moist air.

Mold forms on the coldest space. The only

way to deal with it is with heat. Wall heaters with fans are more

efficient than baseboard heaters.

Pull furniture and store material away from exterior walls and off

basement floors; leave closet doors ajar; leave bedroom doors open

as much as possible; undercut doors; don't block or deflect warm air

registers; open drapes, blinds, and curtains; set the furnace fan to

run continuously. This will use more electricity but can be offset

by installing a two-speed energy-efficient motor; don't cut off the

heating supply or close off unused rooms.

Uninsulated or poorly insulated areas such as exterior corners or

foundation walls, should be improved with additional insulation. Be

sure to install an air-vapor barrier, usually polyethylene, on the

room side of the insulation to prevent hidden condensation behind

the insulation. Seal hidden opening into the attic, tighten the

attic hatch, weatherstrip and caulk around windows and doors, gasket

electrical outlets, caulk baseboards and seal the top of

foundations. Using an air conditioner on muggy summer days also

helps take out the moisture.

Humidifiers, dehumidifiers, air-conditioning units and filtration

systems can be a source of mold growth if they are not regularly

cleaned.

Key areas to check for moisture sources leading to condensation

inside the home are roof leaks [especially at chimneys, flashings,

skylights and eavestroughing]; wall leaks [especially at window and

door flashing and sills]; foundation leaks [especially where the

ground slopes toward the foundation]; and plumbing leaks [especially

at toilet bases and under sink drains].

Check any fuel-burning equipment - furnaces, hot water heaters,

boilers, fireplaces, and wood stoves - to ensure that they are

venting properly. A blocked chimney could mean that combustion

products, including large amounts of water vapor, are spilling into

your house. Along with that moisture come dangerous combustion

gasses, such as carbon monoxide, which cause deaths every year. Have

heating equipment and venting systems checked by a trained service

person.

If your moisture remedial work includes extensive air sealing, be

sure that all fuel-burning equipment has an adequate supply of

combustion air. High efficiency furnaces, for example, have their

own air supplies and exhaust fans but conventional equipment may

rely on house air for combustion and on 'natural draft' to move

combustion products up the chimney flue. If starved for air or

overpowered by an exhaust fan somewhere else in the house, such

equipment can spill combustion gasses indoors. Examples of this

include stains near the vent of a gas water heater, smoke entering

the room from a wood-burning fireplace or stove, and pilot lights

being blown out.

Mold growth often occurs in out-of-the-way areas like closets,

corners, walls behind furniture and unused rooms. Increasing air

circulation to these areas warms the cold surfaces and lowers local

humidity levels.

To solve moisture problems, cover any exposed earth in a crawl space

or basement with heavy polyethylene, sealed and weighted-down; slope

soil away from foundations to keep basement walls and slab dry;

patch any foundation leaks; don't use humidifiers, unless humidity

levels are below 30 percent R.H.; avoid drying firewood indoors;

operate bathroom exhaust fans during a bath or shower; use your

range hood exhaust when cooking; avoid steam-cleaning carpets in

winter; clean mold from wood and gyproc with a 10 percent to 30

percent solution of hydrogen peroxide applied with a spray bottle.

This is more effective than bleach and water.

If you use chlorine bleach, mix one part bleach with two parts water

and a little detergent to clean nearby surfaces. Leave for 15

minutes and rinse well. Use gloves, protective glasses and a tight-

fitting dust mask, along with good ventilation. Persons with any

respiratory problems should not perform clean-up or be in the clean-

up area. Children and pets should not be allowed access. Soiled

curtains, clothing, linens and any other washable materials should

be removed and cleaned. Badly mildewed carpets, furnishings and

books will probably need to be thrown out.

Molds are parasitic micro-organisms that appear as black, white or

multi-colored stain or fuzz. In addition to causing asthma, they can

cause other allergies and serious health problems. There are tens of

thousand of varieties of molds and are difficult and expensive to

identify, even for experts. Health officials recommend eliminating

all molds from inside your home.

Most mold spores need condensation or damp materials to germinate

and once are established, many colonies generate their own moisture

and can continue to survive even under dry conditions. They also

need mild temperatures and a source of food, such as house dust or

drywall paper.

Resources:

1. Natural Resources Canada [NRCan] " Air-Leakage Control " Pg. 11 [20

Feb 2002]

2.WHO [World Health Organization] [20 Feb. 2002]

3.Cormier, Dr. Y., Centre de Recherche, Hopital Laval, 2725 Chemin

Ste-Foy, Ste Foy, Quebec Canada, G1V-4G5, Institut de Recherche en

Sante et Securite du Travail (IRSST), Quebec Canada, July 21, 1999;

revised; accepted for publication November 26, 1999.

4. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/ [20 Feb. 2002]

5. http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/qa/105-10news/NIEHSnews.html [20

Feb.2002]

6. http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/FS/fs-043-01/

[20 Feb. 2002]