Video - Family Fighting Mold Gets Help

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Posted by April

Family Fighting Mold Gets Help

WREG - Memphis,TN*

http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=8280236

FAST FACTS:

Haz Mat crews find excessive mold at home in South Memphis

Homeowner says he has been trying to get help for years

After Channel 3 story, health department provides suggestions to

homeowner

april.thompson@...

(Memphis 5/6/2008) - Things aren't all roses for the family that

lives at 433 Dixie.

They've been living with mold.

" It's all over the place. It's growing underneath the bed. " says

homeowner Arthur .

Arthur says it's attacking his body.

He says he has tried to get samples tested by the CDC and EPA.

" I could not get help. I started with the health department locally

here, calling and trying to get someone out here to test the stuff

and see what it was. " says .

Sunday a police officer at the home on another call reported the

conditions.

Haz Mat crews went in in full gear as a precaution, finding mold

everywhere.

They contacted the health department, who called News Channel 3

about our story.

The health department says it wasn't aware of the problem, but could

make suggestions for removing the mold.

" You can use a bleach product. There is literature to tell you how

to use it, what percentage of bleach and measures you can take on

your own for small areas. " says Helen Morrow with the Shelby County

Health Department.

Since the health department doesn't test mold or remove it or even

provide funds for cleanup, they say its up to the homeowners to find

the source of the mold. Some kind of way moisture is getting into

the house, maybe through a broken window. They have to find it and

fix it.

Health officials say mold doesn't normally attack flesh, but can

cause respiratory problems.

They say the homeowners should contact their doctor for a mold issue

that definitely needs to be fixed.

The health department is giving the family a list of companies that

clean up mold, so they can get help repairing their home.